Do trackbar brackets wear out?

I have a coworker who has 2 older xjs and he believes he has slop in the steering from the brackets for the trackbar being worn. Is this the likely culprit or more likely that just the trackbar itself being shot?

they work loose over time, it's unlikely that the metal is fatigued enough that it would be called worn though. have him check the bolts and make sure they're still tight, there is nothing on the bracket to "wear out" unless the tie rod end on the trackbar has come loose and wallowed out the hole it goes into.

Tell him to replace the all four bracket bolts. If the symptoms persist, the lower axle side bolt hole amy have ovaled itself, or the track bar is worn out.

It could likely just be slop in the steering box itself, unless he can say for sure the trackbar is moving. The excess play in the wheel is typically a shot steering box.

~ Stump

Most every time I've seen a worn out trac bar, the steering wheel was 1/8 to a 1/4 from the center position when driving in a straight line. Other things may cause this, but I look at the trac bar first.

Most times you can get somebody to push on the top fender (push near the seam so you don't dent the fender), pushing sideways and you can see and/or hear the trac bar play, whether it be the top joint, the bottom joint, or a loose bracket. I even found one with the wrong bolt in the bottom trac bar joint this way.

Also have a look at the U joint in the steering column. A couple different setups over the years, but somewhere near the steering box there is a joint in the steering column of some sort.

I put a rebuilt steering box in my 87 and 88, both around 160.000 miles */-. My 96 has well over 200,000, no issues with the steering box yet.

I have two 96's, one with 230,000 mi. that needs the box replaced now due to slop, and my wheeling rig with 157,000 that has already had the box replaced due to bad slop.

Bottom line is, unless he actually sees the trackbar moving, or the bracket is lose, then its in the steering components.