Track bar relocation for 3" lift

Well my XJ had a 3" Procomp lift with that junk track bar relocation bracket which didn't do much aside from increasing the bump steer. So today I pulled that junk bracket out and drilled a new hole in the stock bracket about 1" to the right of the stock hole. Now the axle is centered and no more bump steer and it didn't cost me anything either.

i did the same thing on mine its easy and cheap fix

viperbluelx said:

Well my XJ had a 3" Procomp lift with that junk track bar relocation bracket which didn't do much aside from increasing the bump steer. So today I pulled that junk bracket out and drilled a new hole in the stock bracket about 1" to the right of the stock hole. Now the axle is centered and no more bump steer and it didn't cost me anything either.

Click to expand...

It will hold up for a while but If you have the means, reinforce the hole you drilled by welding washers over it; If not it will oval out sooner than you think.
That is why most purchase an adjustable track bar.

garr said:

It will hold up for a while but If you have the means, reinforce the hole you drilled by welding washers over it; If not it will oval out sooner than you think.
That is why most purchase an adjustable track bar.

Click to expand...

The metal is just as thick there as it is where the stock holes are from what I can see. Am I missing something?

viperbluelx said:

The metal is just as thick there as it is where the stock holes are from what I can see. Am I missing something?

Click to expand...

in theory, the possibitlity is because when the axle droops on it also moves on an arch toward the back of the vehicle because of the control arms moving in an arch. this puts leverage on the alxe mount bolt of the trackbar. with this leverage on the bolt and because you drilled a hole closer to the end of the axle mount for the track bar, the increase leverage on the bolt could wollow out the hole.

will it happen, i dont know because i have an adj TB, but the bushing should make up for the leverage. most times the bolt wollows/ovals out is becasue the bolt is loose.

at 3" of lift, the stock trackbar is ok, but if you go higher, i would upgrade the trackbar.

ON some vehicles the stock track bar is ok on 3in of lift.

I own two jeeps. One rides beautifully on the stock track bar. The other had a huge track problem. I redrilled it about 6 mths ago. I think it is starting to waller out though since I am getting some vibes in the steering.

I wish they made a decent track bar for 3 inches of lift cause I would buy it!!

Mark, I drilled a hole just like you did. One trip to Tellico and another to Aetna(2 months apart) its was wollowed out pretty good. I got an adj. track bar and put it back in the OEM hole and it hasnt wollowed or anything.

I'd definately recommend getting a 3/8"ish washer and welding it over the hole. Just un-do the track bar put the washer in pace and put the bolt through the washer and re-drilled hole and weld it to it. Thatll be alot better.

89xj said:

in theory, the possibitlity is because when the axle droops on it also moves on an arch toward the back of the vehicle because of the control arms moving in an arch. this puts leverage on the alxe mount bolt of the trackbar. with this leverage on the bolt and because you drilled a hole closer to the end of the axle mount for the track bar, the increase leverage on the bolt could wollow out the hole.

will it happen, i dont know because i have an adj TB, but the bushing should make up for the leverage. most times the bolt wollows/ovals out is becasue the bolt is loose.

at 3" of lift, the stock trackbar is ok, but if you go higher, i would upgrade the trackbar.

Click to expand...

+1, Good explanation. I was not sure why the hole oval's, But I have witnessed it happen twice.

Xj Striker I have 3.5" of lift & have been running the JKS adjustable trackbar for over a year with Zero Issues,
It loosened up & I had to re-tighten the frame bolt a couple of weeks after the install but It has been good to go ever since.

For the

gar what jks trackbar are you using the one for a 4" lift ?

You want to drill a hole that matches the bolt. This goes for the welded washer as well. Any gap can allow the bolt to "chuck" back and forth, and eventually wallowing out the hole.

At 3" of lift I have wallowed my hole out twice. It's been drilled out to ½" for a year or so. Still getting occasional death wobble, I finally put an adjustable track bar on it. Iron Rock Offroad was running free shipping for Christmas so I now I have a solid adjustable track bar for $140. It works great where I am now and will let me go up to 5" of lift, IIRC. The only mod I had to make to it was to drill their sleeve out to ½" to work with my existing bolt but that took less than a minute and their sleeve is MUCH thicker-walled than what was there from the factory. I would certainly recommend getting a proper track bar. Odds are the bushing in your OEM bar is half gone anyway. Then again, I'm running a Frankenlift of 2" spacers plus V8 ZJ coils in the front with a bastard pack and lift shackles in the rear. Rides great, just need to extend a little for the front sway bar. A real, engineered lift kit might handle things differently.

^x2. throw a polyurethane bushing in there as well.

farmer xj said:

gar what jks trackbar are you using the one for a 4" lift ?

Click to expand...

I can't even remember, That was 3 years ago.

I am currently taking my rig apart to install a WJ brake/steering upgrade, I have to shorten the trackbar to fit the new over axle trackbar bracket I plan on burning on in the next few week.

Never had an issue.

Do like Jeff mentioned. Hole must match bolt size and visa versa.
Torque to spec. What holds the bushing in place is the torque on the bolt squeezes the bracket against the inner bushing. If it is loose, it will move.
If it moves it will wallow.

-Ron