I knew someone who had a 71 Mach 1 with a 351 and a 4 speed that would do the same thing so he got lakewood traction bars ad it helped alot.

 

Check with the Mustang crowd, it sounds like you're
after the anti hop bars they put on the Shelbys...

 

I am not really to crazy about having anti-hop or traction bars hanging down below my rear suspension, I just don't like how they look. I would rather find a different way to get my wheel hop and tire spin under control. My rear springs don't seem to sag, so I don't think they need replaced. I put airshocks on it so I could get a little more clearance for my tires but should I dump them and go with some good KYB Shocks. I was also thinking more along the lines of a Auburn Locker with some good bitting tires.

 

Your wheel hop is caused by the leaf springs wrapping up and releasing over and over. When you are on the gas the axle tries to twist and pushes the part of the leaf spring in front of the axle up. When it has enough stored energy in the spring the front of the spring will then flex down causing the car to hop. Then it starts over again.
I can think of 3 remedies.

Get stronger springs but suffer a rougher ride.

Put on slapper bars to stop the wrap up.

And possibly try some of what are called "helper springs" that bolt on to the front half of the spring.
Hope this helps.

 

I've had hop issues before and I'll share my fixes with you. See profile for details. The 'cuda had a chattering wheel hop, solved it with new mp springs. The mustang had full on wheel hop from overburdened factory shocks. I replced them with really nice adjustables and after that I had straight spin....very solid.

 

Originally posted by onebadmerc:
<strong>I am not really to crazy about having anti-hop or traction bars hanging down below my rear suspension, I just don't like how they look. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Anti Hop bars don't go on the underside of the
springs, they go above the axle, to the frame,
and pervent the spring from wrapping during hard
launches...

 

Spring wrap is your problem and you need traction bars. Slappers are ok but ladder bars are the way to go. Other solutions that stiffen the suspension are bandaids that don't address the problem and cause handling problems. Send me your email address and I will send you a tech article I wrote on how to install ladder traction bars that will work with leaf springs w/o binding yet allow the suspension to work as intended.

 

Originally posted by willys36@aol.com:
<strong>Spring wrap is your problem and you need traction bars. Slappers are ok but ladder bars are the way to go. Other solutions that stiffen the suspension are bandaids that don't address the problem and cause handling problems.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Anti Hop bars don't stiffen the suspension, they don't
put the springs in a bind, and even if they are a
bandaid, it was good enough for the Shelbys, so
it's good enough for me, besides, didn't you read
the part where he doesn't want to see all the
bars hanging down??

[ January 27, 2003: Message edited by: Canzus ]</p>

 

I will look into the anti-hop bars Canzus, I need to do something about my traction woes, it is killing me on the 1/4 mile. Smoke shows look impressive but they sure don't help, plus the wheel hop just sucks.

 

Originally posted by Canzus:
<strong>

Anti Hop bars don't stiffen the suspension, they don't
put the springs in a bind, and even if they are a
bandaid, it was good enough for the Shelbys, so
it's good enough for me, besides, didn't you read
the part where he doesn't want to see all the
bars hanging down??

[ January 27, 2003: Message edited by: Canzus ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Sorry if I offended you but you misunderstood what I wrote. I said slappers are ok, they work fine. Never said they stiffen suspensions and of course, they can't bind it. Didn't say they were bandaids, rather OTHER methods like adding leaves to the springs are bandaids. Then I went on to comment on solutions OTHER than slappers mentioned in previous posts that DO stiffen suspensions(stiffening the springs by inference, guess I should have mentioned them specifically!). Finally, I guess I misunderstood the original info request. I read him to say he didn't like the look of slapper bar type traction aids, so a GREAT looking alternative is ladder bars. If not applied properly with leaf springs, ladder bars WILL bind a suspension and be dangerous. This is the binding I was refering to. My bias is REALLY showing there! You must admit, ladders are the ultimate solution to spring wrap.


I'll try to read more carefully in the futher B4 I spout off.


[ January 28, 2003: Message edited by: willys36@aol.com ]

[ January 28, 2003: Message edited by: willys36@aol.com ]</p>

 

I forgot that I had a pair staggered shock mount plates that were off of a 9" rearend out of a 1972 Mustang. Will these plates work on my 1966 Mercury Comet with a 8" rearend???? If they fit, will some anti-hop bars work in conjunction with the staggered shocks? I was thinking this might be the way to go if you think this will get my spring wrap and traction problems under control. What do you think???? Hell, if this doesn't work I will just put the stock 200 inline six back in it, I know I didn't have traction problems then.