Due to the fact that the distance between the front spring eye and the axle housing will change as the spring flattens out under load even putting the ladder bar pivot in line with the front spring eye will result in a binding condiotion. And I am guessing that you want to run long g***er style ladder bars as well. Long bars will make the axle move in a shallower arc than what the springs do so again there is an induced bind. The axle to spring attachment needs to be either a slider or a rolling pivot so that everything can move in what ever arc is required. Roo
Not to sure what a rolling pivot is I have seen some different types of sliders under the leafs but pivot?
Running a trac bar now works well but with 1.75 wide leafs I have a little spring wrap when the tires get hot.Plus the look of a big honk N ladder bar set up is great.Kinda dont want to change out the spring pack to a wider set. Any info on this sure will be helpful
This is a standard housing floater for use in a ladderbar/leaf spring suspension. Meltdown Drags July 18,19,20 2014
When I built my ladder bars I didn't want to have housing floaters so I made my ladder bars to be able to slip when the spring moved. Meltdown Drags July 18,19,20 2014
The rolling pivot comes in a couple of versions. One has a sleeve on the axle housing the the brackets that attach to the spring mount plate are welded to and the other simply adds a pivot to the spring mount plate. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CEE-2033/ The version shown at the above link really requires that the U-bolts are not fully tightened against the spring so that the plate can move slightly as the ladder bar moves the rear end through the arc. Roo
Better go read the instructions again! They specifically say to "tighten the main section securely to the leaf springs". If the plate was meant to move it wouldn't have a hole in it for the locating pin.
To answer the original question, yes a slider or shackles are required in the back with a solid mount in the front. There are a few different sliders available and all are more stable thAn shackles. Something like these will work well. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Heavy-Duty-Chrysler-Type-Leaf-Spring-Sliders,5817.html Be sure to get the right width sliders for youe springs. Mike
I don't have a picture, but yes they replace the shackle by simply bolting or welding to the frame. Then the spring eye attaches to the bolt that slides back and forth as springs compress. They do not eliminate the need for a floater on ladder bar equipped cars, they simply eliminate the shackles on cars that need to keep total height lower.
Something about this seems frightening. Maybe because I've witnessed a couple ladder bar forward mount failures at the track? The worst of them was a Monza at Detroit Dragway. On the 2-3 shift a front mount broke and launched the car onto it's nose a couple times then barrel-rolled on it's side. The car he was racing wondered why it "...got dark..." for a few seconds. The Monza was in the air over the top of him as it bounced off the rear bumper. These were only 11 sec cars !
Mine still uses the leaf springs and the axle is still hooked to them with u bolts. The sliders just make sure there is no bind. The ladder bars just prevent wrap they don't locate the axle.
i like the idea of sliders and am planning to use them, would it be recomended to use sliders on the front leafs of a 1930s chev as well?
Don't know if the picture below shows it all that well, but I made a slotted bracket which allowed the ladder bars to move fore & aft with the springs. I also made it so it could be adjusted up & down. The pic was taken during the mock-up, but there were two bolts on each side of the bracket to secure it, not just one as it is in the photo.
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