Rock kraler almost killed me.........

Well First thanks for reading my rant but i feel this needs to be said to help other people stay away from rock krawler....
Now I know some of you will probably bash this tread but thats fine with me and i am in no way trying to be rude or blast a company, and for all I know the products that you guys have may be better quality but rock krawler almost killed me.....

So I have an 88 jeep comanche, heres the buld tread on Comanche club if you care to look...
http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=24845

But so yesterday i was driving down I-10 and all of a suden i heard a loud snap and then all hell broke loose, i shot off over in to the fast land almost coliding with a semi and then over to the emergancy lane in a super wild fit of deth wobble. Now every thing on my jeep is brand new and maticusly mantained. Two days ago I got under the jeep and greased every thing and tightended every thing back down in anticipation for a trip to bridgeport ca that im about to take.......
After leaving skidmarks in my seat i got out of the truck to see what had broken sending me in to the worst and i mean worst deth wobble ive ever experianced.... Well as soon as i looked at the front end it came aparent what had failed. the only part that i have on my truck made by rock krawler is there bomb proof track bar, well aparently its not verry bomb proof. Now what happened is the threads in side the track bar and the treads on the shank of the hime joint failed and riped completly out of the track bar..... now I know what your thinkin, the jam nut wasent tight.... well your wrong I have personaly tightened the jam nut down on three seprate ocasions since the 4 months i have had the jeep done. including two days ago..... so after geting the jeep home i decided that i would give rock krawler a call and see if i couldent get it waranteed. After geting on the phone with a tech at rock krawler it became aparent to me that they have the rudest and most unprofessional tech staff ive ever incountered. I explained to the tech what happened and the reply i got was "well its not our fault that you dident tighten down the jam nut".... as you can probably imagine that realy offended me as i buld rock crawlers im no dumb a$$, I curently own 6 jeeps and saying that i dident tighten down the jam nut after i explaned that the jeep has been mticulously matained and I PERSONALY MADE SURE that the jam nut was tight 3 times in the last 4 months..... :firedevil Realy now what kind of busness are they trying to run?
Say what you want but Im just trying to help other people keep on living and trying to help other fourm members stay away from there $hittY customer service.......
so long story short I am fex exing them back there crap that they call bomb proof and chalking it up as a learning experiance, and buying some one elses track bar......
any sugestions?

You've stated that you build rockcrawlers, so build your own trackbar out of .250 wall DOM.

So, since you personally tightened the jamnut down on 3 separate occasions, did you ever find the cause for it to come loose in the first place, necessitating the 3 tightenings? Or if it wasn't loose, do you think continually tightening it when it was already tight might have started to fatigue or strip out the threads? Not trying to bash, just asking.

my RK trackbar is pretty much the only thing in the front end (besides the shafts and gears) that DIDNT break in my old jeep... now its on my new one.

and jeremy @ RK is the man. i think you fail.

XJLI said:

my RK trackbar is pretty much the only thing in the front end (besides the shafts and gears) that DIDNT break in my old jeep... now its on my new one.

and jeremy @ RK is the man. i think you fail.

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how did i know you would shrug off this guys post, and bro-ham about your boys at rk?

xcm said:

how did i know you would shrug off this guys post, and bro-ham about your boys at rk?

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bc out of every product i've ever run, RK's stuff didn't break or wear out prematurely? actually thats a lie. my ORGS trackbar lasted almost a combined 100k miles on two different rigs.

like anything else on a modified rig, you need to keep your eye on shit. if it keeps getting loose, put on some loctite.

loctite could have solved this problem.

I think it's more the customer service being $hitty that would upset me. They could sell great products for all i know, but if they had a faulty product they should do hwat it takes to make the customer happy.

same thing happened to my Rusty's trac bar... only it happened as I was pulling into a gas station at 15kph. service was less the stellar too.

so other then not almost dying, and it was Rusty's instead of RockKrawler, I feel your pain.

I build my own stuff now, that way if/when it fails, I just yell into a mirror until I cry.

I sure would like to see pics of this thing. It should not have come apart even if it had no jamnut. I wonder if the heim was a size too small for the trackbar.

^^X2. I have a HD teraflex trac bar and even with the jam nut lose the thing is a b**** to turn in or out.

I'd like to see a picture of that.

Also, spell check is your friend.

How much thread engagement did you have? I've seen people run the joints out too far causing headaches.


I've also seen trackbars fail at the threads, bend, break, etc when everything was right.

Thank you for the warning.. Customer service is almost as important to me as product quality.. sounds like both departments failed you..

Plenty of other company's that excel in Customer Service, that i will be doing business with.. I appreciate these types of posts..

Heres some pics, and for you guys asking why I tightened it three times it was never loose I just went over every nut and bolt 3 times in the last 4 months, sooooo ya..... Imo rk sucks not just there customer service but there shitty ass products..... As the reason I dident buld one is because on this project it was bolt in life time waranty products.....
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

Is that your steering stabilizer thats attached to the track bar?

If the pictures do not deceive me, it looks like there were about 10 threads engaged. It should not have failed. Was the heim loose in the end of the track bar? It looks like the heim was too small in diameter for the track bar. It doesn't look like the threads are damaged enough for the heim to pull out.

I just browsed through your build thread on comancheclub and had a question. You got the RK trackbar and bracket but was wondering which part number you ordered? Because you also installed 7" skyjacker coils with it and if you had a track bar for anything less than the 6.5-8 then it would have been to short and not have enough threads engages thus making it your fault not theirs.

XJLI said:

bc out of every product i've ever run, RK's stuff didn't break or wear out prematurely? actually thats a lie. my ORGS trackbar lasted almost a combined 100k miles on two different rigs.

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ive never had anything from rock krawler break on me either... doesnt mean you have to be all fanboi from hell when something does. hear the guy out before you get all mad he attacked your bro's.

no the stering stabaliser is conected to the RR HD steering..... and yes the jamb nut was tight and it was threaded almost all the way in..... now i dont have the part nuber right on hand but i do know that the track bar was there bomb proof track bar for 6.5 top 8.0 inches of lift..... Realy Im a little upset about almost dying but i have had parts fail before and thats not what upsets me.... Its that RK stated a life time waranty, but when I call with an ovious manufactured defect they insinuate that im the moron for not tightning down my jamb nut..... what ever.... im just trying to warn others of the potental falier in the track bar and the supper $hitty customer service.... and I after closer inspection the hime is to small for the threded part on the bar....... o well
any one want to buy a slightly damaged rk track bar for 6.5 to 8" of lift?:laugh3: