I love my Cal-Tracs,..but I periodically get a "clunk" when I encounter a dip or bad road.

The bolt that's above the leaf spring whacks the leaf spring and makes the "clunk". Cal-Tracs says another quarter or half turn of pre-load (in addition to the quarter turn I have pre-loaded now) will remove the play that allows the separation and causes the "clunk",..but that will stiffen my rear too much.

So,..I had an idea,..what if purchased a 7 inch length of 1/2" heater hose,..cut it in half, and ran the offending bolts through it? Would the rubber hose hold up?,..would my Cal-Tracs still be effective?

Thinking out loud,..if at all.

I run CalTracs and haven't noticed the "clunk" you are hearing. I have my pre-load set like Calvin Racing suggested to you and it dosen't seemes to have changed my ride. I don't see that using a hose as a cushion for the bolt would be a problem for the street. Might want to remove it for the strip.

Just do what you are thinking, but split the hose long ways so that you can install\ remove it by just jacking up the car enough to get the preload off so you can get it off the bolt...Will that work?? I've never messed with Cal-Tracs so I don't have first hand experience of how they work, but i know how they look..

If you try using the hose and it works post your results. It might be a way to soften the ride some without changing how they work.

Just increase the preload. My Caltracs are preloaded for the track and I drive it on the street that way. It rides softer now than it did with Southside Machine bars.

Don't have Cal Tracs but have asked users if the solid front spring eye bushing is necessary? Can I subsitute the Poly bushing instead?

The tech guy at Calvert told me to put 3/4 heater hose on the bolt that contacts the spring.I run mine with 1/4" clearence on the street no problem so far.

Not sure about the polly bushings in the front.They told me to use rubber in the rear on a street car.Call Calvert and ask them.They are very helpfull with tech on their product.

I think you need to use the solid aluminum bushing that comes with the bars as it it a little wider than the spring. The bushing is wide enough that it goes through and supports both sides of the front cal-trac bracket also. The bracket can kind of pivot some on the solid bushing. I don't think that the poly bushing would be the correct size to work with the caltrac bracket even though it will work just fine in the spring. I installed my cal-tracs last fall, but that is how I remember it.

Ryan