Ladder, Traction Bars, Kicker Braces

Have you been losing traction during hard acceleration from a standing start? Have you noticed your wheels hopping while climbing a hill, or braking hard? This loss of traction is caused by torque from acceleration or deceleration causing the axle housing to rotate, this is called axle wrap.

This rotation of the axle causes the leaf springs to twist into an S-shape. As the leaf springs are twisted they begin to push back on the axle in the opposite direction of the rotation. This increase in force causes the wheel to lose traction and the spring to snap back into shape. This happens rapidly and causes the wheel to hop until traction is regained or the torque lessened.

Axle wrap and wheel hop can damage your suspension and drive line parts and makes drive more difficult and dangerous. By adding ladder bars or traction bars to your lifted suspension can you hold your axle in place and get back that lost traction. Ladder bars and traction bars hold your wheels to the road and help to avoid the twisting of the axle that causes wheel hop. Traction bars are the lighter duty substitute for ladder bars.