My understanding of the role of the torque arm is that it (is supposed to) eliminate wheel hop. Is the torque arm vital? Can it be substituted with, say, traction bars?

Looking underneath the car, I thought that removal of the torque arm seemed like a great clearance releaf for fabricating true dual exhaust (since it sits just to the driver's side of the driveshaft).

Forgive my naivite. Has anyone done this? Is it possible?

 

sure, like this:

this is the setup i have, its FAR superior to a torque arm but requires quite a bit of fabrication and welding....its also a really rough ride on the street.....but with it i can hit a 1.68 sec 60' time on mickey thompson et streets....with very old stock springs, shocks and struts. with some adjustables it should be around 5 someplace

 

Ah HA!
That looks pretty rigid man. So, the torque arm just benefits over trac bars in terms of ground clearance. I see....

 

the lift bars dont really have a ground clearance problem....its the 3" dual exhaust that hits occasionally