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I want to first welcome you back to the 7.3L PSD den. We seem to be a die hard, die harder bunch dedicated to figuring out how to keep these things working.
If you were brand new to the forum, we'd have the kid gloves on... but you've been here since 2008, so you know the drill, and hopefully also know not to take offense when posting a photo or a procedure that catches someone's eye who says something, not to irk your ire, but to call attention to potential pitfalls and potentially better practices... for the promotion of shared knowledge within our community.
You asked:
Originally Posted by riderboy1961
Where in the truck owning world did you get your no-no information?
Also... what "flange"?
And while Cleatus12r answered adequately, Wes444 gave his giraffe popcorn to tune into the truck owning world's no-no information on drilling into and welding onto frame flanges.
If the truck you are showing is your old and sold 2000 truck, and the truck you are working on now is your new to you 2003 truck, and on the 2003 truck you haven't yet added the Pro Comp Traction Bars yet, then the following information may be of use for you to consider before welding on your 2003 truck's lower frame flange.
Even my advice about how I would weld those brackets on if given no other choice was wrong....way wrong. According to your attached documents, I need to rethink my way of thinking (which is fine - I'm the reason the phrase "nobody's perfect" was coined) and quit casting stones from inside of my glass house.
I'm going to change the HPOP reservoir oil on all of the 7.3s in the driveway today.
the rear axle of a leaf spring Super Duty has 6 axis it can move in.
to eliminate axle wrap you want to control the B axis
because the front of the leaf spring is a fixed pivot the axle is going to move in a arc as it moves up and down on the Z axis the distance of the X axis changes.
if only 1 wheel travels up/down on the Z axis and the other wheel the stays the same then A , Y and C axis also change.
The procomp bar looks like it will do a fine job of stopping axle wrap or the movement on the B axis and from the looks of the tapered bushings maybe the Y and B axis but I see no provision to deal with the X axis which just so happens to be the largest change of all if you cycle the suspension through the full Z axis.
my measurements
X= 1”
Y= 1/2”
Z = 8”
A= 1/4”
B= not measured
C= 1/4”
A proper design for traction bars uses a shackle ( or slider) to allow for X axis movement and not bind the suspension.
with no provisions for X axis change the mfg is hoping you never need to use your full travel because if you do it is going to break or bend something, I have personally seen several traction bars with no X axis provision for movement snap the front mount right off the frame.
a few different anti axle wrap traction bars that do not allow B Axis ( axle wrap ) movement but DO allow Full and proper X, Y, Z movement.
and just so you can visualize the X axis movement I took this video on my Excursion this morning.
The X axis front to back movement is 2.5cm or 1”
as you can see I measured X, Y, Z
as well as A axis movments.
I realize this was over a decade ago but came across this thread searching about procomp traction bars because im trying and need to modify use some and wanting to improve with better bushings. In part because there isn't anything for my application and Mostly because i have this stuff already with no other use for it. Im building a single cab short bed f350 diesel thats lowered. This is a street truck 1000hp daily driver so axle wrap is more of a concern than a full range of axle movements I dont have much anyway. My axle is too close to the ground to use the mounting kit in the way its designed and I wanted to use just the top main large tubes cut the ends off and insert different ends that are adjustable and made for the larger factory front axle f350 radiaus arms. Basically using front f350 radius arm brackets bushings and ends inserted into these tubes. I can go threaded and fixed / welded or threaded and drill holes for link length adjustability because the diameter of the ends and front bars i have is the exact inside diameter of the procomp 67" top tube. If i only have one fixed point at the axle using the brackets with u bolts like procomp designed with a strait non triangular tube design strait forward to the frame with an f350 front radius arm bracket and bushing is that OK? Would a drop shackle design with 2 pivot points in front be better as I could do that too. The main issue for me is the axle mount as theres no room except where the leafs mount so ideally the procomp bracket is best for me. Just wondering if you have any advice. Truck so far below thank you.
After reading through the comments After submitting a question about my single cab short bed f350 project i saw the advice about the importance of the bottom frame flanges which I didn't know but wanted to add that I did my single cab short bed using the full front factory frame section of a 2008 f350 single cab long bed with the complete factory full frame rear clip of a 2008 super cab short bed. So not a single frame section was shortened. The supercab short bed of 08-10 shares the same frame cab mounts forward as the 08-10 single cab long bed. Doing the conversion this way also enabled me to use full factory brake lines fuel lines , fuel tank bed , even bolt holes brackets everything off rhe factory shortbed supercab swaps directly over and the factory frame clip part numbers are interchangeable when referencing frame collision repair body shop manuals i came across if someone needed frame replacement repair back when these trucks were new as they weren't one piece frames leaving the factory. Not that anyone cares but i have never seen anyone do this prior and this seemed like a group that would give me an ear full of insight and wisdom regardless which is always welcome anyway just preemptive 😀
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