elongated trac bar mount hole

i did a search, didn't find anything specifically about this. a lot about trac bars, but not the mount hole.

my problem is the axle-end mount. the hole for the bolt has stretched out so i can see the bolt move back and fort about 1/2" when i'm laying under the jeep with someone turning the steering wheel. it's an 87 with about 3" of lift (old springs), OEM style trac bar replaced in january, from napa. 170k miles on jeep. my question is what's the best way to fix that hole? replace the whole mount, brace it with another piece of steel welded to it? weld up the hole and re drill? use something like quicksteel or jb weld to fill the hole and redrill? cheap is good, especially since i'll probably have to replace my trac bar, and i'm going to do it right this time and get a good adjustable, probably HD one. plan to eventually go to 32" or 33" tires, 4.5" lift max.

I vote weld and redrill. A lot of people who relocate that hole weld up the old one to make the bracket stronger and because many times the new hole is so close it touches the old one. You might want to think about relocating it since you have to do all the work involved anyway. If you haven't allready go read Go-Jeep's writeup and just follow his instructions. Thats what I did for my rig (3" lift Ihad to move it over twards the axle mount 1/2") here's the link: http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoTrackbar.htm

drilling a weld is NOT fun, I would weld a piece of plate over the hole and drill that.

BrettM said:

drilling a weld is NOT fun, I would weld a piece of plate over the hole and drill that.

Click to expand...

Ya it does suck but if you have a low speed setting on your drill, some good cutting oil, a good drill bit, and some patience it works. Your probably right though about the plate method being easier, but if he ends up relocating the hole it might not matter.

BrettM said:

drilling a weld is NOT fun, I would weld a piece of plate over the hole and drill that.

Click to expand...

X2

That is how I fixed mine.

Rev

http://jeepin.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14271

Theres a little writeup I did. You might have trouble seeing the pics if you are on a work computer or somewhere with a firewall blocking the :81 port.

If thats the case I can upload a finished pic to a different host for you if you want.

id buy a new d30 front end from a junkyard with 4.11's so when you are on 32's you are doing good...

BrettM said:

drilling a weld is NOT fun, I would weld a piece of plate over the hole and drill that.

Click to expand...

Don't try to drill a weld. Also you'll not have a flat area on the inside of the bracket from the weld and is a hard place to grind.

Use a small flat piece of 1/4" plate with a hole drilled in it that the bolt JUST fits in. Then position it with the bolt and track bar in place and tack weld it. Remove bar and weld it up.

I have done this many times, even with the inner hole elongated it still hold well. Make sure you use a FLANGE headed bolt like the factory one to get the right pressure on the bracket and bar when you put it all back together. This is important for it to stay tight.

hinkley

thanks for the help, i'll probably do something along the lines of what timmay or mark suggested. i've seen the go-jeep site before, just wanted to get another opinion. i think the upper bolt on my trac bar is wasted already, too...so no real need to relocate the hole.

Timmay said:

http://jeepin.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14271

Theres a little writeup I did. You might have trouble seeing the pics if you are on a work computer or somewhere with a firewall blocking the :81 port.

If thats the case I can upload a finished pic to a different host for you if you want.

Click to expand...

that's what i ended up doing, along with an RE adjustable trac bar. it's holding great, for anyone else that runs into this problem.