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Rubicon Express RE1600 Track Bar Bushing Replacement, KOR-1179-KIT

Anak

Stranger
NAXJA Member
In an effort to solve an intermittent death wobble (70+ mph, irregular freeway surfaces) I decided to start with the evidently worn track bar bushings . My trackbar is an aftermarket item, identified by good folks here on NAXJA as a Rubicon Express, RE1600 track bar. Google searches suggested that the Moog K3176 bushings were an option. Rubicon Express offers a replacement bushing kit as P/N RE1685. Additionally I was curious to see if I could make the Kevin’s Offroad KOR-9906-HW (9/16” track bar bolt kit) and KOR-1179-KIT (Extra hard bushing kit) work with the RE-1600 track bar. So I ordered all three kits.


I swear I took a picture of all three kits together, but doggoned if I can’t find it. It is probably mixed in with pictures of The Varmints somewhere and will show up when I am trying to put together a family calendar next December.

I do at least have measurements of all three kits. I will post those at the end.

The Moog K3176 parts strike me as junk. The bushings are very soft and the spacer is a piece of rolled sheet metal that is not even welded at the seam, nor is it even round. It might be a reasonable option if someone needed to be able to find a part while travelling, just for the sake of getting back home, but I would not want to run it for long. Additionally, I think installing it would be a PITA. The flanges are too thick for proper fitment with the RE1600.


The Rubicon Express RE1685 would be the safest way to go, provided the bolt holes in the bracket on your axles are not wallowed out. Only problem is, after 20-30 years that isn’t a safe bet.



Bumping up to the 9/16” bolt was my primary reason for wanting to try to run the Kevin’s Offroad parts, but I knew I was going to have to deal with the thicker flanges. Polyurethane can be machined though. Here is what I did to upgrade my hardware:

That powdery rust is the evidence that things are moving. This is why I want to move up from the factory hardware. That is from movement between the bolt and the hole in the bracket:

TrackbarKORBushings1OPT.jpg

Here is the width of the RE1600 track bar: 1 7/16”. This is why the Kevin’s Offroad parts are not a direct drop-in. 1 3/16” is what those parts are designed for.

TrackbarKORBushings8OPT.jpg

The difference between the 1 3/16” and the 1 7/16” is made up in the flange thickness. The RE1600 uses a flange that is less than 1/8” thick. The easy way to get to that thickness would be to chuck up the bushing and simply machine down the outside faces. The downside of this approach is that it would result in a larger gap inside the track bar. Better to mount the bushings on an arbor and then turn down the inside face of the flange. This way the overall thickness of the bushing remains unchanged and the gap in the middle is kept to a minimum.

I used a piece of a broken U-bolt to make my arbor, plus an aluminum bushing to fit the 7/8” ID of the bushings:

TrackbarKORBushings11OPT.jpg

Set up on the lathe:

TrackbarKORBushings14OPT.jpg

The machined KOR bushings in comparison to the replacement RE1685 bushings:


TrackbarKORBushings22OPT.jpg

There was no way on earth these KOR bushings were going to go in without a press. In retrospect I probably should have turned down the OD while I had them on the lathe. I was short on time though. Note the squeeze out forming on the side. I got a bit of this on both halves.

TrackbarKORBushings23OPT.jpg

Here you can see the minimal gap I was working to maintain:

TrackbarKORBushings25OPT.jpg

Next up is drilling the hole for the 9/16” bolt. I recommend a good ½” drill motor with a side handle and a silver & deming bit. Then plan on spending some quality time deburring those holes, particularly inside the bracket. These tools were the most effective for that job:

TrackbarKORBushings31OPT.jpg

I then ran a test fit of the bolt just to get a feel for how everything should align. Note where the flag nut starts to interfere with the track bar bracket:

TrackbarKORBushings38OPT.jpg

Here is why it interferes 3/8” before it starts to snug down:

TrackbarKORBushings40OPT.jpg

It would have been nice if Kevin’s Offroad had seen fit to add the second bend, but I am sure that would cost more to produce. This is what happens when you tighten it down to the final torque spec:

TrackbarKORBushings43OPT.jpg

It will be interesting to see what happens when I take it apart someday. I expect at least one of the welds has broken. But it did go together, and this did resolve my death wobble issue.

Here are the dimensions of the three bushing kits I ordered. These were measured with cheap digital calipers and taken from spots were middle of the range on those parts which had some variation. This should give someone at least a ballpark sense of the differences between options.

TrackbarKORBushings55OPT.jpg
 
Since it has already been modded this suggestion will not work. The RE axle side bushing kit for 1660HD will work in the 1600, and has a hole for a 1/2" bolt. Figured I would post this for reference.
 
Thank you for adding that.

The information I posted is for that sort of reference. Hopefully it will make someone else's life easier.
 
Moog Problem Solver lower control arm bushings will press into the RE1600. A bench vise won't do it, you need to use a hydraulic press.
 
The KOR extra hard bushings tightened up my 01's front end and have stay tight for over 100,000 miles.
The only downside is that they squeak and needs to be lubed every year or less.
Several years ago, I drilled and tapped each end of the track bar and installed zerk fittings.
The bushings get lubed with with chassis grease, instead of the special silicone grease, and does not appear to have caused any problems or wear.
 
Any reason you didn't just go the heim route? I believe my RE trac bar accepted a 7/8" ruff stuff heim no problem. Between the XJ with a RE tracbar with heim end and my stock WJ I don't really notice any difference in lateral shock from having no rubber bushings in my XJ.

Plus you can clamp down a heim way more than a rubber bushing to ensure the bolt hole won't wallow out. Regardless it looks like a solid repair and great documentation :patriot:
 
The frame end gets a heim, but I am not aware of a heim that I could press into the axle end.

If there is such a creature I would be curious to know more about it.

The idea of drilling and tapping for a zerk fitting is appealing. The plan on this vehicle is to switch to WJ brakes, so this whole setup is supposed to be only temporary, but if it takes me to long to get around the the WJ swap I may find myself trying out that zerk fitting idea.
 
The frame end gets a heim, but I am not aware of a heim that I could press into the axle end.

If there is such a creature I would be curious to know more about it.
I just saw that the track bar you have is a 1600. What I have on my XJ is a 1660 which is the double shear setup from RE. I hacked mine away when I did OTK steering. Here are the specs from when I chopped off the rubber bushing end on mine. (can't find my calipers!)

OD 1.375in
ID 1.00in
T 0.1875 in






This could be the same tube specs as the 1600. If this is true I believe I used a 7/8" heim at the axle end along with a artec industries OTK trac bar bracket. Pretty sure this bracket can be utilized without their truss.

74FD1531-56CE-4EF8-B651-6CB141C3F344_zps8erpdi7n.jpg


It has been holding up great. Heim joint has been silent for over a year and many highway miles plus some rugged trails :patriot:
 
I have changed a few rubicon express poly bushing in the last 3 years. I switched to kevin'soffroad and works a lot better and last longer! I sanded down face of poly bushing to get overall size correct for RE track bar and axle mount. The bigger bolt is a good upgrade also!
 
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