Axle Wrap, Traction Bars, Caltracs

hy_69 · January 24, 2011

ok! so i've been doing a little research about my axle wrap problem! i have a '99 silverado 1500, Ext Cab, 4x4, 5.3L with a 6" RCD lift i think, it has 4" blocks in the rear.... looked into the forum and couldn't find much help! i think everyone here just install traction bars and solve the problem!! but i dont like how traction bars look!! so i want to try something else... came up with few solutions on the net.. most of them are for jeeps... but my question is would they work for my truck? yes or no? why not? which one is better and why? or should i just forget about my axle wrap and leave it how it is! cause i think that my axle wrap has messed up my diff and driveshaft joints cause it is making some weir noise that ill have checked this week.. so any help i can get! any thoughts?

solution #1

http://www.jeepaholics.com/tech/bambar/

this guy really put his brain into it! and welded some stuff there! that looks really fnuctional and looks hard to break! could this be done to my truck? do i want to do this? does my truck has space to fit this or will it crash with the bed when loading it??

solution #2

http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Anti_...antiwrapbar.htm

this guy custom made his own traction bars in a way that you cant see them they are hidden up! i like this ones! pros and cons of this ones? would something like this fit in to my truck?

solution #3

http://www.jeeptech.com/susp/yjsp6.jpg

pretty much almost the same as #2 but this guy suggest a single anti-wrap bar! located near the differential....

solution #4

caltracs these ones are announced for racing! but why not for lifted trucks? what are the cons of caltracs in lifted trucks? i dont do heavy off roading! just like to have a little fun in my truck every once in a while! very light stufF! what i do like is driving my truck hard! i have a heavy foot! i think of every stoplight as if i was on the track!! so will caltracs work for me? or that is just not for off roading? any one out there have caltracs in his lifted truck? anyone have axle wrap at all and worries about it??

mhenshaw · January 24, 2011

The blocks are causing the axle wrap. Buy a set of leaf packs and your truck will ride better, flex better and have more wheel travel. Deaver is one of the best companies out there.

Deaver Spring

hy_69 · January 24, 2011

The blocks are causing the axle wrap. Buy a set of leaf packs and your truck will ride better, flex better and have more wheel travel. Deaver is one of the best companies out there.

Deaver Spring

yeah that sounds like the best solution! thanks for the link! but i dont think i can afford to spend $900 on the leaf pack! i rather use $300 in some caltracs or other solution and $600 on a blackbear autocal!i mean! from the solutions i'm considering (anti-wrap bars) the mos expensive solution is caltracs! which cost like $300... other i'll have them custom made! and here in mexico that is cheap! so i guess i'll be spending around $150-200 at the most! i mean my axle wrap aint that bad but still needs to be fixed! so i'm looking for the best/cheapest solution... sorry that i forgot to mention that price is something to be considered too!

sic lsx · January 24, 2011

some of those look like crap! google ladder bars! i made a few set back in the day! sold for $300 a set! looked much better then some of those!

hy_69 · January 24, 2011

some of those look like crap! google ladder bars! i made a few set back in the day! sold for $300 a set! looked much better then some of those!

those ladder bars are the ones that everyone has.. and they like how the bars look under the truck.. i don't like how they look, well its not that i don't like how they look its just that i think that my truck doesn't look that much lifted so i don't think those bars will look good in my truck.. i'm looking for a solution that shows the least possible... i thought that solution #1 seems pretty tough.. and is completely hidden! what cons do you see in solution #1 ?

stlavsa · January 24, 2011

some of those look like crap! google ladder bars! i made a few set back in the day! sold for $300 a set! looked much better then some of those!

those ladder bars are the ones that everyone has.. and they like how the bars look under the truck.. i don't like how they look, well its not that i don't like how they look its just that i think that my truck doesn't look that much lifted so i don't think those bars will look good in my truck.. i'm looking for a solution that shows the least possible... i thought that solution #1 seems pretty tough.. and is completely hidden! what cons do you see in solution #1 ?

Wait did i miss something else but how do you know you are getting axle wrap? I have the blocks from the fabtech kit which are probably about 4"s and I dont seem to have a problem.. Just wondering how you are determining that its an issue.

hy_69 · January 25, 2011

some of those look like crap! google ladder bars! i made a few set back in the day! sold for $300 a set! looked much better then some of those!

those ladder bars are the ones that everyone has.. and they like how the bars look under the truck.. i don't like how they look, well its not that i don't like how they look its just that i think that my truck doesn't look that much lifted so i don't think those bars will look good in my truck.. i'm looking for a solution that shows the least possible... i thought that solution #1 seems pretty tough.. and is completely hidden! what cons do you see in solution #1 ?

Wait did i miss something else but how do you know you are getting axle wrap? I have the blocks from the fabtech kit which are probably about 4"s and I dont seem to have a problem.. Just wondering how you are determining that its an issue.

my differential is making a weird noise... so i had my truck checked out.. he told me he needs to open the differential and also that my drive shaft joints dont know the correct name, u-joints?, they're all messed up! the guy there told me its because i have axle wrap and that i have to take care of that to avoid messing up something else in the future.. don't know if its just from the 4" blocks.. i believe my lift kit is 6" it has the things that go in the top part of the leafs that drop them like 2" i think (to make a 2" lift of the truck) and i have 4" blocks i think... i'm not really sure if its a 6" o 8" lift.. some mechanics tell me is a 6" others tell me is a 8" it has 35" tires and don't know which gears i think 4.10... (i don't know which lift/gears it has cause i bought it like that) so they told me that the combination of lift/tires/gears is causing axle wrap.... also i read that if you install ladder bars or something similar to eliminate axle wrap it you increase, don't know how to say it in english (i'm mexican so you'll have to excuse me for my english ).. when you launch you don't loose power to rotating the axle then the tires... it transfers the torque directly to the tires... i know my truck ain't a 1/4 mile truck! but i do like racing it... so that helped me decide to do something about my axle wrap....

stlavsa · January 25, 2011

some of those look like crap! google ladder bars! i made a few set back in the day! sold for $300 a set! looked much better then some of those!

those ladder bars are the ones that everyone has.. and they like how the bars look under the truck.. i don't like how they look, well its not that i don't like how they look its just that i think that my truck doesn't look that much lifted so i don't think those bars will look good in my truck.. i'm looking for a solution that shows the least possible... i thought that solution #1 seems pretty tough.. and is completely hidden! what cons do you see in solution #1 ?

Wait did i miss something else but how do you know you are getting axle wrap? I have the blocks from the fabtech kit which are probably about 4"s and I dont seem to have a problem.. Just wondering how you are determining that its an issue.

my differential is making a weird noise... so i had my truck checked out.. he told me he needs to open the differential and also that my drive shaft joints dont know the correct name, u-joints?, they're all messed up! the guy there told me its because i have axle wrap and that i have to take care of that to avoid messing up something else in the future.. don't know if its just from the 4" blocks.. i believe my lift kit is 6" it has the things that go in the top part of the leafs that drop them like 2" i think (to make a 2" lift of the truck) and i have 4" blocks i think... i'm not really sure if its a 6" o 8" lift.. some mechanics tell me is a 6" others tell me is a 8" it has 35" tires and don't know which gears i think 4.10... (i don't know which lift/gears it has cause i bought it like that) so they told me that the combination of lift/tires/gears is causing axle wrap.... also i read that if you install ladder bars or something similar to eliminate axlo rotating the axle then the tires... it transfers the torque directly to the tires... i knowe wrap it you increase, don't know how to say it in english (i'm mexican so you'll have to excuse me for my english ).. when you launch you don't loose power t my truck ain't a 1/4 mile truck! but i do like racing it... so that helped me decide to do something about my axle wrap....

So you have 4" blocks plus a shorter shackle or lift shackle that gives extra 2" of lift from the stock springs? I would go with some ladder bars and that should fix u right up