Yes, they will be coming out and the holes welded up. I am going to seam seal and POR15 everything top and bottom too.

 

Are "Cal tracs" the same as slide a links? If so, then they can be used with swaybars, but sometimes the swaybar ends need trimming to clear the mounting bracket on the spring plate. If you're making them from scratch you can easily mount your bracket on the spring plate slightly offcenter and it will still work fine. That's what I did with my homebuilt traction bars. I mounted the swaybar and scribed the plate to locate the ends, then just welded my bracket about 1/4" offcenter to clear the ends. The weld bead actually interfered still when I bolted the swaybar bushing back on and I had to use a razor knife to cut the edge of the bushing at an angle to allow for the bead to clear and the bushing to set solid on the spring plate.

I use phillips head self tappers that are large washer head. When I'm done welding I use a parting wheel to remove the shank on the opposite side and just leave the smooth head there. Then I seal the welds and the heads in place. Of course if it shows I remove them and weld the holes shut.

 

how much of an overlap did you leave on the donor panel before you welded it to the hole?

 

I would say between a half inch and an inch. He really seemed to just eyeball it from contours and stuff.

 

I don't think they are the same, but I do think that they are similar. I haven't really looked into slide a links yet, it sounds like they are like a hydrolic Ram.

 

Not really any hydraulics to slide a links. They slide inside each other and have a poly bushing to keep them free and moving easily. The front mount is incorporated into the front spring so it can be preloaded to adjust for various track or street conditions.
I just did a search on Google for the caltracs and found them. They're identical to slide a inks except the bar portion is one piece and doesn't slide. Looks much easier to fab if a guy wanted to make his own.

 

http://www.hotrodsandhemis.com/traction1.html

http://www.hotrodsandhemis.com/Traction.html

Here is where I got the plans for them. Seems easy enough.

 

Just one thing I might add to the article on the caltracs. Be very precise drilling your holes for the attachment bolts! If the holes are not very close to the bolt sizes that attach the ends they will make a big clunk when you accelerate or deccellerate.
I've learned the hard way that suspension pieces have a ton of leverage with a large vehicle as force, and even more with tons of HP to work on them. They wont break, but they will make you think something is wrong when they clunk under launch torque.

 

I had thought about that when I was picturing making them. What would be ideal is to have them all drilled and everything, and use welded collars as sleeves to add additional strength. It would make it harder to remove them though, but nothing a torch could not handle.

One of the things I had hoped to get out of this project was to learn how to weld. My father in law doesn't want me to though. I had popped an eye a couple years ago and can still see out of it, although with some issues. Well his reasoning is that I have one good eye left and should not push my luck with welding. I think that I could get alot more accomplished by learning to weld on my own.

A few years ago I was into big trucks, and had one lifted, and helped a buddy put a 6" kit, 3" body lift, and 40" boggers on his in a weekend. My daughter is 14, she will be 16 in a couple years and her current want is a jeep. My wife told me to start looking for a project. To me a project is something to drop a small block into, and put some Dana 60's under. I would rather just know how to weld myself rather than needing to justify why I want to do something, and explaining how it should be done to someone else to do my work for me...

If a functioning welder ends up in my garage, I may just teach myself. lol I've read a few books on it, I understand how it works and how to weld, plus the bit of teaching I had in High School it should not be too hard. My brother is a welder by trade too... He could get me scraps to practice on, and maybe some pointers.

 

just out of curiosity, how did you screw up your eye?
and secondly, are you wanting to use a torch welder or an electric?