In anticipation of my Double-D Mafia motor...........

Interesting points. This was a "sportsman" kit, the one above this one had more bracing on the bottom bars toward the rearend. An unsprung bar does need some flex to keep from unloading the chassis. I will ponder on it some, any and all input is welcome.

We built our own bars because we have seen the heavy cars like we run break the bars from chassis shops. We use a very thick top set of bars that are pretty big and put the bracing on the bottom. I don't like how we did ours but we copied them from some fast cars and now have seen some things we like better. We don't run them much but they are nice when you want to turn up the wick and let it eat.

Something like this:

nice looken bars!

The X bar/K bar can go in either the top or bottom bars. But which way is "best" really depends on a few things like the bar design/layout in general, the wheel bracket design, & where the rear adjuster rod-ends are placed on the wheel bracket (top bars vs bottom bars).

Obliviously the best bar design/layout to remove any chance of wheelie bar wheel "flop-over" under load (which car steer/push the car around) is to do away with all the swivel rod-ends (for mounting at the housing & adjusting at the wheel bracket) & instead use all solid rod-ends, or clevis/brackets at the housing & a threaded clevis or a threaded "T" bolt adjuster at the wheel bracket. But using swivel rod-ends for everything generally does get used a lot more just because of it's increased adjustability vs a solid rod-end or clevis/T-bolt setup.

The greatest chance for wheelie bar wheel flop-over to happen is if you have an "all swivel rod-end" setup combined with the X/K bar being attached to the same bars that also hold the rear wheel bracket adjuster rod-ends. So as a general rule of thumb with an all swivel rod-end setup, the best place for the X/K bar (top bars vs bottom bars) is almost always whichever bars that are also welded directly to the wheel brackets themselves.


There is a bunch of ways to design a set of bars, just do yourself a favor & stay away from the single wheel wheelie bars........there just not worth the small weight loss you might get vs the added "at launch" preload adjustability you get from a double wheel setup.

I have my bars set at 4".Seems to be about right,it raises the wheels up ap about 6" and carries them about 60'.What I really like is it makes the launch, and set down, real smooth.The guy that built/installed them set them, and I hav'nt touched them. I likem

JMO Jon,
Bars look fine. Even though they are solid mount I personally think you are pretty tight on the rear valance height of the opening. If the shocks compress any it will multiply it at the bumper or valance. You might not notice it on the racetrack, but in the pits or where the car could get on a bind like loading it on or in the trailer for instance there is no cushion for the bars so to speak. Would not want to bend them. My car had a lot of overhang behind the rear wheels and would clang them pretty good in the pits with about 2-3" of clearance. Just a thought. I ended up troughing the trunk pan for additional clearance but the car sat a lot lower than yours too.

Travis

You are correct Travis, I need to cut the openings more...............these were the existing notches from the old cheezie bars I had.

I think I may add some more bracing like Justin has on the pic of his. I have engine parts now so the bars gonna take a backseat for now lol.

Just thought I would throw a pic of mine in here. The longer bottom bars have the wheel bracket welded solid to them. All the other ends are solid slotted clevis ends. Not sure why the brace deal on the upper bars is made with clevis joints as well. Seems like the brace could have been welded solid. They are short at 49", but seem to work from the pics I have seen of the car in action. My T-bird has a very long rear overhang and they don't come out from under the car very far.

David,
Those look like the S&W Chrome bar kits that I have installed. It lets the installer decide the width without fubaring the chrome. When you get them the upper and lower long bars are already together as well as the foot boxes welded on. These parts are chromed out of the box. The center cleviced bars are a small kit so to speak of moly tubing and weld in rod end tubes and weld on plate brackets. I do like how yours are triangulted on the top giving more side to side stabability.

Travis

whatbumper wrote:We built our own bars because we have seen the heavy cars like we run break the bars from chassis shops. We use a very thick top set of bars that are pretty big and put the bracing on the bottom. I don't like how we did ours but we copied them from some fast cars and now have seen some things we like better. We don't run them much but they are nice when you want to turn up the wick and let it eat.

Something like this:

how much do those weight Justin ?

looks like about 30#s give or take lol.

bruno wrote:

whatbumper wrote:We built our own bars because we have seen the heavy cars like we run break the bars from chassis shops. We use a very thick top set of bars that are pretty big and put the bracing on the bottom. I don't like how we did ours but we copied them from some fast cars and now have seen some things we like better. We don't run them much but they are nice when you want to turn up the wick and let it eat.

Something like this:

how much do those weight Justin ?

This is the best design in my opinion and if you plan on adding braces in the top you can add the link adjusters like double adjustable ladder bars use to have height adjustment.

Fabio with sissy bars... Never thought I'd see the day. What's next? 10.5Ws ?

On top of the benefits of side load triangulation, moving the top bars inward at the housing mounts (like David's bars) also comes in handy giving rear mounted coil over shocks a little more room on cars with narrow rear frames/housings.

true Dave that is the way mine are mounted

richter69 wrote:looks like about 30#s give or take lol.

right on!! I think 32. actually. We really don't use them though. that picture is actually from Skinny Kid Racecar site but ours are very close for some reason. lol I don't have a picture where you can see the bars.