Bad idea or no?

(I despise tracbars)

1985 f250
Dodge Dana 60 swap

 

I have no idea what you mean, do you mean with no shackle?


You can leave out the track bar but it will handle like crap.

 

agreed. you can redesign things and put a solid mount on the front of the spring and a "H" shackle in the rear of the spring, but without the track bar it will handle like crap.

 

Bump steer will be very noticeable.

 

I always thought with leaf springs you didn't need a trac bar? I have a 78 F150 supercab with leafs and no trac bar and a 78 F250 with no trac bar. But now I think of it my leaf sprung Excursion does? What's the deal?

 

the old trucks were built differently than the new ones are and did not need the trac bar.

 

So would the suspension not have a pivot point?

 

the older trucks used a solid front hanger with a "H" shackle mounted outside the frame on the rear of the spring.
unlike the 80's and 90's design that used a front "A" shackle mounted inside the frame, and a solid rear hanger.
with the little "A" shackle mounted inside the frame, without the trac bar your front axle will be all over the place.

with the solid mounting of the older monobeam axle a trac bar was not required to hold the axle in place

 

I will have to disagree with that one. I just looked at my trucks. My 78 F250 has the same set up as my 05 excursion. But the excursion has a trac bar and the old girl doesn't. Same set up other wise. Front of the spring is a fixed mount that is bolted under the front of the frame and both have a H type shackle that goes on either side of the frame on the rear of the front spring.
I'm sure they handle better with a trac bar but I'm not convinced that they need to be there. Especially on a off road rig.

 

Just did some googling and all older ford don't run a trac bar. Not sure what your plans are for this vehicle but if you do your leafs properly you don't need a trac bar. Good luck to you.

 

What a weird argument, are people actually saying that you shouldn't have a track bar?


Having a track bar is better then not having a track bar. The only setup there it's somewhat less needed is with steering systems where the drag link is parallel to the leaf spring. Even then having a track bar will still make it handle better.

 

I was simply pointing out the fact that lots of trucks were built without them and seemed to work just fine for a lot of years. And yes it would handle better with one but for a off road truck who really cares. No argument.

 

The 70's leaf spring trucks, and the old leaf spring Dodges and GM's didn't run a track bar, BUT they also had push pull steering.
With crossover the steering is trying to move the axle side to side, and the track bar is what prevents this.
With push pull, the steering is moving forward/aft and save for the front spring eye bushing there is no fore/aft movement in the driver's side spring.
On my wheeling rig the lack of a panhard is quite noticeable if one or both of the tires are in a bind, the body can move 3-4" total from center without the tires moving, and it has a srk with 3" wide shackles. This of course is greatly exaggerated due to the sheer force created by 44's. It needs hydro assist.
I drove my 00 super duty many miles without one, and if I had never driven one that had it I would never have known.
On an 80-97 truck with the stock front shackles that were designed to allow the spring to twist with the ttb, they lack the stability to be even remotely driveable without the track bar. The solid axle coming back in 85.5 was an afterthought.

 

and your 78 has a solid frame without crumple zones too..
the 78 frame will handle the front suspension just fine without a trac bar.

 

this is exactly what i was referring to.
try driving one of these, or even a monobeam axle truck with this spring setup without a trac bar and you are taking yours and everyone else on the road lives in your hands.