Dumb Question

[john2]

Traction  bars ?  Those go on drag cars, right ? At the rear axle, to hold those gigantic tires to the pavement .   Not short track cars .  I know nothing about drag racing. 

[Lefturns75]

Well John, they are actually used on both.  They are called by different names and configured in different ways depending on the specific way it is used.  It is all about Physics, Geometry and the forces of Gravity.  So basically "Traction Bars" used as a broad term are used on just about any car in some form.  They can be a simple bar bolted under a leaf spring to a complex mess of bars, arms, levers and springs but they all do the same job of improving that small little patch of tire that touches the ground and makes it go.  Don't sweat about it, just build and have fun. 

[john2]

Thank you.  I do appreciate that info.

So....  They come in the AMT '56 Ford Victoria kit I have, of which I am building an asphalt short track car.  And it would not be wrong to go ahead and put them on.

[PNWfrank]

Hello John, the main function of a traction bar/torque arm is to prevent spring and rear end windup with the accompanying wheel hop. This comes into play in both acceleration and braking. I think the main issue for a circle track car and traction bars is ground clearance, traction bars are usually below the frame where torque arms are closer to the centerline of the axle. On older sprint cars the drive line housing was the torque arm. Just my 2 cents.
Cheers.

[john2]

Thanks  ---  I am nothing of a mechanic.

[Brian Conn]

  First off, which era are you building in.... 50's, 60's, 70's???  That could be of some help...

...I would say with the '56 Ford being built as an asphalt short track car that there would not have been any traction control devises use...either on the leafs or attached to the rear axle/differential....(think NASCAR,USAC, Etc, Etc, of the same era that you are wanting to build in)  With that being said, the only traction control, that I can think of, that was widely used was the drivers Right foot when properly engaged with his brain.

  Lefturns 75 did a build representative of an early 70's asphalt Late Model (the Bechtolsheim farms White #1 Chevy II Nova in case he's wondering which one I'm talking about) that has a rear axle damper that attaches to the differential/center section on top and runs forward to the main cage.   

[Olderndirt]

The dirt track modified that I worked on while I was in high school in 1965 used a much modified rear section off of a coil spring suspended GM car, possibly an Oldsmobile. The front half of the frame was a Z'd home built affair with a suicide spring perch, and split wishbones.

  Olderndirt

[john2]

lol  I have created a monster here.  But it's ok, because we all need a good laugh anyway, don't we ?

Brian, I am doing a fantasy short track late model of a car that would have raced about 1970, driven by a grand national driver who retired several years before that, simply because I have decals for a car that driver raced before he retired.  Do what ?  ( southern expression )

No problem.  A shelf model, and the traction bars are already on it.  They were in the kit. Y'all advised that they could have been on it, so I stuck them on. 

The beauty of this hobby is that we can build them however we want. 

Thanks to all who wasted their time with this. 

We got a good laugh. 

[Lefturns75]

Well shucks, J2.  If I had any idea you were looking for some laughs, I could have had you on the floor, eyes watering and gasping for air.   Next time I'll get it right when I see "Dumb Question" and give a Dumb Answer.  You're one up......for now.

[john2]

lol  I am sure I will have another dumb question later.