Hot Rods Traction Masters

I bought some for the 54 I had a few years back. But the ones I got located on the front spring mount. No drilling just bolts. I did this because I had wanted them years before on another 54.
Don’t remember the company name. They were well made.

 

Jeff
I built (and sold) ten sets of these in the 80's, I have a 67 Nova so the 62-67 was the primary application. This is a (somewhat) copy of an original used set I had found at a swap meet so don't know the application and yes, they are designed to clamp to the leaf springs as compared to weld-on bracket style.
The rear attachment point (pivot) is a pair of brackets welded to the OEM spring/shock mount. They were for street driving so the need for (slight) movement was needed as compared to the limited movement of a drag car. This was accomplished by sandwiching 1/4" thick rubber stock on both sides of the spring and using lock nuts set just short of tight for movement over rough roads, etc.
In applications like a Nova which is a monoleaf spring it is important to clamp them as close as possible to the front spring mount but on multileaf applications it is not as critical so if a person happens to find a set for something other than say a 57 Ford, a little adaptation is easily accomplished.

 

Much inspiration here:
Google images with numerous HAMB threads.
https://www.google.com/search?q=the...slAGIQ_AUoAnoECAQQAg&biw=1280&bih=800&dpr=1.5

 

This one

 

Jeff, the bars in your photo are almost identical to what's been on my 55 T-bird for many years. They do bolt to the spring/shock plates at the rear, but the forward mounts are bolt-on. The front mounts, could be either bolt-on/welded to the frame. My bars and brackets were chrome, but I had them powder-coated 20% gloss black. They are Tractionmaster bars and pretty much the same as those used on Shelby GT350 Mustangs. My father was the 2nd owner, and the car has been in the family for approximately 50 years.

 

I ordered replacement bushings from Tractionmaster. The new bushings looked like they were polyurethane, but the originals were natural rubber. One of the bushings was too tight, which necessitated my using the best one of the original bushings in it's place. It was one of the few rubber parts on the car that didn't have dry rot. Tractionmaster is still in business in Southern California.

 

A gent from Fremont (a mile from the old dragstrip) had a pair of the original authentic 'Traction Masters', complete with the gennie Motor Trends blue sticker...
Garage sale, I spotted a nice 10" cast iron fry pan. Bought it, $2.
I then saw the traction masters hanging in his garage. "Are they for sale?" He asked what I'd want 'em for.
"54 Ford Coupe...406 FE, 3 on the tree, heavy top loader close ratio, 9" butt..."
He said, "Please take 'em, as long as they're goin' on a Ford!"
Gifted 'em. Cool.
My bud Don Serventi and I 'bootlegged' Traction Masters in our Jr. year of high school, San Jose Tech.
We sold no less than 60 pair in 2 years, out of the trunk of Don's '56 Chevy.
I was also selling reversed steel wheels, great business!

 

One of the nicest 57 Fords on the HAMB with Traction Master bars... great photo @POTATOTRUCK

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/do-i-need-traction-bars.1200218/page-2#post-13686222

Hello,

We put on many original Traction Master Bars on our groups Chevy sedans. They were the original ones and at the time, no other company came close to the quality build and simplicity of the original. They were the bolt on kind for the street traction and looks. For our Chevy sedans, (55 post, 56 post, 57 Bel Air and even a 54 Bel Air, ) Traction Masters were simple and efficient for our cars.

But, when we built our 1940 Willys Coupe for the street legal Gas Coupes And Sedan Classes in 1959-60, we welded on the original Traction Master Bars in front to the frame and then used the original set up with the rear axle using the supplied U-Bolts. Most of the street legal racers at the time were using the welding method, due to the tremendous horsepower sent to the back on full acceleration. The 56 Chevy rear axle set up was perfect for the original traction master bars.

Jnaki

After a lot of measuring and marking, I was given the first official welding job for the front bracket of the Traction Master bars. I certainly did not want to screw up the welding in front of my brother. So, I have to admit, he approved my final gas welding of those two front brackets and I was a proud teenager.

http://www.tractionmaster.com/index.html
1951 Olds sedan cruising in Long Beach, late 1957

The one problem we had with Traction Master Bars was that once installed, they become the lowest part of the car, closest to the ground. So, when my brother lowered his 51 Olds Sedan in a California Rake, those Traction Master Bars scraped the ground on some bumps. When the final springs were added, the angled rake was a little higher, but on the drive-in theater hills, we had to go sideways to get into the area where our friends were all parked. They did help the big Olds Sedan get good traction. YRMV
51 Olds Moon Discs lowered Cal Rake 1957

 

Ba
Back when I built the ‘55, I was able to buy them from Traction Masters, and yes, they are welded to the frame.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

When welding the forward bracket to the Frame location is very important. You are technically making a 4 bar set up. Mount points must be correct in length and drop or you have a bind. Make sure what your doing is right for what you want. In other words you will have 4 pivot points, make sure you have them correct to each other.

 

I myself would use Cal Trac bars....If they make something for your year of car...

 

If you use Caltracs on a 57 Ford you have take a small slice out of the frame for the inside plate to clear.
Not everyone wants to cut into a frame. I did and they work fantastic although not really traditional.

 

Here is mine, 40 ford coupe with a 57 chevy rear end.

 

Would love to have a bolt on set for my 56 Victoria. Admired them since the 60’s..

 

I wonder if that's what's on my merc that was built back in the 50's?

 

Genuine Traction-Masters will have M-1 cast into the bar ends. Currently, their website only lists weld-on bars, but mine are bolt-on. The front mount is triangular/w one hole utilizing the existing leaf spring front mount. A second hole had to be drilled into the frame. If I can figure out how to post a photo, I will.

 

The single shear mount at the front was a constant failure point with any tire, otherwise
geometry not too bad for a quick install (lots of antisquat).

 

I bought a new pair direct from Traction Masters in 1967 and they did indeed have a front mount that had to be welded to the frame. That front mount was like an L shaped piece of metal with a hole in it. Not too strong I RIPPED one in half with a slightly OT 67Mustang fastback with a 390 4 speed and new M&H 7 inch slicks.

Stretched the metal, literally pilled it apart no cracks just a clean destruction of the bracket.

 

Have any of you cats tried to contact them recently? Don't have business hours listed on webpage and no one answering the phone. Sent 'em an e-mail, hoping someone will respond. Hope they didn't fold 'cause I need mucho help with a rare application. Thanks!

Joe

 

Thanks for the feedback, Jeff. Best time to contact now is after Noon, PST. They are hunting inventory for my application. Just relieved they are still in business!

Joe

 

I have an old unused set in the shop, going to take a look at them in the morning

 

I run the McGaughys on my 60 Vette. With a set of heavy shocks, I have eliminated the severe wheel hop the car had . Mine are bolted in the front to the front spring eye. Running drag radials and getting some hard launches at the track cutting mid 11's.

 

We built them in shop class in high school by removing our spring plate and welding brackets on it for the tube. Then just made up a clamp setup for the front to clamp to the leaf spring just behind the spring eye. They worked great, and cost was cheap. Traction Masters still sells this clamp type option to avoid welding them on.

 

Thanks for the posts, guys. I hadn't thought about "Traction-Masters" for at least the last 50 years.

As I remember, they were one of the few things you could add to your car and still be legal to run in the "stock" classes under NHRA rules; they were considered "Safety Equipment".