Anybody know where I can get some plans to make some home made ladder bars. Or where I can get a good set at a decent price. The rear end on my truck keeps twisting forward and trashing my u-joints. I have checked and even put new leaf spring u bolts and made sure everything was tight and I am still killing my u- joints. Any ideas would be helpful.

 

Here is some inspiration from the off-road crowd:
Show me your traction bar designs - JeepForum.com

TOTM: Traction Bars - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

BamBar - Ultimate Anti-Wrap Solution - Jeepaholics Anonymous

 

Those are some interesting variations on the solid axle mount design. I'd never seen one welded directly to the center before.

The one thing all solidly-mounted-to-the-axle type anti-wrap devices have in common is they will bind the suspension travel at any more than a couple inches through their range of motion. Anything solidly mounted to a leaf spring axle must allow the axle to travel through an elliptical arc matching the axle/s path in the up/down and forward/back planes while maintaining the pinion angle (anti-wrap).

You can squeeze a little more travel out of them with careful measurement and creative use of heims and bushings. But the only things that really do it well through the full rage of suspension travel are a true 4-link, a modified 4-link (Caltrac) or some radical custom stuff:

http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/PhotoAlbu...cs/CTD_169.jpg
http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/PhotoAlbu...cs/CTD_198.jpg

 

One of the cheapest routes is to use 3rd link bars from a tractor 3 point hitch. Parts can be found at tractor supply.

 

Finally found out why it was killing the U-joints, the top leaf spring on the drivers side was broke in half, so I replaced the entire pack and re-aligned the rearend. Now I am looking into Pro comp and Tuff country ladder bars, anybody have any thoughts on either brand?

 

look on Ballistic Fabrications. They have all the joints and mounting tabs you need to build bars, to include square tube.
Ballistic Fabrication - Manufacturers of Precision Offroad Fabrication Supplies

 

Here is a link to an atricle i read Sept 2011 Diesel Power, "Traction Bar Install
Get Your Modified Diesel’s Power to the Ground"

Read more: Traction Bars How To - Diesel Power Magazine

I know a few people that run these and like them

 

The guy is asking about ladder bars and everyone keeps posting info about traction bars. They are two different designs. Traction bars are typically the cheap junk most guys fab themselves that serve their purpose but also bind wheel travel. Good for your local brush pull, but I wouldn't daily drive it... Most will just overcompensate on the length of the bar to try to avoid this binding, as the longer the bar, the less angular movement it is doing, so it's less binding. Ladder bars do the same thing but allow the axle to still move up and down without actually binding it up. They typically attach to the axle on top and bottom (2 points) and have a floating attachment at the frame. Similar to a shackle on a leaf spring. Notice how leaf springs don't use two solid attachment points either...