Anyone made their own anti-tramp bars? Or 3/4-link kit?

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chodjinn
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Anyone made their own anti-tramp bars? Or 3/4-link kit?

Post by chodjinn »

Reconsidering the MGB rear suspension for the moment, as I'd rather not fork out for the expensive 4 link kit I have been looking at (Frontline).

I've been looking at the Moss/Fab-TEk style anti-tramp bars and they don't seem that complicated, just a couple of mounting plates, a length of rod and some rose joints.

The Moss kit is almost £300 though which seems very expensive, so has anyone made their own? I now have a decent welder so the brackets shouldn't be an issue, it's just getting the rods threaded for the rose joints?

Also, from looking at anti-tramp bars, they kind of look like the bottom two links from a 4-link kit. So, if I could make a set, I guess there's nothing to stop me fabricating a 3-link for the top of the diff casing, and replacing the Koni tube shocks with coilovers and binning the leafs?

Advice welcome!


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R32 Skyline V8 .... this one is gonna be a monster!

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Post by unstable load »

I can't see any reason why you can't do it yourself.
As you say, you have a decent welder, threading the tubes is a reasonably simple task that any competent machine shop could do with their eyes shut.
The only real challenge is going to be getting the lengths of the tubes right, but I am sure there are enough cars out there that you can crawl under with the owner's permission.

I would recommend getting all the mount welds and tube ends crack checked for integrity before fitting it all, though.
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Post by Darkspeed »

McGill Motorsport for the rods and inserts - have an ebay shop as well as a normal one. Quite sure that some of the larger inserts they do are also stepped to fit inside a typical tube.

Have made quite a few links, wishbones, Panhards etc.
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chodjinn
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Post by chodjinn »

Darkspeed wrote:McGill Motorsport for the rods and inserts - have an ebay shop as well as a normal one. Quite sure that some of the larger inserts they do are also stepped to fit inside a typical tube.

Have made quite a few links, wishbones, Panhards etc.
That's great cheers, I'll have to check them out. I could just get some male rod ends and get the tube threaded to suit?

Any recommendations for tube diameters though?
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R32 Skyline V8 .... this one is gonna be a monster!

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Post by Darkspeed »

Tube size depends on the weight of the car - My cars are very light 700kg max so I use 7/8" I would guess that 1 1/8 would be about right for a B but have a look at the busk sizes that McGill do for a 1/2 rod end.
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Post by stevieturbo »

The stepped threaded inserts are generally only for larger tube diameters. The smaller threaded inserts they sell are for butt weld.

Not sure I'd be as keen on that for 4 link bars. Although I guess if the welding is sound, it probably is ok.
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Post by chodjinn »

ok I'm more than likely going down the traction bar / anti-tramp bar root due to issues with MOTs changing the suspension etc. and not 3/4-link. The car is primarily for fast road so not entirely track orientated.

How do the stepped threaded inserts work? Not massively familiar with this sort of stuff - so they thread into the tube, and then the rose joints thread into the inserts? I was actually thinking 1" tube, inserts and 1/2" rose joints should do the job nicely.

Probably do the lot for £60-80 materials plus threading costs, nice!
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Post by stevieturbo »

Look at McGill's site. It will be self explanatory. The inserts are welded into the tubes
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Post by chodjinn »

stevieturbo wrote:Look at McGill's site. It will be self explanatory. The inserts are welded into the tubes
There must have been an issue with the site yesterday when I looked as it only showed the rose joint sections, looks good now.
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R32 Skyline V8 .... this one is gonna be a monster!

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Post by Darkspeed »

I have never butt welded the non shouldered ones - the smaller ones insert into the tube and you then weld leaving 1/4 of the bush sticking out - still enough in the tube to drill and plug weld for some added security if needed.

stevieturbo wrote:The stepped threaded inserts are generally only for larger tube diameters. The smaller threaded inserts they sell are for butt weld.

Not sure I'd be as keen on that for 4 link bars. Although I guess if the welding is sound, it probably is ok.
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Post by mgbv8 »

If you still have the leaf springs then just make some slapper bars !

I made mine from 2x1 box section steel.

This was welded to an 8mm plate with holes drilled to take the U bolts and a hole in the middle to clear the bolt through the springs.

I bought longer U bolts fro MG owners which are the ones they sell with the lowering block kits.

On the front end I drilled and tapped the box to screw in some rubbers and its all been fine for the last 4 years. The rubbers must be mounted so as to touch the bottom of the front spring eye when the bars rotate.

I also welded two ears on the bars to mount U bolts over the front of the leaf springs to act as travel limiters when braking hard.

I'll see if I can find some pics. Take the slo mod vid up to full screen and you can see one of the bars doing its thing to stop axle rotation as I launch the car. Slapper / Traction bars like this are simple and effective.


Perry Stephenson

MGB GT + Rover V8

9.62 @ 137.37mph

Now looking for 8 seconds with a SBC engine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVscbPHgue0&list=UUqIlXfSAoiZ--GyG4tfRrjw



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3avnsNKrc&index=2&list=FLqIlXfSAoiZ--GyG4tfRrjw

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Post by mgbv8 »

I've found a few pics :)

I hope they explain what I was talking about ??

The pictures are from different stages of the fitting process as you can see.

Image


Image

Perry Stephenson

MGB GT + Rover V8

9.62 @ 137.37mph

Now looking for 8 seconds with a SBC engine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVscbPHgue0&list=UUqIlXfSAoiZ--GyG4tfRrjw



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3avnsNKrc&index=2&list=FLqIlXfSAoiZ--GyG4tfRrjw

chodjinn
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Post by chodjinn »

Yeah I had thought about something like slapper bars, but I want my car to run really low to help the handling, and I'd like to keep the weight down as much as possible, those 2x1 box sections must weigh a bit! Slappers work grear on the drag strip, but for not much more work it looks like I could make some anti-tramp bars (I hope!).
RIP MGB V8 .... served me well as a learning curve.

R32 Skyline V8 .... this one is gonna be a monster!

mgbv8
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Post by mgbv8 »

chodjinn wrote:Yeah I had thought about something like slapper bars, but I want my car to run really low to help the handling, and I'd like to keep the weight down as much as possible, those 2x1 box sections must weigh a bit! Slappers work grear on the drag strip, but for not much more work it looks like I could make some anti-tramp bars (I hope!).

Slappers work great on the road as well :)
You can make them as trim and tidy as you want really. You can alter the angle of the bars and fit smaller rubbers if you want to keep ther profile down a bit.
Or you can either buy or make your own Caltrac bars. Much neater and adjustable as well. Coops has just fitted some shop bought ones on the Capri.
My mate uses them on his F150 truck as well. I almost made my own after a trip to see Geoff Hauser a few years back and seeing them on a car he was building for a customer. But then I realised that I didnt need anything that fancy for straight line sprinting ?

If you are worried about the weight. I bet my bars vs a Caltrac setup is just a few pounds?

Perry Stephenson

MGB GT + Rover V8

9.62 @ 137.37mph

Now looking for 8 seconds with a SBC engine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVscbPHgue0&list=UUqIlXfSAoiZ--GyG4tfRrjw



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3avnsNKrc&index=2&list=FLqIlXfSAoiZ--GyG4tfRrjw

chodjinn
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Post by chodjinn »

I suppose I could make them a bit closer, and they do look pretty simples.

And Caltracs are just anti-tramp bars in a slightly different configuration? The vast majority of MGB racers use anti-tramp bars with rose joints, so that's Plan A for the time being!

I'm planning on strengthening the front spring mount a fair bit as it's a weak point, so I'd prefer something that bolts solidly over anything else. This is what I had in mind;

MGB Anti-Tramp bars (about half way down);
http://www.britishracecar.com/alantosler-mg-mgb.htm

MGB Caltracs (just over half way down);
http://www.britishv8.org/MG/LaurieHoughton.htm

barely any difference really I suppose!

Nice little guide I found;
http://www.how-to-build-hotrods.com/traction-bars.html
RIP MGB V8 .... served me well as a learning curve.

R32 Skyline V8 .... this one is gonna be a monster!

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