Budbuilt Traction Bar Installed

Hello all!! Its been awhile since i last posted and was going to put this thread in ( https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/budbuilt-traction-bar-questions-and-opinions.425130/ ) as an update, but what the hell. So i finally installed my traction bar. I went with the weld on version for reliability, durability and opinions from others who used the bolt on version. Plus it was $100.00 cheaper. I found someone to do some minor welding to both the axle bracket and cross member. I was told that no modifications to the cross member would be necessary, but looking at it and thinking about worse case scenario (that's the kind of person i am) a had him weld in some cross member supports to prevent any possibility of twisting. Now i don't have to think about it on the trail.

As for the install, it was supper easy. The hardest part was the adjustments, which to were supper easy. The only thing i want to do yet are move the muffler over about another 3/4" to completely clear the traction bar when flexing or when the bed is fully loaded. That will just require new muffler hangers to be welded in. Im also going to have my tail pipe relocated due to the OME leaf springs making contact when drooping, but that has nothing to do with the traction bar. Here are some pics below:

 

Looks great! Been wanting to pull the trigger on one of these.

Did the front shackle come flattened off like that, or did you have to do it for some kind of clearance issue?

How's it drive now?

I too was curious about how the crossmember would handle the new loads. Perhaps the bracing was a good idea.

What kinda lift you running in the front that's level-ish with the rear Dakars AND lift blocks??

 

My question.... how is your undercarriage so clean!?

 

The front shackle did not come like that... it actually had another set of bolt holes that I cut off myself for clearance purposes. The extra holes were for if you needed more travel and another option to mount.

It drives awesome!! What a difference!!!! With my gear ratio change the axle wrap became worse and I'd have to pay attention to how fast I let the clutch out. Now with the traction bar it feels solid in the rear and wrap has been eliminated. Awesome mod for any tacoma owner, lifted, stock or lowered.

I'm running a fabtech DB 6" lift. Blocks are 3" from fab tech and the OME Springs provided 2 1/4 in of lift for a total of 5 1/4 in of lift. It leveled my truck out PERFECTLY with just a smidge of rack in the back

 

Off-road, power wash, repeat. After winter is done up here, I power wash and degrease underneath, then do touch ups if needed with paint or rubber undercoating on the frame. The key is to stay on top of that. Once rust starts it's hard to stop it.

 

Im on the fence purchasing this, where did you have to weld?

 

The bracket that is attached to the axle housing. Weld the top, bottom, the one side, inside the bracket it has oval cutouts that you weld in to the housing and finally weld as much as you can on the side where the 3rd member is. Thats it! Then the option to beef the cross member up. All the rest is bolt on

 

My exact thought! No amount of pressure washing would keep my truck looking like that, nor a new one here. That would be so much easier to work on than my dirty, rusty taco!
Then again I work in the woods and my trucks sees 30,000 hard miles a year.

 

OP, question for ya',

I can see you are an extra cab or 4 door by you having a carrier bearing support - that said, from the rear axle, how far forward is the cross member you attached the bar to?

Thanks.

 

Yes, i am an extra cab. Are you asking how far away the crossmember is from the rear axle? If so I just measured 47" from the rear axle face (where the bracket welds) to the crossmember. Let me know if this was what you were asking for

 

Yes sir... that's the measurement I have been looking for, thank you.

 

Okay dumb question in bound...what does this thing do?

 

Eliminates axle wrap while retaining articulation capabilities.

 

Roger that, thanks!

Back to your scheduled programming...

 

No, seriously that underbody and frame looks great..

Did you spray the frame yourself?

 

Looking at rusty axle flanges the axle was painted or replaced and the frame has fresh undercoating which is why it looks so clean. Db lift and underglow do i assume its a mallcrawler Aswell?

 

The frame was treated at Toyota. However, beings our Tacoma's are very susceptible to frame rot, i sprayed it myself again with 3M rubber undercoating. At the end of every winter i power wash and do touch ups to any chips that may have formed. Same goes for the drive train and suspension, power wash and do touch ups with spray paint if need be.

 

yea.... the mall in town does have a pretty crappy parking lot

 

^^ Nothing wrong in keeping your truck clean.
I trash mine on the various runs we do, which could be a month or more apart, then spend the time in between cleaning above, below & inside.

Your truck looks good.

 

I did this same track bar but haven't done anything to the cross member yet. It sucks! I didn't really notice any improvement in rear axle hop in the deep snow. My advice is if your going to do one of these, plan on doing some additional fabrication to reinforce the cross member. The flex is going to be up and down. I was thinking about grinding out the rivits and completely removing the cross member than welding a bunch of steel boxing it in. Than bolt it back in Thoughts?
I would like to make one from scratch but I'm not sure if I want to put that much time into it.