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Traction Bars For 1962 Corvette

Rowdy1

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2001
Messages
1,180
Location
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Corvette
1962 CORVETTE-SOLD 2004 Z16 Z06 CE
Hello all, first timer here, sat here reading all the info on the disc conversion for hours, finally figured out how to join in. First off, VERY VERY good forum, lots of great info. Does anyone know of a bolt on traction bar setup for the 62 vette? I've found them, but with no provisions for the sway bar, I was told by a mechanic, lots of fabrication, or eliminate the sway bar, I don't have the means to fabricate and won't do away with the sway bar. Can anyone help? Thanks
 
Welcome to the forum

Nice to have another solid axle owner here. The disc brake discussion has been a big topic for some time. Lots of interest in a conversion that will be a bolt on and dependable.

I have a '59 so I don't have a sway bar to look at directly but I have Noland's book. If I am seeing the picure correctly it looks like your lower spring plate has 2 studs for mounting the sway bar bracket. I think that mechanic was telling you he didn't want to mess with it.

I'm also sitting here looking at the Lakewood traction bars in the Jeg's catalog and the installation looks straight forward.

Get the bars with the built in spring plate that mounts to your spring u-bolts. The ones for your Corvette (or 55-57 Chevy) will have the shock mount on them. Bolt them on and swing the sway bar up to the bottom of the traction bar tubes. Hold the sway bar brackets against the traction bar tubes where they align naturally. Do this with the jack stands under the axle tubes with the car's weight on the springs.

Mark the holes through the brackets. Drill holes on the marks and bolt the brackets onto the bottom of the traction bar tubes. You're done.

If you have a hard time reaching the nuts on the inside of the tubes put them on and hold them with a bolt through from the outside. Take the traction bars to someone with an arc welder and have them stick the electrode inside the tube and spot weld the nut in place.

I don't think that the slight difference in the sway bar angle will make much difference in handling and you can put it back stock any time you want.

Let me know how this works out if you decide to do it..

Tom
 
traction bars

my 1962 corvette that i bought new had traction bars mounted above the axles from the factory.
 
traction bars

I have the same ones on mine also motorman but after doing up a motor with a bit more power, I'm still getting some wheel hop. I was just curious if anyone in here had ever put any after market ones on and how they worked. I will probably seriously look in to 59Tom's idea and see how that looks. It's just getting the time to put it on a lift and play with it. Thanks
 
'62 TRACTION BARS

The Bars above the axle aren't really traction bars as we know them. They do prevent axle wrap but opposite of acceleration. Racing Corvettes were having some problems with rear axle wheel hop under heavy braking going into turns so the upper radius rods were added to stop this. I immagine they worked fine but you can't use a lower traction bar that is mounted solid on both ends as it will cause the spring to bind. It would be like having 3 bars on the axle. Coil overs would work though. Then you would have a regular 4 bar system.

Sorry I didn't get back sooner on this subject but I still am not getting email notification of posts and this feeble old mind can't remember all of the threads I have posted on.

Tom
 
traction bars

I was under the same impression concerning the over the axle bars. I'm very uninformed when it comes to suspension, but I'm trying to learn as quickly as I can. When you say coil overs, do you mean shocks or is there a bolt on system made? If so, please inform me. I'll check in some of the parts catalogs but so far I've had no luck finding anything for the straight axle. I don't really have access to a lift or a cheaper means of fabrication so I am sort of limited. Tom, I sent you an email last week in reference to a disc conversion I bought, I was wondering if you got it. Thanks for the help with the bars, I'll keep looking and learning.
Rowdy1
 
coil overs

Rowdy1,

By coilovers I was refering to coil over shocks. Shocks with the spring on the outside of them. You would have to add a crossmember above the axle for upper mounting and maybe beef up the lower shock mount. Up side is that the heavy leaf springs would be gone. You would also need to add a track bar to locate the rear end sideways. Custom front and rear brackets with custom adjustable upper and lower bars would also be necessary. A lot of work but it would be a fully tunable rear suspension. :cool:

But back to reality. If you have a good pair of jack stands you should be able to install the traction bars in your driveway or garage. The axle is over the springs so it isn't going anywhere when you take the nuts off of the u-boles. the only thing that will be coming off will be the lower spring plates and the bottom shock nut and shock lower end.

I was having some email trouble last week. Don't know what, but I missed several messages from members. Try again and I will answer as fast as I can. Click on the pm logo below to send a private message.


Tom
 

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