Chevelle ladder bars

[chevyman0429]

She sure has a nice rear end that's for sure.

[69 Post Sedan]

Here's a picture of the ones that were on my car the day I brought it home.

I ended up taking them off as the Magnaflow exhaust wouldn't fit with them on.....and they made the car ride like a lumber wagon.

Kurt

[Keith Seymore]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 9566 BA</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Any thoughts on putting them on in general or how good they work? </div></div>

I hate to be contrarian (I'm not that kind of guy) but they shouldn't work at all.

The ladder bar is primarily to control spring wind up (and subsequent pinion nose windup) on leaf spring equipped cars. A &quot;band aid&quot; to overcome a design shortcoming, if you will.

An A body rear suspension is essentially a four link, which provides good control over the rear axle forces and position, including pinion nose windup. If there is compliance there then you have other problems that need to be addressed.

So - worst case, if the front of the ladder bar is secured to the chassis, then you run the risk of binding the rear suspension as it tries to move through two conflicting instant center paths. Best case, if the front of the ladder bar is loose (ie, a snubber) - then it does nothing.

K

[9566 BA]

Wow Keith you just blew my mind! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img] It makes sence what you say. They look pretty cool though! Kurt they look good on the Chevelle!

[PxTx]

In the mid 1960's most Chevelle's with a posi and any sort of power had wheel hop. These ladder bars were a popular solution to that problem and work great to keep things planted. I think they look great too.

There seems to be a lot of more elegant talk about Instant Center and such in the last 10 years that I ever recall in the past. There are different height no-hop brackets to adjust the upper control arms and they also have kits to change the position of the lower control arm mounting on the rear housing. None of which is terribly cool in a Day 2 kind of way, but I'm sure offer a better ride quality and probably help you hook better when you're headed into the 9's.

These guys made tons of bars and got them to work.



I've never run them, but there are 2 sets of the Ansen bars on ebay for another Day 2 solution, but I don't think they would look as cool as the ladder bars.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ansen-Ground-Gra...9b9&amp;vxp=mtr

[9566 BA]

Paul that Chevelle is very cool!

[69 Post Sedan]

Keith is correct.....ladder bars are horrible for the suspension and like I said before, they ride like crap. Go to the track and see if there is one A-body that's fast running ladder bars.....my guess is you won't.

If you want the look and don't care about the ride, install them. They are the perfect Day Two add on. If you want something to be functional, install good shocks as they will eliminate wheel hop with street tires.

As far as No-Hop bars, I know Jerry Frailey used them back in the day with his Chevelle......no ladder bars for him.

Kurt

[9566 BA]

Thanks for all the input. I will probably put them on for &quot;looks&quot; and then if I do go to the track see how they work. They do look cool on the car.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

I think ladder bars are the coolest looking thing since sliced bread, but that's just me...

So, Benjamin is getting an NOS set of NMW's on his '69 Nova... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[69 Post Sedan]

I love ladder bars and they do belong on a Day Two car as mine.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't work with my exhaust and with what I do with the car, they're just not the best choice.

I installed no-hop bars and QA1 12 position shocks. That eliminated ALL wheel hop.

Installing just the shock eliminated the wheel hop with street tires but as soon as I put a sticky tire on it the wheel hop came back.

Kurt