97Preludeguy

Alright, so I installed a traction bar in my Prelude and I have a few questions for those with experience as this was my first traction bar install.

First, the front of the car was off the ground and the suspension was at full sag when I attached the radius rods from the bar to the mounting point on the knuckle. When I did this I did it so the wheels remained in the position they were naturally in when there was no radius rods attached; Was this the correct way?

Second, Should I get an alignment now? It seems where the rod's are mounted if they are cranked in or out it could have an effect on toe, So I'm pretty sure I should I just want to confirm.

And last, under certain circumstances, like say after HARD acceleration switching quickly to hard breaking, I get a small clunk that wasn't there before. I got under the car and checked, and the Heim joints in one of the rods seem to have some play. I added a few turns of preload to the rod on that side to see if that was the cause but it didnt change at all. So my question is, is this sound normal with a traction bar? Like are they natually kinda noisy some times? Or do you think I should invest in some higher quality Heim joints? If so please recommend some companies with reasonably priced quality products.

Thanks to all who read and reply in advance,
-Chris

Kyleb1115

my first question is, where did you buy it from? =]

as for the alignment, yes you should get one. trust me, every little things screws up your alignment.

97Preludeguy

I actually built it. My friend has the ESP bar and I got all of the measurements from that and decided to give it a go. Measured all the angles etc and welded it up. When I bought the Heim joints I kinda just bought the first/cheapest thing I saw thinking they were all similar, needless to say I was wrong.

As far as building the bar goes though, after all the time I spent on this I would honestly advise others to just buy it unless you're a good fabricator and enjoy doing this kinda stuff like I do.


EDIT: The bar works AWESOME, no wheel hop under any circumstances I've thrown at it thus far, just a little noisy at times is all.

97Preludeguy

Does anyone know what brand heim joints ESP uses? I'm sure they must be quality pieces.

fastbb2

they use shitty ones, i have the esp bars and i hate them... too noisey and the radius rods are wrong, you have to take the rod off of the knuckle to adjust it

prion

I had some noise from the heim joints in my rear toe bar when it was new. Sprayed some silicone on them and never heard a peep again. If there is play in the joint already, they must not be rated for such a high friction application. I do not know which ones to recommend, but give you props for fabricating a traction bar yourself!

97Preludeguy

Damn that sucks, I wonder if you have a different version than my friend, his has the Rad. Rod with a LH thread Heim joint at one end and a RH Heim joint at the other and if you loosen the jam nut on each joint you can adjust it easily on the car.

Thanks for the props man, and I'll give the spray a shot for sure, although from the sound of it there is a good amount of movement going on. I think I'll just try to read up on what exactly to look for in a joint in that location and go from there if no one else chimes in with a definitive answer. I've seen some for $70 EACH! I hope I don't have to go that road otherwise I'd have been better off spendin the $450 for the real deal in the first place haha.

AdReNaLiN

I'd like to see pics of your DIY bars...

lude4life13

It is always smart to align after messing with the suspension.

97Preludeguy

It's dark here now, I'll snap some tomorrow though and post'em up (weather permitting) so keep an eye out. They pretty much look like the ESP bar just with a different front motor mount design...

Hawkze_2.3

I have a PFI traction bar setup and I also have a small clunk from time to time. I wouldn't say it is normal, but it shouldn't be anything to get too worried about. I have thought about replacing my joints but haven't gotten around to it.

Better heim joints would likely fix the problem...something Teflon coated would be best

Definitely get an alignment.

ESP.net

News to me... far as I know you may adjust ours in and out with loosening the jam nuts just like most other Co.'s

Heim joints have to have movement, sometimes people will experience low speed chatter or when turning this is the heim and is perfectly normal. Over time if it gets louder spray some WD40 (lubricant) this not only lubes it up but flushes out debry and also quiets the sound.

A tell tell sign of a heim going bad is when you go to grab the radius rod and move it and a heim center eye is stationary and the rest of the heim will move.

We ESP always are looking for the best new thing, always striving to make these overkill.
Our current ones same ones being used in Baja races have seen several races and sent back to manufacture and within specs -John

Here is some video footage of our ESP Prelude Traction Bar System with Front Torque Mount Kit and Motor Mount Kit help winning Nam another $2000.00 pot, 2nd time on 26" slicks I do believe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOjV5WCDAvo

spoolinlude

Yes, you can, I don't know what that other guy is talking about. I have your traction bar on my car, all you do is loosen the jam nuts.

:: for ESP.

fastbb2

when i loosen the jam nuts on my radius rods, its just the rod that moves front to back not the heim joint... both sides do this.

forcefedeg01

[QUOTE=ESP.net;42452254]News to me... far as I know you may adjust ours in and out with loosening the jam nuts just like most other Co.'s



I helped out fastbb2 install the ESP Bars on his lude and yes, they are noisy, and yes they do not adjust at any point when loosening the jam nuts. the adjustment stays the same unlike any other companies out there that make them, i would know i had a set of Full-Race ones in my old hatch. The problem with fastbb2's bars is that the ends of the rods are threaded the same on both sides instead of one end left and one end right hand thread, therefore the adjustment stays the same on the ESP ones he has and just makes it a pain to adjust. Noise is still there regardless of how loose or tight we adjust the rods. too bad Full-Race doesnt make any for bb's and cb's

97Preludeguy

He got boned then, as that's obviously not how it's supposed to be. ESP themselves said in this thread that isn't the way they designed it and another member said his adjusts in the car just fine...

Pictures of my custom setup will be up today, yesterday it was pouring pretty much all day...

forcefedeg01

yeah he did, idk if he spoke/emailed esp but from my thoughts and experience with traction bars, the setup he bought from ESP was not manufactured correctly. If i were you or fastbb2, id get the avid setup. they have by far made a sweet setup for that body style

cdubs777

nice........ lude on top!

jprelude92

i have innovative and mine don't make any clunking noise, there rods have joints only in the front area the rear part that hooks up to the lower control arm is soild like the factory ones.
i have a friend with a crx that has a full race that uses joints on both ends like ESP and his makes a clunking noise too.

97Preludeguy

Here are a few quick pictures of it, most of the bar looks just like an ESP bar so I didn't take many of the bar itself, it's mainly the front mount that is different.

EDIT: Excuse the dirty engine bay I haven't had a chance to clean it yet I just got the car back on the road the other day = P

jlude90

Check Rod End Supply for heim joints, they're an American company and they race with their own products on the weekends on their own personal dirt track cars. I've had great experience with them and they were recommended to me by Louie Contreras of LCON>

forcefedeg01

very very nice, you made them yourself?

ESP.net

PM me with the issue you are having with the ESP TBS and we will see if we can resolve it. We are always striving to make our products overkill... saying they are under engineered compared to anything else out there is just plain false.

I personally ran the first traction bar system we ever made in the EF chassis for several years, still had it in there till last year... and is hanging up on the wall... street beaten and on track 50+ passes, 2 years of weekend 250 mile trips to college and home...100+ times of jacking on, no tweakin.. with a heavier H motor

97Preludeguy

THANK YOU!!! Haha, that's what I've been looking for, I'll look into them.

Yep, bought the aluminum arms and heim joints. The bar is 1.75" , 1/4" steel used for the end plates and the bracket on the engine side and bar side, the front mount is 2"x3/4" square tubing and the "cylinder" at each end is 2.25" OD .25" wall thickness steel with a universal Energy Suspension poly bushing kit (I forget the exact number) in each end.

j_wynn08

i do have a question. Do traction bars help on canyon roads or only on drags? me and my friends were arguing. also i did my cv axle and it does the same as he is saying with the traction bar.