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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
13:55:46
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 Subject: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Do they get installed with the leafs loaded or unloaded.
I installed loaded and I can hear them from time to time. Just curious..
Thanks
Crash
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
14:15:24
|  RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Loaded, I guess. If they are clanking & shifting, you need to retighten everything. I tightened everything down so tight that the flanges on the bars were bent upwards around the springs. Make sure the snubbers are really tight. I lost one somewhere and had to buy another a while back.
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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
14:22:53
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Thanks Alex... yes they are clanking under braking or over railway tracks. I'll crank them down more.
I am going to be installing 1/4 or 1/2" plates under the rear.. so I'll used some better washers and really crank them. The littly lock washers were useless and stretched and fell off..hehe.. not while driving, while tightening.
Crash
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
14:52:03
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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The mounting hardware on those things sucks donkey balls. I actually took my set to a metal fabricator friend and we cobbled up a one-off set of bars that actually have the snubber located correctly (under the spring eye). We used 11-gauge steel and angle bar to make everything about twice as thick as Lakewood made them. Then we used mounting hardware that's like 3/8" u-bolts and they make no noise at all.
FYI- the 1/4" shims are a great approach. I used three of them on my old Lakewoods before we made the customs. I had about a 3/4" gap between the snubbers and the leafs when I was done....
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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
15:04:06
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Cool!
I'll get my friend to make 6 shims at 1/4" and use what I need. He is going to make them wide enough and drill them out to slide the bolts through so they won't shift.
Thanks for your help and encouragement.
Crash
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
15:25:46
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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You bet...
If you start using slicks at the track, just keep an eye on the leaf that the snubber hits. That snubber will eventually bend the leaf. You dont' really need to worry until you are getting 2.0 and 1.9 short times at the track, though.....
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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
15:29:58
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Well.. I suppose on that note. Should I move the bars as far forward as they will allow or leave centered with the axle?
I initially had them forward. Then thought they may not do their job that way and moved them back to be centered. So as the axle torques the springs the bars will lift and slap as designed.
???
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
15:41:03
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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The further forward they are, the more effective they will be. Once you have the shims in between the flange and the spring, shove the whole match forward until the shims contact that little rolled lip on the spring plate. Then cinch 'em up.
It would be ideal for the snubber to be directly under the spring eye. But unless you make your own set, I don't know how you're going to achieve that. Lakewood doesn't have a set up to fit Dakotas directly. Oh well. When I pull on 2nd gear at WOT, the snubbers hit so hard, you can feel the truck rise up. It's pretty nasty with the stickies on at the track.
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Demon-Xanth
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2002
12:46:32
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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I put some 3/8" thick aluminum shims on the back side a while back, those really helped, and I just snagged some more metal for some on the front to reinforce the bracket.
One thing I was considering doing was getting a 1/2" thick steel bar and making an extention for the snubber to get a couple inches further forward and using the snubber holes to bolt the bar onto the traction bars.
Nothing like adding a few pounds of unsprung weight :)
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Lab Rat
GenIII
10/08/2002
13:37:58
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Check out the HD bars from Lakewood, part #22026. They're two inches longer than the standard ones and don't require all the cobbling.
LR
Gibson Dual Sport, AirForce One air intake, Jet II, Jet TBS, 180 stat, IAT, TPS, no viscous fan, Lakewood traction bars, "Wilson" antenna ball...when are we gonna see some real parts??!!
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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2002
14:49:03
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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I tried, up here in Canada, to locate the 2" longer ones... no luck.
Get this, Canadian Tire, I had seen Lakewoods in stock at one store. Instead of making the drive when I was ready to buy a set. Called 3 different stores that were closer, they couldn't even find Lakewood in their system!!?? So, I drove back to the store where I had seen them, the universal fit, and asked to order the longer ones. They couldn't find them in the system!!?? DOH!
So, if you can find them whereever you are.. grab them, and fast! before they disappear from the system!!.. hehe
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Lab Rat
GenIII
10/08/2002
15:02:59
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Man, that's crazy. Just another reason to hate tire stores I guess.
Go to Summit. They're not in the catalog, search under Manufacturer Part Number and enter 22026.
LR
Gibson Dual Sport, AirForce One air intake, Jet II, Jet TBS, 180 stat, IAT, TPS, no viscous fan, Lakewood traction bars, "Wilson" antenna ball...when are we gonna see some real parts??!!
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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2002
15:05:28
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Yeah.. but up here and Summit or Jegs means duty duty duty and taxes taxes taxes.. hehe... well I got them for $28 cdn by using Cdn Tire $$ (like points)
I was just takin the opportunity to get up on a soapbox .. ;o)
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Lab Rat
GenIII
10/08/2002
15:10:00
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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DOH!! Forgot about that Canadian scam-I'm in Texas where its "cheap cheap cheap"!
LR
Gibson Dual Sport, AirForce One air intake, Jet II, Jet TBS, 180 stat, IAT, TPS, no viscous fan, Lakewood traction bars, "Wilson" antenna ball...when are we gonna see some real parts??!!
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CrashYYZ
Dodge Dakota
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10/08/2002
15:51:41
|  RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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things are BIGGER and cheaper in Tx..
hehe
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afi360
R/T
10/09/2002
00:25:15
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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i really didnt notice a difference at all with mine...personally i think theyre a waste, like the dude said, until youre pulling 1.9-2.0 'short' times....but when yorue doing that, youll probably have other mods anyway....btw...what is a 'short' time??? 60ft???
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/09/2002
09:56:09
| RE: Lakewood Traction Bars Install Question
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Yes.
Just as a note, these bars dont' really do all that much on the street. They are really going to show the difference at the track with sticky tires. That's just physics.
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