my track bar....

[sidriptide]

ok , i have the lift finished finally (takes forever doing it 1 hr a nite after work..) i used some 3" terra coils and i still have the stock length trackbar. it took a lil work to get it lined up but not too bad. the axle is now obviously offset to the drivers side now, by about 1" to 1.5".. i will go with an adjustable bar in the future but i have heard talk that the adjustable bars are too long for anything less than 3.5" lift(although i havent researched the issue) my steering wheel is off center a bit too and i assume its from the axle offset.. will a good alignment take care of any tire wear issues this axle offset may cause? i heard talk just recently that adjustable bars make contact with the diff cover too.. thats a new one to me. i have a warn front diff rock guard that sticks 1" out on the lower half of the cover.. is this going to be in the way??
mike

[Yucca-Man]

The drag link is why your steering wheel is cockeyed. An alignment will take care of that and the toe-in that you haven't noticed yet.

You'd have to have some serious over-compression to hit the bottom part of the diff cover, right? Use a floorjack and flex it to check that out

[Scott Mac.]

An alignment will take care of the offset steering wheel if the shop you take it to is reputable.

When I was running a 2" OME lift a few years ago I had ordered Rusty's adjustable track bar and HD bracket and had to cut a half inch off the threaded end of the track bar and I still had enough threads left to insert the bushing end. I'm still using that same track bar at 6" of lift with no problems.

The diff cover will not be in the way of the track bar.

[Lincoln]

Also at 3" you should be able to move the track bar mounting hole over about 3/4" and help with the axle centering. Be sure and leave a resonable amount of material around the hold (1/4 - 1/2").

I ran that setup four years before the stock trackbar gave out.

Later,
Lincoln

[Eagle]

I know people who have run with the front axle off center for several years. Looks a bit redneck, but doesn't seem to hurt anything. Rusty's adjustable track bar (the light-duty version with the tie rod end, anyway) is good for stock height up to 6" of lift. I have heard that other's are not good for less than 4" or so of lift.

I don't like the concept of drilling a new hole for the track bar. That's the way my MJ was when I bought it, and there wasn't much metal left around the new hole. Plus you only get one try -- if you miss the location or screw up the hole, you're worse off than if you didn't try.

I would just drive it as it is until Santa Claus brings you a Rusty's track bar. You can adjust the steering wheel yourself -- just turn the sleeve on the drag link.

[XtremeJ]

Are these worth it? I'm plan on going from my 3" to 5" and wondering if I should buy the kit or get a crow bar in my wallet and get an adjustable track bar.

[Scott Mac.]

Originally posted by XtremeJ
Are these worth it? I'm plan on going from my 3" to 5" and wondering if I should buy the kit or get a crow bar in my wallet and get an adjustable track bar.

An heavy duty adjustable track bar is definatly worth it if you plan on going over 3" of lift.

[sidriptide]

doesnt the relocation kit drop the FRAME end of the bar down??? i dont think i'd like that.. the farther the bar gets from the frame, the more leverage its going to have on it to rip the frame mount off.... i dont like that idea much.. although i havent actually seen one of these installed it seems a "bandaid" mod to me.... i'm sending it off to the alignment shop this week to make sure i dont trash my tires on the road to moab..
mike

[OT]

That bracket is thicker and stronger than probably anything on a stock xj. Verrrry tough.
:)