Are the factory traction bars as effective as aftermarket ones? If not, which aftermarket ones work best and fit best without chassis mods?

More important, does the multi-leaf '68 suspension need traction bars? Did the 400's have them from the factory?

I remember the early Mustangs had wheel hop so bad you couldn't do a burnout. I don't remember that being a problem on my '67 or '68 Firebird 400's.

'68's had both multi leaf springs and staggered shocks to control wheel hop. If you are asking if converting a '67 to multi leaf springs will eliminate wheel hop, the answer is it will lessen the effects but it will not be as effective as the full '68 setup.

If you have a 67, I would recommend the factory traction bars that came on the car. They look great when restored correctly but the drawback is they fetch $400 plus a pair.

CalTracs will be the best aftermarket alternative if you didn't want to go factory.

If a 68 and have traction issues, I would first address age of springs and shock type first and if need replacing, do so. As Mark stated above, the 68 staggered shocks and addition of leafs cured most traction issues. However, worn springs and shocks can exacerbate wheel hop and traction, so address that.

Competition Engineering Slide A link traction bars. I believe those are around $400 pair.

Both Caltrac and Slide A Link are direct bolt ins.

Hands down, I'd get Caltracs...beefier..

If your using regular radial street tires it doesn't matter what suspension contraption you use you will spin the tires.
the factory arms on 67's help somewhat. On my 68 I have parabolic monoleafs which have a taper in the spring that does add rigidity over a standard factory monoleaf.
With multileaf springs they do sell clamps for the purpose of clamping the front leafs which essentially stiffens the front of the spring so the spring doesn't wrap up and cause wheel hop.
other issues could be warn out bushings, worn out shocks and pinion angle that cause wheel hop.

One cheap trick, is to clamp a section of a leaf onto the front half of the springs. This strengthens the spring, in that area and helps to prevent it from flexing, or bowing up.

Then there are the old school slapper bars. When adjusted correctly, they work OK. We won lots of races using these. I built some cheap ones by just welding a piece of square tubing to the shock plate, and adjusting with metal wedges and grinding the snubbers.

I have a 1967 coupe that as far as I know is an original 326 & 3-speed manual car. It has both the left and right side factory traction bars. If they really bring $400 for the set, I might be willing to let mine go. I want to install a Hotchkiss TVS suspension kit, and the rear sway bar won't work with the factory sway bars. They suggested removing the factory bars and brackets and then installing a set of Caltracs to take the place of the factory bars and prevent wheel hop.

Some people try to get that... I was watching on ebay a very nice pair with brackets that went at auction for $201 here.

Unfortunately he wanted USD280 to ship them to me by USPS!

Anyone know how much a bar with brackets weighs?

$201 is one exception plucked from a very recent auction. Very nice properly restored sets that need nothing fetch on average, $400.

You find a set that you want to buy...I'll ship them to you. Not for no $208. Hell...I shipped two long branch manifolds to some place by Adelaide a few years back for $128. I don't think those traction bars are much heavier than manifolds.

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