Can someone direct me to a traction bar that will place the snubber directly on my spring eye?
I have Lakewoods now and they are a few inces short.

Thanks,

Comp Engrg, p/n 2101.

Can someone direct me to a traction bar that will place the snubber directly on my spring eye?
I have Lakewoods now and they are a few inces short.

Thanks,
Hey Mike what's the problem ,I ran the Lakewood's for 20 + like that no prob.they were designed that way to be just before spring eye, never bent a spring or broke…Happy Motoring

I've been told by many that it was supposed to hit the spring eye. Plus, rear traction has been a serious issue for me. 2.6 60' times. :(

So I replaced the front springs and bushings and bump stops and will soon do the shocks too.
So in the rear, I plan to do bushings, leaf spring pads and was told to replace my traction bar with one that hits the spring eye. You can see where the snubber has been hitting on my spring and its left a significant mark.

So do you think hitting before the spring eye is OK?
I just don't know enough about traction bars and suspension to make an educated decision.

I've been told by many that it was supposed to hit the spring eye. Plus, rear traction has been a serious issue for me. 2.6 60' times. :(

So I replaced the front springs and bushings and bump stops and will soon do the shocks too.
So in the rear, I plan to do bushings, leaf spring pads and was told to replace my traction bar with one that hits the spring eye. You can see where the snubber has been hitting on my spring and its left a significant mark.

So do you think hitting before the spring eye is OK?
I just don't know enough about traction bars and suspension to make an educated decision.
Boy Mike I can not say eather way but ,I had no problem with mine as same as yours and that is the way they were designed,all the camaros I have looked at runnung the Lakewood bars were just shy of the front spring eye ,I was running 10.80's @124mph I can not remember my 60 ft. 1.60???,now I am going more street that drag,I did trim the snubber as it was contacting the spring sitting static,so to get rid of preload I trimmed the snubber so had a 1/4 in gap at static...are you wheel hopping???your 60 ft. times may be suffering from tire spin ...Happy Motoring

Ran Lakewoods in Super Stock back in the old days (70 to 75). Never had a problem with the snubber location. Comp Engineering has bars that do place the snubber under the spring eye. If you can swing it, Cal Tracs would be e better choice. More costly though. I found a set of plans on how to make your own bars, based on the Cal Trac design.

The Lakewoods I have on there stop all wheel hop but my traction problems are more than just traction bar related.
I had no weight transfer due to front spring height cut to low and my snubbers were hard against the spring causing severe preload. I think that caused my leaf spring to be very stiff because it was like driving a wagon when on the roads.

I'm sure you guys are right and the Lakewood's are fine but I'm just covering all bases.
Since the last time I had it at the track, I have replaced the front springs and bushings and bump stops so my front ride height is now too high. I misjudged and should have gone with the Moroso trick springs but instead, went with a Moog spring called out for 67-69 Camaros with BBC.

I'm now going for the rear suspension upgrades.
New shocks (not sure which type and what kind....any suggestions?)
Traction bars
leaf spring bushings
leaf spring pads

I am going to go ahead and try those CEE-2101 suggested earlier in this thread. A friend of mine has a need for the Lakewood's that are on mine, he only has a wheel hop problem and these Lakewood's will solve that problem fast.
So I'll give them to him in trade for a new grill and headlight bezels.

Ran Lakewoods in Super Stock back in the old days (70 to 75). Never had a problem with the snubber location. Comp Engineering has bars that do place the snubber under the spring eye. If you can swing it, Cal Tracs would be e better choice. More costly though. I found a set of plans on how to make your own bars, based on the Cal Trac design.

I've thought seriously about those Caltracs too.

Did your Lakewoods put the snubber under the spring eye?

I run the Lakewoods and bent my 40 y.o. mono spring with traction one good time (1.760) and now have the same slappers but with new 4 leaf replacements.

slapper bars suck in comparision to slide a links or cal tracs!

Sure they do, AND cars don't run deep into the 10's w/ them either!!

And for the cost, they are good value to me!!

Give me a break!!!!!!!!!!!

pdq67

You experts can say "slapper bars suck" all you want. I have a friend with a 67 camaro that runs 9.80's and 1.40 60 foot times using...yup you guessed it slapper bars. He's got a nova that runs 10.50's with slapper bars as well. More to the slapper bars than bolting them on....:cool:

You experts can say "slapper bars suck" all you want. I have a friend with a 67 camaro that runs 9.80's and 1.40 60 foot times using...yup you guessed it slapper bars. He's got a nova that runs 10.50's with slapper bars as well. More to the slapper bars than bolting them on....:cool:


What kind of bars does he have?

slapper bars was yesterdays technology.
they didnt work that great otherwise the companies that made them wouldnt redesign them.
IMO go for the new tech. it works

Well not to argue.... but.... buddy with a Nova (not the same above) ran slappers into the 10's. Went to Cal-tracts and 60' went up (slowed) which he got back down. He claimed the onlt thing that the Cal-tracts did was allow tunning.

thank you!
not much tuning in a slapper bar

Yes there really is if you want them to launch your car right, imho!!

And I ran coil-overs to pre-load as well as I had to raise my car's rear b/c of my great big L-60's!!

My slappers are homemade and locate a 1/2" bolt right under the bottom middle of the front spring eye!!

One Sat. afternoon, I adjusted my coil-overs to pre-load the pass side some and then tried her, then I'd adjust each 1/2" bolt until I got her to launch dead straight spinning both tires dead the same!! Took me like 4 or 5 try's until I liked it's launch!!

Sure, it was a pain, but once my slappers and coil-overs were tuned to my car, NO SWEAT!!!

From then on!!

Sucker would hunker down slapping, launch w/ a bit of spinning, raise the front end up and take off like a f-- rabbit w/ a Hound on it's tail!!!!!!!!!!

If you have more money than time, then use whatever, but SLAPPER'S flat work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Old-school or not too.......

pdq67

PS., and both the junkyard recycled coil-overs and my homemade slappers were cheap enough..............

And if your "store-bought" slappers are too short then weld a piece of 1/2" thick x whatever width they are to their ends and remount the snubbers until they center under your springs eye's like they are supposed to be so they hit right!!!!!

I went ahead and bought the CEE-2101's.

I am giving my Lakewoods to a friend of mine. He is giving me a new grill and headlight bezels so I think its a good trade.
He has a wheel hop problem with his 327. Its approximately a 300-350 hp motor and he's isn't going to really race it so just eliminating wheel hop is all he wants to do and they do that well for my BBC.

Both sides of this have valid points. The Cal-tracs/Slide-a-links do have more and easier adjustment, but they do cost more. On the other hand slapper bars have been around and working for decades. In fact they still make them contrary to what some may believe. The slapper bars do take more time and effort to tune, but they can work very well, and for a much lower cost.
Like Paul said if you want easy and cost isn't an issue than get the Cal-Tracs, but if you can invest a little time and money is an issue like allot of us then go with a decent slapper bar.
I'm not saying the newer technology isn't better. I'm just saying slapper bars can work well and have there place.

I went ahead and bought the CEE-2101's.

I am giving my Lakewoods to a friend of mine. He is giving me a new grill and headlight bezels so I think its a good trade. You got the better end of the deal, no doubt. Smart move.

You might want to replace the front spring bushing with a solid alum/steel-lined bushing. ONLY if you've removed the front bolts previously, remember those OE J-clip nuts breaking from earlier posts? If you do change out the bushing, lube it with synthetic grease and use antiseize on the spring bolts/nuts.

You got the better end of the deal, no doubt. Smart move.

You might want to replace the front spring bushing with a solid alum/steel-lined bushing. ONLY if you've removed the front bolts previously, remember those OE J-clip nuts breaking from earlier posts? If you do change out the bushing, lube it with synthetic grease and use antiseize on the spring bolts/nuts.

Are those J-clips the only thing that hold the spring in there?

The J-clips hold the front spring cup to the torque box, plus a little tab on the spring cup fitting into a slot on the torque box.

If yours are OE and not missed with, you could do as I did some time ago. I bought a flea market 9/16 inch box end wrench and heated it up and bent it to the dimension needed to get the box end over the nut. Then, this way, the OE J-nut will be usable again.

Or, if you're not into keeping the car OE, burn the heads and drill a 1" diameter hole from above, rear seat will have to be removed, and use a regular bolt with washers and nut. Be sure to use a magnet to remove the OE nut, otherwise, it will rattle around.

OR crib her up good and safe and get right under her w/ a cheap, HFT, 4.5" angle grinder and zip the heads off before drilling any new holes in her!!

I did AND wear GOOD eye protection as well as a dust mask!!

pdq67

What kind of bars does he have?

Competition engineering. Actually the tires on the car now aren't that good so it will get into the 1.30's with new ones we think.