Ladder Bars

I called sams offroad inquiring about their ladder bars which are 33" long.They said for an XJ this was probably too short.To have them do a custom length was
astronomical in price for them to do.Called Mountain, theirs is 30" long and they conveyed the same thoughts Sams did.So I got Sams to sell me the whole kit minus the bars for 70.00 and I have someone who can help me make the ladder bar and a cross member.I have a ORGS crossmember and it appears that its a little too far forward, so I'm thinking custom crossmember for the ladder bar that sits behind the ORGS.Now what I need to know is how long to make the ladder bar itself .Rough ballpark figure, then I can work on the crossmember placement.I know Goatman and Matt did one and Porchpuppy mentioned he's doing one too.
I'd really appreciate it if you guys could help me out on where to start out length wise.Thanks!................................Chris

I believe the theoretical optimum is to have the forward point of rotation for the ladder bars lined up with the front spring eyes. Any other configuration sets up a geometry that tries to push and twost the axle when the suspension compresses or extends.

PM Lbexj...
He's running a traction bar and it works real nice for his rig...
I don't remember if he made it or bought it.

if you run a single bar (with no shackle) then you want it to be approximately the length of the front half of your leaf.

for a ladder bar with a shackle on the frame end you pretty much want it as long as you can fit. this type of ladder bar acts like a radius arm in regards to its anti-squat characteristics, so you want it very long to keep the anti-squat from being outrageous. the shackle will compensate for the different arc it will want to take vs. the arc the leafs will want to take.

I mounted mine to the t-case skid that lined up with the channel iron brace that the front seat bolts mount to. I braced the skid to that mounting brace & mounted the shackle to that leg. This makes for a long traction bar.

Matt

I'm no expert at this so advice from the others guys may be in your best interest. Mine is holding up well so far and works great, but I'm sure it does not take the same abuse as Farmer Matt's and BrettM's.

I made my ladder bar using 1/4" x 1" square tube. I welded a bracket to the TC skid to attach the shackle and have tack welded the skid to the unibody frame. There is no additional bracing (yet). The shackle end of the ladder bar is in the same position as the end of the transfer case ... the bar is approx. 49" long.

Les

Mine is 36" from axle centerline to front bushing centerline. No noticable issues with anti-anything. Anti-squat is a function of bar length and height of the chassis mounting point. IMO, in almost all cases, less is better for off-road use.

The rubber bushing at the front doesn't accomdate axel articulation very well, so I have to loosen the jam nut to allow for twisting motion. A heim would handle this better, but would also transmit more NVH to the chassis. I don't always remember to loosen the jam nut when I get off-road and the resulting stress is showing on the axle bracket.