trac bar drop??

hey everybody

well this summer i plan on going to 8 inches, and definately cant afford to redo all my steering set up. this summer im definately not getting out of wheeling, but im getting a DD, and the jeep although will still be wheeled, i am building up more for looks then offroad ability

i know over 6 inches you need a pitman arm drop, but you need a trac bar drop to keep from getting bump steer. it seems like pitman arms are easy to find, but i cant find tracbar drops anywhere. plan on keeping 35s. just want a little more clearance, and as a summer project after the lift, i hope to find a dana 44 rear, and spool it, and regear it

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4348601
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4348600

wishihad1 said:

hey everybody

well this summer i plan on going to 8 inches, and definately cant afford to redo all my steering set up.

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In that case, may I suggest you rethink the idea of going with an 8" lift until you can afford it? Probably not, right?

Rusty's Offroad makes a track bar frame mount that I believe drops it about an inch or so. I'm not a fan of this product. Of course, you could always raise the axle side with a custom mount.

dude you change your mind every other day about your jeep.

and you should never get a drop pitman arm for an xj unless your are extremely cheap.

most people who go that high are running big enough tires that will call for stronger axles, and while building up those axles they will address steering.

At the very least they will go otk or with highsteer, eliminating the need for a drop pitman arm.

I forgot to mention about the drop pitman. The ZJ arm will provide a 1 inch drop and is the most I'd consider using.

Kevins track bar conversion is WORLDS better than anything Rustys has to offer.

Pay now or pay AGAIN later.

Just my 2cents.

CW

KTM...when have i changed my mind on what ive wanted to do...its allways been to go bigger..ive known i wanted to do this for a while now. and im currently searching for a Dana 44 rear, and i have 35s, and im not going any bigger then that

would that kevins jeep trac bar work with a drop pitman arm, or would i not need one

thanks

RockKrawler makes the drop trac bar bracket with their adjustable trac bar. Trac bar and pitman arm don't go together. If you're asking whether or not you need a drop Pitman arm and a drop Bracket with adjustable tracbar then Yes. 8" will be a crappy ride with 8" on stock steering. I got 6.5 and mine isn't ideal. Maybe that is because of the short arms. I am assuming you still run short arms.

wishihad1 said:

would that kevins jeep trac bar work with a drop pitman arm, or would i not need one

thanks

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I am running it with a ZJ pitman arm. This drops the drag link about 1" from stock.

The KEVINS is a bit lower than stock so to keep things perfect, yes you would need one. Is it manditory, no it is not manditiory.

CW

ktm racer 419 said:

and you should never get a drop pitman arm for an xj unless your are extremely cheap.

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why not??? just curious. i've never heard that one before.


while i agree with upgrading and correcting the steering angles, i've never had a problem with a small drop pitman arm.

Here's what I went with, should be here Wed. or Thrus.

http://www.tntcustoms.com/webv5/xjtracbarsystem.asp

TNT is also a sponsor.:thumbup:

Hale

scorpio_vette said:

why not??? just curious. i've never heard that one before.


while i agree with upgrading and correcting the steering angles, i've never had a problem with a small drop pitman arm.

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sure you can do it. but if your getting your xj up high enough to require a drop pitman arm, (6-6.5 inches is basically the max you can put on xj steering without it wanting to fall apart on you) Why cheap out on steering?

Also most people who go that high will be thinking about stonger axles (wider too) to handle the tires they will be stuffing under there. Again, in many cases it would be easier to just build/buy a steerign setup than adapting the lousy stock xj steering to work. And when your dumping thousands into axles, what's another $300 anyway?

Then comes the question the OP posted up, how to drop the tracbar, to keep it parallel to the drag link. This is to keep bumpsteer to a minimum. Depending on which route you go, dropping the upper trackbar mount or raising the lower, it's gonna cost some money as well. Again, money that could have been spent on a steering that can take a hit from a rock and not bend from the force of larger tires. You can just run the drop pitman and live with the bumpsteer as many do it though.

and to the op.

2 days ago you were saying 6.5", and less than a week ago were looking into front dana44's and 60's wanting to build a truck you can bash through the woods and not break anything.

now your saying 8" and show truck.

ktm racer 419 said:

sure you can do it. but if your getting your xj up high enough to require a drop pitman arm, (6-6.5 inches is basically the max you can put on xj steering without it wanting to fall apart on you) Why cheap out on steering?

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i see what you mean now. on my TJ i installed a dropped pitman arm on a 4" lift. i don't remember how much of a drop it was, bu ti think it was only like 1" or less. the steering handles and feels flawless.

but i do agree on not cheaping on the steering. sometime over the next few years i'd like to take my cherokee up into the 5-6" range, but that would also include a new front axle with a complete steering setup.

Excuse my ignorance here, but I feel like I am getting some contradicting information. I myself am moving from 4.5" to 6.5" of lift and 33's. Rock Krawler 3 link, RE coils. I am currently researching the RK Track bar setup. It's cheap, and it's stout. Anyway. You guys are saying upgrade the steering, I follow that. The stuff is flimsy, however why not use a small dropped pitman arm? What would be wrong with that? What would be wrong with temporarily rolling around on the stock steering while one saved up some money for upgraded steering? I realize it's not ideal, but come on.

green50gt said:

Excuse my ignorance here, but I feel like I am getting some contradicting information. I myself am moving from 4.5" to 6.5" of lift and 33's. Rock Krawler 3 link, RE coils. I am currently researching the RK Track bar setup. It's cheap, and it's stout. Anyway. You guys are saying upgrade the steering, I follow that. The stuff is flimsy, however why not use a small dropped pitman arm? What would be wrong with that? What would be wrong with temporarily rolling around on the stock steering while one saved up some money for upgraded steering? I realize it's not ideal, but come on.

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you can do it. But you will have some funky steering habits.

you want your trackbar and draglink parralel to eachother. if they are not, when you hit a bump the tracbar will go up at a different angle than the drag link, resulting In the steering to turn on it's own one way or the other.

But you can do it for temporary, just be prepared.

and another reason: it sucks to remove the stock pitman arm.

Just go with a ZJ pitman arm. It provides 1" drop over the stock arm and the drop isn't so great that it'll cause problems. Lots of people over the years have done this with good results.

If you drop the pitman arm you'll be changing the drag link angle. You need to change the track bar to correspond with the new angle of the drag link, these need to be in roughly the same plane for proper steering (no bumpsteer). Although there are many things many Jeepers do because they are cheap and get away with it.