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Can a Trac-Bar become weak ??

Xtreme XJ

Xtreme XJ

NAXJA Member #1138
NAXJA Member
Location
So.Cal. Low Desert
I've been fighting D.W. for the better part of two years... Grrr...
EVERYTHING has been tightened & re-tightened numerous times...
Short of the actual links EVERYTHING has been replaced... suspen. & steering.
A few alignments... a couple tire balances...

Everything other than the very old trac-bar & 4 links (the bar, not the ends) has 7 to 9K miles... well the tires have more, but less than 20K...

The D.W. happens when I hit a bump or a depression in the asphalt in the 45 to 55 range... not every time, but often enough I want to drive the XJ more on the street, but this has me to the point where I ready to wad it up & collect... which wouldn't be much :D

So can chromo old R.E. single sheer trac-bars fatigue... the bar itself ??

It's a 96 on an original R.E. short arm 5ish" lift... 32s...

Any thoughts would be appreciated...
Thanks...
Curt
 
Have you checked the steering box spacer?
 
First, the RE 1600 is not recommended for a 5.5" lift.

Second, I tried the single shear mounting system. I drilled out two stock track bar brackets in a attempt to keep that single bolt from walking. I got over that, added steel to the factory bracket and secure the frame end in double shear.

I'll bet 50-cents that if your were to remove the track bar, inspect the high-misalignment bushing where it mates to the track bar bracket, and the bracket itself, you will find signs of fretting.
 
Unless truly defective, the bar itself will not fatigue, I would suspect bar end wear, or the frame bracket. Fresh hardware and thread locker would be a good idea.

I also second the motion that what you really need is a double shear track bar.
 
What's your caster at?


Also, a decent test for DW being related to the trackbar is to set your toe 1/8" out and run it. If the DW goes away or is significantly more infrequent, look at your trackbar or drag link as the problem
 
Last edited:
I have the C-Rok spacer & inner reinforcement bracket...

I say 5ish because it is an old lift and things settle so it has a 3/4" spacer...
While I've never had issues in the 15+ yrs. with the frame end, maybe the T-Bar mount has fulfilled it's life expectancy... the axle end is where I've noticed it in the past... Might be time to just R&R with a double sheer mount & bar...

The ends to EVERY thing are in the 5 to 7K mile range and tight... BUT !! the bracket might be DUN...

I can't remember where castor is at... I use/have used the same guy for 15+ years, but I'll see if I can dig up the paperwork...

So any thoughts on who's T-bar & mount ? I might start looking while I focus on the current mount and seeing if its moving around or too worn where the T-bar bolts up... not opposed to R.E., just haven't looked in awhile, any others to consider ?

Thanks for the ideas...

Curt
 
I prefer the RE TB and mount as it is setup for use with a brace they sell as well. I believe Synergy makes a similar setup now. I have never seen this unit in person, so no experience. Never had an issue with the RE setup.

31061ae5.jpg
 
My RE1600 worked well for 3.5" of lift for a number of years. The upper bar end did wear out eventually. After installing a new bar end, the stock frame bracket bolts fatigued and the bracket started to squirm around, causing creaking noises. The squirming ovaled out the stock frame bracket mounting holes. I installed an Iron Rock Off Road double shear track bar with a heavy duty frame bracket, and it worked great at 3.5" of lift, and still works great and holds tight at 5.5" of lift. No noises, and no Death Wobble.
 
The least expensive, good quality track bar/bracket is the IRO double shear.
I got my RE1660HD/bracket and brace for a really good price used. So I run that.
Short list of others that are great.
TnT, Synergy susp, Clayton, etc.
 
Tim_MN said:
Unless truly defective, the bar itself will not fatigue, I would suspect bar end wear, or the frame bracket. Fresh hardware and thread locker would be a good idea.

I also second the motion that what you really need is a double shear track bar.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Last edited:
Well I finally got the Mount... Bar & Brace installed...

It appears to be 99.8% gone... it tried to wiggle, but righted itself... :)

So I'll be hitting all the $hit I can to see how it reacts, re-tighten things & then another alignment.

I feel compelled to mention that the brace was considerably OFF !!! while I'm certain my XJ isn't as square as it was 18yrs. ago, but... good lord... it was off by TENS of degrees... holes wouldn't align... Grrrr.... I'm sure the chassis is now loaded with some bolted in pre-load...

Thanks for the help guys...

Curt
 
Xtreme XJ said:
Well I finally got the Mount... Bar & Brace installed...

It appears to be 99.8% gone... it tried to wiggle, but righted itself... :)

So I'll be hitting all the $hit I can to see how it reacts, re-tighten things & then another alignment.

I feel compelled to mention that the brace was considerably OFF !!! while I'm certain my XJ isn't as square as it was 18yrs. ago, but... good lord... it was off by TENS of degrees... holes wouldn't align... Grrrr.... I'm sure the chassis is now loaded with some bolted in pre-load...

Thanks for the help guys...

Curt
Click to expand...
My brace wasn't perfect when I first installed it. PITA, but crossing back and forth tightening the bolts helps. I did notice a difference driving , before and after adding the brace. Feels much more solid.
When I go to Crossover steering/OTA TB mount, I will probably swap in my Synergy bracket/brace. It is basically the same as the RE so I do not really NEED to swap out the bracket/brace, but I will be running a straight TB
 
I finally put on a RE track bar brace and it didn't line up for shit on mine either. I'm sure it was from wheeling over 4-5 years, but I got it all bolted up eventually. I also had the track bar bracket welded to the unibody to keep it from moving.

My RE1660 bar wore out at both ends, the bushing and the joint. I eventually replaced the whole thing with a straight bar with heims on both ends.

Still had some steering wobble, even with heims on all the steering and track bar, plus hydro assist. I hate solid axle steering now lol.
 
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