[Longhorn Man]

I dunno about this track bar (panhard bar) idea, I've driven one for a month with a broken panhard bar, and hopping wasn't an issue. This sucker would squirm or float over the body like mad, I only felt comefortable doping 40 MPH or less.
Look under the truck, and see what angle the shicks are at. They are supposed to look like this;
}-l--o--l-{
or maybe a slight angle like this;
}--/--o--\--{
(as viewed from the rear)

if the angle is more, to where the shocks are closer to horizontal than verticle, then they aren't doing a single thing.

Now if we are talking wheel hop... as in bouncing when you take off har, spinning the tires, then you probably have worn bushings in the trailing arms, if not rusted/damaged/falling apart trailing arms. Or worse, the shuddering could be clutch or converter chatter, making it seem like it is all in the rear end.