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removing track bar?

rredalty

rredalty

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lenoir City, TN
This is probably a dumb question, but I know on the older Jeeps (cjs) you can remove the trac bar for more articulation and I was curious if it could be done on an XJ?
 
I understand that it keeps the axle centered, but if it were removed for off road purposes, wouldn't the control arms be able to center the axle enough and the trac bar not be any kind of binding possibility?
 
the reason they could is because the type of suspension is totaly different leafs vs link/coil. with straight links you need a seperate link to keep the axle centerd under the rig. you may have heard of triangulated 4 links and such that don't require a tracbar that is becasue the triangle created by the links by its nature keeps the axle centered. rarely need a trac bare because a leaf naturaly resists side to side motion.

edit: make a square out of tooth picks glued toghether try rack the square now make a square with two tooth picks forming an x in the center of the square now try to topple the square. the diagonal picks resist the side to side motion picture the upright pieces of the box being the springs the horizontal picks beign the frame and axle and the X pieces beign the trac bar. make sense now?
 
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you are thinking of two different style front ends.on older jeeps Cj and Yjs they used leaf springs.the leaf sprinds along with shackles have resistence for side to side movement.now the Xj uses coils with 4 link arms.the only thing keeping that axle from moving side to side on its own is that track bar.you take that off you won't be able to turn.

damn beat me to it
 
Wil Badger said:
you are thinking of two different style front ends.on older jeeps Cj and Yjs they used leaf springs.the leaf sprinds along with shackles have resistence for side to side movement.now the Xj uses coils with 4 link arms.the only thing keeping that axle from moving side to side on its own is that track bar.you take that off you won't be able to turn.

damn beat me to it
Click to expand...

beat ya to the punch:laugh3:
 
you could do it up to about 20mph i bet. you couldent do it with stock control arms, as they would destroy themselves. im not sure how it would affect the steering linkage.

try it and tell me how it went ;)
 
Ok, well that answers my question. Like everyone else, I am working on a budget and the more articulation I can get, the better. Rgiht now I am running 3" superlift coils and 2.5" blocks in the rear, stock trac bar and control arms. What would be the next step to get more articulation oout of the jeep? It is cut about as much as it can go for now and it can stuff the hell out of the front but it doesn't want to droop as much as I think it could.
 
rredalty said:
Ok, well that answers my question. Like everyone else, I am working on a budget and the more articulation I can get, the better. Rgiht now I am running 3" superlift coils and 2.5" blocks in the rear, stock trac bar and control arms. What would be the next step to get more articulation oout of the jeep? It is cut about as much as it can go for now and it can stuff the hell out of the front but it doesn't want to droop as much as I think it could.
Click to expand...

blocks don't do anythign for articulation. and seeing as you have not mentioned any other mods besides coils i am assuming everythign else is stock upfront.
couple things:
are your shocks the correct length. remove them and check your articulation.
directly above the lower controll arm is the coil bucket you can remove some material from that to allow the LCA to rotate further at full droop.
 
Do you have factory shocks? That can be a factor. Go flex out your jeep. Measure distance between top of tire. Then put your XJ on a flat surface, unbolt your front shocks, then flex it & measure again. If your shocks are the problem, you will have a different measurement after you unbolt them. Hope this helps ya'.
 
It does have 3" shocks on it also, forgot to mention that. If I were to remove part of the coil bucket and go ahead and box in the stock LCA's would it provide the extra droop as a set of aftermarket LCA's?
 
rredalty said:
It does have 3" shocks on it also, forgot to mention that. If I were to remove part of the coil bucket and go ahead and box in the stock LCA's would it provide the extra droop as a set of aftermarket LCA's?
Click to expand...

Your only going to get so much flex out of what you got. Try sway bar disco's, and trim your bumpstops a little if you haven't already. Get rid of those blocks, and get some full leaf packs.

And boxing the factory LCA's will not help at all in getting more flex. Get a little more lift, and go for long arms, or get some dropped control arm brackets and go from there. What kind of wheelin' do you do that requires sooo much articulation?

How do you plan on cutting out the coil bucket? The one on the top or the one on the axle? Post some pics when your done.
 
XJjeepLess said:
Your only going to get so much flex out of what you got. Try sway bar disco's, and trim your bumpstops a little if you haven't already. Get rid of those blocks, and get some full leaf packs.

And boxing the factory LCA's will not help at all in getting more flex. Get a little more lift, and go for long arms, or get some dropped control arm brackets and go from there. What kind of wheelin' do you do that requires sooo much articulation?

How do you plan on cutting out the coil bucket? The one on the top or the one on the axle? Post some pics when your done.
Click to expand...
wow totaly forgot about the sway bar:laugh3: yup discoing that will net you much more flex.

as the axle droops you it becomes very clear as to the area that can be ground away on the coil/shock mount.
 
streetpirate said:
you could do it up to about 20mph i bet. you couldent do it with stock control arms, as they would destroy themselves. im not sure how it would affect the steering linkage.

try it and tell me how it went ;)
Click to expand...
and take pics :exclamati
 
could u , just asking remove the passenger side upper control arm , and make like a three link , that should flex alot more but i am not sure about the the other stock upper being able to handle it by it self . anyone try this on stock arms ?
 
Absolutely no way. And, there is really no benefit (well, marginal) on doing this when your running short arms. Just grease the control arm bushings real well so they'll flex/move as smooth as possible.

A.
 
DO NOT REMOVE IT NO MATTER WHAT.
My track bar broke on my last trip. The axle bracket got bent, broke the bolt, and pop the bushing out. Think about it this way, since it keeps your axle centered, every time you hit a rock it shifts your entire axle to the side. There were times my right front tire hit a rock, I would steer all the way right, but I would go left because that's the direction my axle was going. It also puts additional stress on every other part since they are now working to keep your axle in line to compensate for no track bar, such as your coils, swaybar, and control arms.
CIMG0611.jpg

CIMG0610.jpg


DO NOT REMOVE IT. IN case you can't get it back on for the drive home, it's flat out dangerous to drive on the highway. Trust me, I know.

If you want more articulation get a HD drop bracket from TNT customs or Rusty's or RE or wherever.

Crhis
 
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