Traction Bars for short box 2wd

[VMac822]

I recently tossed the automatic and installed a G56 manual in my 98.5 short box. Love the trans but now I have too much axle wrap.  My rear springs are on the soft side because I took a leaf out of each side to improve ride and offset it with a pair of coil springs.  

 

I have had traction bars before, on this truck and two previous trucks. Each set sucked.  The last set I paid something around $700 because they were supposed to be good and beefy, but the heim joints quickly wore and rattled and clunked like mad. . .heims at both ends (bad idea and not quality ones at that).  Also it seemed to bind suspension travel, ride quality wasn't that good.

 

On another 2wd truck I installed a used set of Caltracs for a 2500 Ram, but after endless fiddling and adjusting the ride was not that great either.  Generally the ride was okay except railroad tracks or large bumps caused the back end to have nasty rebound effect, made the back end of the truck to buck badly.

 

Looking for suggestions or options. The disadvantage of a 2wd is less leverage to combat axle wrap because of not having the spacer blocks.  I have thought about a large single bar, mounted to the topside of the pumpkin or a special cover, but there isn't a good spot on a frame crossmember to mount the other end.

[Tractorman]

Under what conditions is your axle wrap occurring?  and which gear?  Details matter.  

 

What clutch did you install when you swapped to the G-56?

 

Why not go back to the OEM rear spring setup?  There are plenty of OEM 2WD pickup trucks with 6 speed manual transmissions out there that don't have any drive-ability problems.

 

- John

[Mopar1973Man]

I'm running about 500 HP to the rear tires I do have a bit of axle wrap, but not bad. Running a 5 speed which I enjoy way better than the G56 that is in Thor that I really don't like at all. 4th gear to get to 25 MPH. Anyways the spring pack if the you have the camper special like myself has a very thick base spring to prevent wrapping.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Mopar1973Man

[VMac822]

Tractorman it happens in 1st, 2nd & 3rd when towing, you can feel the driveline vibration from excessive pinion angle.  I removed my overloads and one spring from the pack and they have been gone for years, it made a nice improvement in ride quality and I would rather not go back.   I have a Valair street dual, it works very well.

 

Mopar1973Man I've had a couple NV4500s and they were good. . . I do skip shift quite a bit when empty, take off in 2nd.  Often shift 2-4-5.  I drive in town quite a bit and G56 ratios are spot on for town cruising, unlike the constant lugging or revving of the ol 5 speeds.  My only gripe on the G56 is it's a bit noisy.

 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

49 minutes ago, VMac822 said:

My only gripe on the G56 is it's a bit noisy.

 

Ditch that ATF+4 and run the Mobil 50 SAE, or Valvoline 50 SAE trans fluid the noise in much less its actually 90w gear lube that is GL-4 rated synthetic. I'm running in my NV4500 for years now. I've also loaded a customers truck (2006 Dodge 3500) with G56 with the same fluid and the customer loves it over the ATF+4 and shifts are butter smooth. 

[Doubletrouble]

 How often do you tow with your truck? How much weight towing? Those make a difference too. With a truck it's difficult to have a cadillac ride and tow capacity at the same time. 

[Mopar1973Man]

4 minutes ago, Doubletrouble said:

With a truck it's difficult to have a cadillac ride and tow capacity at the same time. 

 

Only if you base your tire pressure off your axle weight than just filling to 80 PSI. So like on my truck empty...

 

245/75 R16 rated for 3,042 pounds at 80 PSI as a single.

 

Front Axle scale weight = 4,440 pounds 

Rear Axle scale weight = 2,860 pounds

 

(4440 / 2) = 2220 / 3042 = 0.729 x 80 = 58.3 PSI Front Axle Pressure

(2860 / 2) = 1430 / 3042 = 0.470 x 80 = 37.6 PSI Rear Axle Pressure

 

Now if I'm hauling my RV (2000 Jayco Eagle) then I run 60 front and 60 rear pressure and it nearly a Cadillac Ride. Just for information value the 60 / 60 front and rear will hold 8,800 pound of vehicle weight. Even My RV I only run 60 PSI with max inflation of 80 PSI again load range E's. The RV is just about 8,100 pounds scaled. 

 

Just my tires 245/75 R16 (Load Rang E's) are rated for 3,042 pounds at 80 PSI so if I multiplied that 4 times, that is 12,168 pounds of vehicle weight my truck can haul but my GVWR is rated for 8,800 pounds. So there is no need for max inflation on any 2500 series truck. 

[Doubletrouble]

 I run my fronts at 65psi all the time. Seems to turn and handle better as far as steering. Rears are at 40psi when empty, 50 when towing the camper. (10k fifth wheel).

 I was mainly referring the the spring setup he has on the rear. He would benefit from the base spring you pointed out to counter the spring wrap he is fighting.

[Mopar1973Man]

Still the ride will improve with softer tire pressures. Yeah I might run the pavement but I also run the dirt roads like yesterday when I ran all the way out to Warren, ID. We also made a trip over to Toller Ditch looking for Huckleberries which the season is nearly over now. Yeah if you run offroad then softer pressure do make for a much nicer ride. 

 

Over an hour travel on dirt roads. 2 hour trip from home to Warren ID.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Mopar1973Man

[Great work!]

Are you running a two piece drive shaft? Was it modified? If so it needs phased correctly so all the u joints are in line.

[VMac822]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:52 PM, Great work! said:

Are you running a two piece drive shaft? Was it modified? If so it needs phased correctly so all the u joints are in line.

Yes.  That cost a few bucks to put together but it turned out great.  Was hard giving up the lightweight aluminum one piece but I know it wasn't up for the extra torque.

 

I didn't make any effort to phase the driveshaft, I just threw in a bracket from a 4x4 2nd Gen Ram and bolted it all up and knock on wood it's super smooth on the highway.

 

On the tire pressure subject, I run about 55 front 45 rear.  My effort on ride quality was more focused on reducing unsprung weight, versus simply making it "soft."  Converting to disk brakes and eliminating overload leafts knocked a lot of weight off the rear axle, and the Dana 70 is quite a bit light than an 80.  Makes a pretty noticeable difference.

 

 

On 8/23/2022 at 2:05 PM, Mopar1973Man said:

Ditch that ATF+4 and run the Mobil 50 SAE, or Valvoline 50 SAE trans fluid the noise in much less its actually 90w gear lube that is GL-4 rated synthetic. I'm running in my NV4500 for years now. I've also loaded a customers truck (2006 Dodge 3500) with G56 with the same fluid and the customer loves it over the ATF+4 and shifts are butter smooth. 

 

I'm thinking about that.  I decided to kind of start at the bottom and see how it did with mostly ATF then go up if needed.  I have heard some have issues in cold weather shifting into 1st with 50 weight.  Right now I have a mix of 5.5 qt ATF+4, 1 quart Amsoil manual trans lube, and a bottle of Bestline transmission additive.  Seems to be pretty happy at the moment and isn't that noisy. 

 

For other options was thinking about Royal Purple, Amsoil MTG, but that is spendy stuff.  Do you run the Mobil or Valvoline?  I hadn't looked at those.  Thought about Hotshot's but it's expensive too.

 

On 8/23/2022 at 2:05 PM, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Ditch that ATF+4 and run the Mobil 50 SAE, or Valvoline 50 SAE trans fluid the noise in much less its actually 90w gear lube that is GL-4 rated synthetic. I'm running in my NV4500 for years now. I've also loaded a customers truck (2006 Dodge 3500) with G56 with the same fluid and the customer loves it over the ATF+4 and shifts are butter smooth. 

 

 

I Googled and found Mobil Delvac Transmission Fluid 50, and Valvoline Synchromesh MTF. Both are pretty affordable compared to the likes of RP, Amsoil, and Hotshot's.  Not much higher than ATF+4.  I'm a little leary of Royal Purple since I've heard of it breaking down badly a couple times in NV5600 transmissions when towing heavy, that was in the early 2000s. But that may have more to do with how the truck was driven versus the oil itself.

 

Do you ever have shifting issues in winter?  It seems to be a roll of the dice with G56s, some work great on 50wt and some aren't so happy.

Edited August 30, 2022 by VMac822

[Mopar1973Man]

10 hours ago, VMac822 said:

I'm a little leary of Royal Purple since I've heard of it breaking down badly a couple times in NV5600 transmissions when towing heavy, that was in the early 2000s. But that may have more to do with how the truck was driven versus the oil itself.

 

ATF+4 scares the heck out of me I really do need to change the fluid in Thor very soon. When your working the transmission climbing grades it heats up quickly and gets even thinner. That was another reason I went away from the factory fluid which is no better than 10w-30 engine oil. Yeah it might make for easy shifts but the protection isn't as good. I want the fluid to cling to the bearing and syncro's not to be slung off and leaving a thin film.