3" belltech drop leafs with lakewood traction bars, uh-oh!

Guess i should have read up on this before i tried it. the lakewood bars i have are meant for stock height, but as we all know, fuck stock height. basically, the bar is angled up so the snubber can reach the spring eye, but with the drop leafs loaded the leafs sit basically flat, therefor the traction bar basically lays on the leaf under half load... anyone ever successfully put traction bars on drop leafs? i could put a block between bar and leaf but that's sketchy and would make it hang even closer to the ground, ugh

i only took one side apart so far, and i snapped the shock stud so i'll have to drill it out if i want to use the stock shock bracket again (lakewood bars replace leaf bracket/shock plate thing)

there was 2 spacers the thickness of a leaf between the axle and the leaf, so i switched them around to under the leaf. if i can get some 2-3* shims i should be able to run them, they'll be pointing down but i don't see what the big deal is other than the risk of catching stuff

Sounds like you are on the right track with shimming them to the right angle.

got 2* shims from my buddy today, phew! just got back from work, gunna go try soon.

even with a 4* shim they still hit leaf before there's an acceptable gap for a snubber... might be able to make it work with a 6 or 8* shim but it's not worth it, i'll just keep it as a beater until i get my 4link setup for tracking...

I've made the same setup work before using angled shims and replacing the snubbers with short versions. Like so:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ENS-9-9121G/

even with a 6* shim if they clear for low-pro shims they'd be angled down lots and lakewood specifies that it shouldn't be done

Maybe you should just skip the Lakewoods and, while your fixing shock mounts, get one or two more shocks with a stiff/ slow rebound. Run the extra shock(s) to supplement your current shocks. I'm guessing you're having wheel hop challenges.

Its an old dirt track trick to soak up wheel hop on the older leaf spring chassis cars.

The stiff rebound on the front side of the axle will help prevent wrap, but not effect the dampening.

It's unconventional for street cars because there are no rules to restrict what you do to your car, but in theory, it makes sense to me.

funny, i was reading about dual shock setups the other day.  what they used to run in nascar till companies came out with adjustable and stiffer shocks. 

How does having it in front of the axle affect wrap but not dampening? Do mean placing it horizontally like a hop shock?  I can't wrap my head around why the rebound wouldn't affect the dampening unless the shock was mounted in a different orientation.

Oddly I recently had a conversation about this with my mechanic who runs a 10 second drag car.  I was hesitant to go to a softer leaf setup because of wheel hop issues and he said that adjusting my rear shocks should take care of most of it.

no wheelhop as i don't do burnouts anymore, my driveshaft is actually rubbing my floor on hard acceleration/bumps and i wanted to prevent axle wrap by preloading the traction bars. i might just go the caltrac route unless i stop spending money on a beater..

I have cal-tracs on mine, they work great!

How does having it in front of the axle affect wrap but not dampening? Do mean placing it horizontally like a hop shock?  I can't wrap my head around why the rebound wouldn't affect the dampening unless the shock was mounted in a different orientation.

Oddly I recently had a conversation about this with my mechanic who runs a 10 second drag car.  I was hesitant to go to a softer leaf setup because of wheel hop issues and he said that adjusting my rear shocks should take care of most of it.

I've been saying it forever, soft springs big bar, big shocks.

I guess it would have the same effect as a hop shock. What my guy said to me is you want to dampen your pinion angle movement. Ideally you would want a bolt on/ clamp style shock mount on the axle with the shaft facing the front of the truck. The bottom of the shock should be mounted below pinion height and about as far in front of the axle as your yoke nut.

I haven't done this my self, but I was also recently in a conversation with an old school fella that taught me about race cars a long time ago.

It sounds like Zach needs cal tracs, paralleled 4 link, or an upper link.

I have cal-tracs on mine, they work great!

Problem with that though is that cal-tracs are only for the pick-ups. 2nd gen Blazers have shorter leafs. The cal tracs would have to be modified.(shortened).

this is a false statement.. s10 pickups and s10 blazers use the exact same leaf springs year through year, base model 2wd's no matter the body style (ext cab, 2door, 4door, etc) used the same leafs 82-04 IIRC.

i know this because the leafs i bought are for a pickup, and they're on the truck.

95 and up blazers use a different leaf than the trucks,94 and older blazers use the same leafs as the trucks, walk through the junkyard and you will see the difference.

but 83-94 blazers and 82-04 pickups use the same leafs, correct?

but 83-94 blazers and 82-04 pickups use the same leafs, correct?

Yes as in it will fit, but from my understanding they changed through the years as in rate/# of leafs, overload size etc

I haven't seen Daveman on the forum for a while, but I know he has fiberglass mono leafs and I think he has caltracs on his 2 door 2nd gen blazer. Actually I don't remember if he has caltracs or not, but I've seen a dozen different 2nd gen Blazers with them.

yes caltracs would be best for this truck but i've got to stop spending money on it and focus on my project, this rides nice when cruising and corners pretty good so i'm going to leave it for now. traction bars are for sale if anyone is interested