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Caveat Emptor. Missing track bar!

F

furrymcmonst

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Monroe, WA
My excursion into the world of car repair began with the purchase of a Cherokee. Along the way I have discovered parts missing, etc. The most recent is the track bar.

The steering was very loose and a relative checked the parts that run from the steering wheel to the steering box. (I can't remember their names.) He then described a minor adjustment that could be tried at the steering box.

I was getting ready to do that and decided to take the Jeep to Les Schwab first and get an alignment for $50. They called back and said the track bar was missing! So, for a new track bar, new tie rod ends, and an alignment, I paid $260. It drives like a dream now! (I probably should have done the tie rods and track bar myself but it was already there and the snow was beginning to fall.)

Why on earth would someone remove the track bar. Could it have been stolen?

What other stories are out there regarding missing components that were discovered after a purchase?
 
Can an XJ even be driven down the road without a track bar? That doesn't even sound right to me! Without a track bar, there isn't anything to keep the axle in the right place in front of the jeep! Am I wrong in thinking this?
 
the control arms and rest of the suspension should... but not safe
 
Thats sounds kinda fishy to me. It seems like it would be very unstable to drive without a tracbar, and you would have noticed right away. And for them to have one on hand without ordering one (unless it was a dealership)???
 
The car was very unstable when we drove it and it was more pronounced at higher speeds. You had to turn the wheel a bit before any response but then the response could be rather dramatic and hard to control.

They first called me back and said they didn't have one of the parts but I can't remember if it was the bar or the tie rod ends. It was a Saturday night, it was beginning to snow, and they were working after hours. (Snow is a big deal in this area and elicits panic.) He said they may have to get the part from the dealer and that would be Monday at the earliest. However, he also said he had one more place to check and then called back later and said they had the part.

Whatever they did, it handles great now.

This car was missing a thermostat and an electric fan relay (even though the fan had been wired to run full time) so it didn't surprise me too much when I heard the track bar was missing. I wonder what else is gone?
 
I know this is kind of irrelevant since your Jeep is fixed now but if you had no track bar whatsoever your Jeep wouldn't have made it out of the drive way let alone down the freeway.
Are you sure they didn't just replace the TRE on the track bar.
Or maybe they meant your swaybar was missing, that is what it sounds like to me from your explanation of how the vehicle was handling.
Coop
 
My boss lost his lower end on (sheered the bolt) a dodge 3500 4x4 diesel on the highway, he said he went right back to his birth as his life flashed before his eyes. He was able to steer it off the road. Probably a little more play in the steering on someting like that.
 
If you bought it from a dealer, here in Colorado you would have recourse. If they sold a vehicle that was unsafe, they can be held liable.
 
99xjclassic said:
Thats sounds kinda fishy to me. It seems like it would be very unstable to drive without a tracbar, and you would have noticed right away. And for them to have one on hand without ordering one (unless it was a dealership)???
Click to expand...

most garages have accounts with dealerships and other auto supply stores, such as napa. when they found out there was no track bar, they sent someone to get one or had it delivered.
 
I bought it from a private party for $700 so I knew I was getting into some repair work and thus I have no recourse. :) I paid too much. The transmission was slipping and I was too green to know that it needed a rebuild (which was expensive).

They did charge me around $100 for the track bar. I only wish I had looked underneath first before taking it in.

There is some kind of cover material type thing down there that I have never removed so you don't see much when looking underneath. I need to buy some jack stands and a jack so that I can get under there and look around. That is next on my list along with a torque wrench.
 
coop94xj said:
I know this is kind of irrelevant since your Jeep is fixed now but if you had no track bar whatsoever your Jeep wouldn't have made it out of the drive way let alone down the freeway.
Are you sure they didn't just replace the TRE on the track bar.
Or maybe they meant your swaybar was missing, that is what it sounds like to me from your explanation of how the vehicle was handling.
Coop
Click to expand...

actually his explanation sound pretty accurate, I had the lower bolt break on my trackbar and had to limp it home about 4 miles with the TB hanging. when first tuning the wheel it would just push the whole axle sideways but the tires would stay strait, then after a certain point the tires would start to turn and the axle would recenter and shove the tierods causing the tires to instantly crank to the position they should have been had the TB been intact

@ furrymcmonst you'll definately want to check out all the control arm mounts because having no TB puts extreme stress on them and may have fatigued them
 
coop94xj said:
I know this is kind of irrelevant since your Jeep is fixed now but if you had no track bar whatsoever your Jeep wouldn't have made it out of the drive way let alone down the freeway.
Click to expand...

I agree had my TB bolt fall off on the trail while I was in Montana, took me an hour to get 10 miles off a mountain then another 30min to get to a hardware store to find a replacement bolt. any time I went more than 10mph I got crazy DW
 
WaXJ_Skier said:
I agree had my TB bolt fall off on the trail while I was in Montana, took me an hour to get 10 miles off a mountain then another 30min to get to a hardware store to find a replacement bolt. any time I went more than 10mph I got crazy DW
Click to expand...

I was doing 35ish with mine off and had no DW, but that was on the street with no lift and 235s
 
My wife talked to them the first time they called and she doesn't remember the exact word they used. It very well could have been "gone" and she translated that as "missing".
 
I drove my Jeep around the terminal when we did my track bar to get it to maybe line up better. Whoa big mistake we hand to Jack the axle back in place. I think that your sway bar was "missing" and they did the track bar while they were at it.
 
i had my lower mount bolt break on me after i lifted her, heard some bolt noises as i came off the trail onto the road, figured it was just my hitch bolts since i left them in the frame , it was hell driving home 15 miles at about 60 mph.. looked at her the next morning to see the track bar laying on the ground.. glad i'm still alive
 
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