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Droop w/ IRO or RC track bars?

Y

yossarian19

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Grass Valley, CA
Asking about the single shear / TRE equipped models. RC now uses the same TRE as IRO, translated, Rough Country now uses the same Moog ES3096L tie rod end as Iron Rock Offroad.
I like both of them, and either one could be upgraded to double shear if needed later on.
Question is, with 2.5" lift and sway bars that never get disconnected - am I going to run out of track bar droop / kill the TRE prematurely? Or are these things designed (as they claim to be) such that the TRE won't bind up / self destruct?
 
Just installed Rough Country PN 7572, the TRE track bar. Uses Moog ES3096L rod end, 22mm (7/8") LH threads.
Product is beefy.
Attached the frame side & let the axle end drop to see how far it would go. It fell at least 6" below the axle mount. With the 2.5" lift I've got, the bar should be allowing for 8.5" or more of droop before binding on the TRE.
With the supplied rubber bushing, it won't get that far before the bushing runs out of twist.
With a poly bushing, you'd get all of it.
I recommend the track bar based on initial impressions.
 
Most people sell/ throw away the RC Trackbar, as it is basically a toothpick. Good luck though.
The obvious, would be to run double shear. But, if you must run stock setup/single, I would recommend a heim/high mis spacers like the RE 1600.
 
The RC bar is 1.25" OD .25" wall. I think it will be fine.
The RE1600, I used to have. No bueno.
 
yossarian19 said:
Rough Country now uses the same Moog ES3096L tie rod end as Iron Rock Offroad.
Click to expand...
they are using a TRE that is a stock replacement?

which one?

yossarian19 said:
The RC bar is 1.25" OD .25" wall. I think it will be fine.
The RE1600, I used to have. No bueno.
Click to expand...
the problem with the RE1600 isnt in any component of the trackbar... its the stock mount(s). it wallows out leading to slop. ive run mine in double sheer for 6 years without any issues. i replaced the heim with a ruffstuff heim for $18, cheaper than a moog ES3096L.

the only heims in familiar with and would run are FK and ruffstuff. with that said... who makes a heim that is the same thread as a stock TRE? i feel like someone would have popped on into their stock steering by now if there was such a thing (regardless of it being a good or bad idea).









all just out of curiosity. at 2.5" of lift, you shouldnt hurt anything.
 
Yep, the IRO / RC / Rusty's track bar TRE is a stock part. It's the Moog ES3096L tie rod end. RC and Rusty's both used various BS thinner / weaker joints at times, but all three seem to have settled on the 3096L now. It's a Jeep drag link end but seems to fit just fine in the track bar mount. $30 on amazon. Not as cheap as a heim but, for various reasons, I prefer a TRE when feasible. This one flexes more than I need it to.

IRO and Rusty's both make a 22mm left threaded bushing housing that will screw into the track bar. Ideally it would be a flex joint but hey, can't have everything. Poly bushings in both ends + some grease, the track bar won't be the limiting factor in droop as the bushing halves will turn on the sleeve.
The RE1600 is beefy and I liked the steering feel it gave me but yes, you nailed it in 1: single shear mounting killed it for me. The noise from the heim joint, I didn't care for either. To paraphrase Carrol Smith on this one... "The single shear mount is a crime against nature, and the perversion of the bad engineer"
 
There is a *world* of difference between a tapered TRE and a heim mounted with a single shear nut & bolt and I think you know that :)
 
Show me how you mount any tre in double shear? One is designed for that purpose and one isn't. I have no experience with the rc xj track bar, but the wj one folded like a toothpick on the wife's wj the first trip out. Swapped it out for the iro track bar and have beat on it for 2 years without trouble. I would buy or build a double shear mount and run a track bar with a horizontal bolt to eliminate problems with binding.
 
All the double shear mounts will drop your track bar. With only a 2-3" lift, you don't want that since it will mess up your geometry. So IMO the single shear TRE mount is best for smaller lifts.
 
2" to 3" lift already changed the geometry from stock? The flatter the track bar and drag link the better. A drop pitman arm could easily get the geometry back to parallel and far close to stock angle than not dropping either.
 
2.5" of lift put me 1/2" off center.
Sure, a double shear track bar + drop pitman would have worked, too, if I felt like spending the time & money to do it.
RC 7572 fit well, allows more droop than the rest of my suspension / steering, was cheap & easy, does not change factory angles and uses a better-fitting frame connection as well as a more rigid frame side mount.
When a TRE can be made to work, IMO, it's the way to go. An interference fit with more load bearing area than most double-shear mounts is just plain better - provided it will articulate to your requirements. 7/8" fine threads (well, 22mm really) are stronger than the 3/4" heim stuff that is common, too. I really don't see why the chevy high-misalignment drag link end isn't being used as a track bar end, or why nobody is making a frame side bracket with the taper clocked 90* so the TRE pivots on the stud instead of articulating...
There might be a good reason but I can't think of it.
Hell, you could even use an F250 TRE with 1" fine threads...
 
My .02 might not be much but I'm at 2" lift and I have the rugged ridge double shear adjustable track bar and my geometry is fine, the track bar is meant for a higher lift, but my axle is centered and I have little to no bump steer. No drop pitman arm or anything else. Only thing I had to do was cut a small corner off my coil perch as the frame mount would rub it.
 
This is a side question from the current discussion. But something just popped in my head.

Everyone seams to think that tre style track bars suck for articulation. Why doesn't anyone make a mount for the tre to mount horizontal. Seams like it would fix the issue with binding and retain the tre. Just a weird thought. Continue.
 
Gordo, I've seen it done (in pictures, anyway) and the guy reported that it worked awesome.
Fairly easy to build, too. A scrap of heavy plate steel (or even rectangle tube), a Goferit or Ruffstuff insert & a welder. Hell, you could use TREs on both ends and adjust the track like a turnbuckle if you wanted.
 
Why not just get an RE1660 with bracket, or clayton or something that makes the pivot point horizontal and be done with it? I've never understood why the aftermarket "copies" the stock one. Well, I do, it's so they can sell a trackbar that works with the stock bracket.

If you modify the stock bracket to go horizontal, might as well make it double shear as the cost is negligible, and a heim, johnny joint, re joint are are a better choice as it puts you in double shear.
 
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