I've seen numerous posts spelling doom and gloom if you don't run traction bars, such as axle wrap and resultant drive shaft breakage. I have a friend that has run his 2000 Lightning tons of times, without traction bars. Now, these aluminum drive shafts are supposed to be stronger than otherwise stock ones because of the Lightning's increased power. If you feel any wheel hop, and you just simply lift, doesn't that prevent breakage? I am wondering if we have some goof ***** that stay on the mat regardless of how bad they spun, wheel hopped or whatever. Is supposedly axle wrap alone enough to supposedly break drive shafts? Unless the later Lightnings have some kind of a defect compared to earlier ones, I have no intentions on junking up the bottom with traction bars, when my friends runs mid 12's w/out them (unless I am missing something).

 

close..
It isn't the driveshaft breaking due to the power, it is the driveshaft breaking OR actually the U Joint Breaking due to the Angle that is cuased when the rear end hops.

The rear end hops becuase under power the tires have traction and the rear end actually twists clockwise. when it twists so far it snaps back and then it gets traction again and twists then snaps back. this causes the wheel hop.

Any year lightning without traction bars have this problem, it doesn't matter which driveshaft you have, they all have the same U joint.

The U Joint is Spinning and then ****ed at an angle HARD, this cause it to break.
If you are lucky, only the rear breaks.
If the front breaks, it can Pole Vault the truck
(Hence the need for a driveshaft loop to prevent this)

If you are runnings slicks with no traction bars on a lightning, it WILL HAPPEN, only a matter of time

 

If you go to the track or plan on hooking real good, you should get them. A aluminum driveshaft is 450.00 from a tuner that I called. I was on Nitto DR when this happened.
http://nloc.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69709

It happened right off the line. No chance on getting out of it.

 

Why the hell not....all that power is worthless without traction

 

but like I mentioned, a friend of mine has been running for a couple of years sans traction bars, running mid 12's. It's not about the money, I just don't feel the need to start junking up the bottom of the truck (with traction bars) if they're not needed. Now, my buddy (like myself) is not a newbie to drag racing, so he does not stay with his foot glued to the floor like an idiot with his hair on fire. Is wheel hop the result from people just not knowing what they're doing and leaving the vehicle WOT?

 

NO.

everything you want to know about wheel hop
http://www.competitionengineering.co...es/chassis.asp
http://www.competitionengineering.co...s/chassis2.asp
http://www.competitionengineering.co...s/chassis3.asp


cliff notes, My previous post.

if you go with simply lakewood traction bars for $100, you can install them in about 10 minutes,
only 2 U bolts with 4 nuts each side.
Extremely Easy.


suprisingly though, I don't know of any track that will let you run slicks without driveshaft loop and/or traction bars.

the above article will answer your questions

 

I understand what wheel hop is, and why it happens. My question is, why is it that so many make it sound like it is guaranteed destruction w/out traction bars, and yet I personally know somebody (actually two people) who run (or ran) slicks often, and nevr broke driveshafts or U-joints, or had any problems. And, no our track does not allow you to run slicks w/out a safety loop.

 

 

The aluminum drive shaft is not strong than the steel shaft. It is lighter to help get rid of driveline vibration at higher speeds. The aluminum shaft has more metal content to try and make it strong as the steel shaft. The ears for the u-joint end caps are so much thicker that they bind easier with less axle wrap. There have been way more broken aluminum shafts than steel. If your friend cuts a decent 60' time (1.8 or lower) he is taking a big chance even with a steel shaft.

 

So, broken driveshafts are common with these trucks?

 

Without traction devices? Ayup ... Just a matter of time, as
everyone is trying to tell ya. TruckTracs are a cheap insurance
policy ...

 

There are a few things you can do....

I ran 12.50's many times without traction bars. Its all about Pinion Angle.

Stock Pinion Angle is like -1.
A good RACE Pinion Angle is about -4.

You can install 2-3deg negative pinion shims to make front of the rear role down some. When you leave the line and axle wrap it wont travel into the postive angle as much.

I screwed up when I lowered my Lightning and didnt have the proper shims to get it back into -3 -4 range. 2nd pass after that, Popped the Driveshaft.

Traction bars are good insurance. Here are my thoughts.

Pinion Shims-$15
Pinion Snubber $30 (If you dont want T-bars)
DS Loop- $50-$100
Traction Bars $100-$400
Looking like a fool when you tear your truckup because of to much power and not the right stuff... PRICELESS