Traction aid to prevent wheel hop

Hi guys,

have you seen any bolt-on solutions for the A-series Dodge anywhere? I have no problems in welding mounts etc in place but was wondering if there's something available as bolt-on. It does not need be vintage, the more practical the better. Of course it can be vintage too. Suggestions?

What exactly do you mean wheel hop? Are you like trying to do burnouts? Is the wheel jumping and bumping as you traverse the roads? If the latter you could need shocks and / or a good wheel balance. If the former, you may consider looking into "traction bars". More info needed my friend.

summitt= traction bars!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean traction when the rear tires are almost breaking loose when accelerating. Nothing wrong when I accelerate moderately or break traction immediately, only problem is on the verge of traction when doing a hard launch. All else is already done (shocks, bushings, etc) but am trying to figure out the smartest way to eliminate wheel hop in that situation without the need to fabricate the rear suspension completely.

Coming form a Mopar background, I'll share the typical car fixes. I don't know how much of this straight applies to vans, so consider this for info only.

First, the Mopar design was built to control this better than the other guys. The axle was not centered on the leaf spring, but moved forward, making the front segment shorter and stiffer to counteract this issue, while the longer rear segment sofetned the ride.

The old school factory recommended HP fix was super stock (STIFF) springs and a pinion snubber. This was bolted on the center section of the rear axle and had a rubber bumper much like the one on the frame rails above the axle. This would keep the axle from wrapping up and hopping.

The aftermarket 'slapper bars' were looked at by Mopar guys as poseur parts. They worked okay on other brands that did not have the unique axle placement, but not so much on Mopars. Some guys did have decent experience with them however. It must be said that the bumper on the forward end should extend to under the spring eye, not hit part way in the flat section. This has caused leaf failures in some extreme limited cases.

One solution that has come out in the past 10-15 years are CALTRAC bars.
http://calvertracing.com/caltracs.php
They are similar to slapper bars to a casual glance, but they are different.
This is the big step between a good stock setup and tearing it all out and welding in a different design.  

So best of luck on finding a solution!

Thank you RodStRace, very good info. I also have a long Mopar background so some of the things you mentioned I already knew but the Caltrac-suggestion was very good. I need to investigate that one.

I, have actually had very good luck with good ol' Lakewoods under my Darts and Valiants. (Ive had quite a few). I put some lakewood bars on my hearse, but havent got the proper gearset installed yet, so no idea how they will work on there, and have NEVER installed a set on my A-vans so also, no idea how they would work there.

Another solution to breaking traction in your van is wider tires. More grip on the road = less breaking of traction. This and a bag of cement in the back will lock you down good. But thats a pretty ghetto solution so naturally Im ok with it, lol.

There is a guy with a nice Cuda around here that has the Caltrac set up or another simular brand on it. Haven't caught up to the guy while he was stationary to chat with him though.

Rather than a bag of cement a couple cases of beer??

I'd prefer not to have any extra weight in the back but defo cases of beer over the cement   

BillyBlaze wrote:There is a guy with a nice Cuda around here that has the Caltrac set up or another simular brand on it. Haven't caught up to the guy while he was stationary to chat with him though.

Rather than a bag of cement a couple cases of beer??

Caltrac is the best if you don't want to go with a 4 link or ladder bar set up. if you don't want to go with caltrac a set of traction bars for summit work nicely. I still run the traction bars from summit. they work mint. no wheel hop the only problem is the rear suspension wont compress under rapid acceleration. This only matters in a drag race application.