Factory Traction Bars Links

[JefferyGT]

What was the reason that Ford did not or would not design these rear links to the axle?
.... Other than cost cutting. Because these simple parts really would not add relatively that much cost.

Is there some engineering reasoning?
Because I only see an upside in performance with this device.

Cheers.

 

[mattl600]

Love my SVCs. Would like to know as well.

 

[RaptorVette]

So I had RPG Traction bars installed a few weeks ago. Here's my on-road review:

Background - 2019 truck, stock shocks, Deaver +4HD leaf springs and Eibachs up front. JDM tune and 35" Yokohama X-AT tires everything else is stock.

1. They DID completely eliminate wheel hop in wet and dry. Even after installing the Deaver springs, I still had some wheel hop.
2. Traction is better, the tires still spin but not as much. Traction comes back quicker and the loss of traction is predictable. I still get a second gear scratch. Bottom line, the power gets to the ground better and more consistently, the bars DO work.

I'm not sure I would get these again, maybe there will big a bigger improvement off-road in the dirt. Next time, I may lean towards spending the money on a SVC bump stop kit like I had on my Gen1. I'm happy with the results, but was hoping it would be a bigger improvement like drag radials on a sports car.

 

[Dustan]

I would be careful with getting into a situation where you need the bumpstop you have installed. It looks like there’s no landing pad on the axle. I guess the traction bars may keep front to back movement to a minimum but if you pinch one of your lines it would suck.

 

[FordTechOne]

What was the reason that Ford did not or would not design these rear links to the axle?
.... Other than cost cutting. Because these simple parts really would not add relatively that much cost.

Is there some engineering reasoning?
Because I only see an upside in performance with this device.

Cheers.

It’s not cost cutting if they never existed in the first place. They’re not necessary on a stock truck; the leafs locate the axle laterally and longitudinally just as they’ve done for over a century.

As with any factory component, the mounts, bars, adjusting mechanisms, fasteners, etc would all need to be designed, engineered, manufactured, safety tested, and then integrated into the assembly line. You’re talking millions of dollars in that process alone, and then factor in the material costs. If Ford produces approximately 20k Raptors per year, that’s 80k over the course of Gen2 production. If the parts are an additional $100 per vehicle, that’s a total addition cost of $8,000,000.

 

[RaptorVette]

I would be careful with getting into a situation where you need the bumpstop you have installed. It looks like there’s no landing pad on the axle. I guess the traction bars may keep front to back movement to a minimum but if you pinch one of your lines it would suck.

Thanks for the heads up, but it's temporary. I've got to cut and modify the SDHQ Bump Pad because it wouldn't work with the traction bar bracket on the axle. I'm not going over to be jumping anytime soon. The lines are moved out of the way from before as well.

 

[JefferyGT]

It’s not cost cutting if they never existed in the first place. They’re not necessary on a stock truck; the leafs locate the axle laterally and longitudinally just as they’ve done for over a century.

As with any factory component, the mounts, bars, adjusting mechanisms, fasteners, etc would all need to be designed, engineered, manufactured, safety tested, and then integrated into the assembly line. You’re talking millions of dollars in that process alone, and then factor in the material costs. If Ford produces approximately 20k Raptors per year, that’s 80k over the course of Gen2 production. If the parts are an additional $100 per vehicle, that’s a total addition cost of $8,000,000.

I get your point. But I'm still not satisfied.
This is not a regular F150. I think Ford bean counters and greed crept in a little bit here.

 

[FordTechOne]

I get your point. But I'm still not satisfied.
This is not a regular F150. I think Ford bean counters and greed crept in a little bit here.

The cost vs. the minimal benefit doesn't have a business case. Ford spent big money on the Gen 3 coil spring suspension; there's a huge cost associated with that new design but the increase in performance should more than pay off.

 

[ayoustin]

It’s not cost cutting if they never existed in the first place. They’re not necessary on a stock truck; the leafs locate the axle laterally and longitudinally just as they’ve done for over a century.

As with any factory component, the mounts, bars, adjusting mechanisms, fasteners, etc would all need to be designed, engineered, manufactured, safety tested, and then integrated into the assembly line. You’re talking millions of dollars in that process alone, and then factor in the material costs. If Ford produces approximately 20k Raptors per year, that’s 80k over the course of Gen2 production. If the parts are an additional $100 per vehicle, that’s a total addition cost of $8,000,000.

And that's just for the hardware, after the company has paid the employees who've spent thousands of man hours engineering it, paying for tooling to produce said parts, and reconfiguring a production line to include this extra step for only these trucks, you're probably double that number. Definitely not worth it on a low volume production vehicle.

The coil springs hold a better business case because those are going to trickle down to standard F150s in the future.