Trac-bars....how come nobody uses TREs??

Well, I'm sitting here thinking about my future suspension, and trying to figure out my tracbar. It seems like it's a no-brainer to use TRE's at the ends. It seems like they would allow virtually no bind if you did them correctly. What I'm envisioning is a simple bracket that wraps the frame rail and has a piece of 1/2"(maybe 3/4 in order to get enough meat to give the appropriate taper? ) plate welded to it hanging perpendicular to the frame(parrallel to crossmembers). Now drill a hole in that with the appropriate taper, and that end is set. On the axle end, I've got a couple different ideas for location that I've seen work, but I'm again thinking about just a 1/2" plate welded parrallel to the axle tubes and again tapered for a TRE and we're off to the races. Is there an obvious reason that people aren't doing this? I was thinking of using some beefy TREs, probably like 1ton steering ends(no particular part # in mind or anything). Opinions??

The reason I don't want to stick with a conventional off-the-shelf bar is 'cause I don't think it will clear the suspension. Thanks

Ary

Blaine is using 1 ton TRE's on both ends of his TB. I think you're familiar with his basic setup.
Paul

Paul, Blaine's setup is what I intend to copy for the axle end at the very least. I don't know what his frame side looks like, so I don't know about that. It just seems like he's the only one I've seen running them, so I'm curious to see if there are any logical reasons. Thanks

Ary

I switched to Heims on my cross over steering for several reasons and plan on doing the same for my TB when I swith my cross over to over the knuckle.

Here is my reasoning.

I can use one or two different heims for all of the jobs (one trail spare). They are cheap and strong ($15 for 1ton equivelant stuff). They do not require any special tools for removal. They do not require any special tools for instalation (tapers, etc). They are easy to work on the trail. And they have held up much better for me than the TRE's that I have used.

Seems easier and cheaper to me.
I could not imagine going back to TRE's for Steering or TB's.

Michael

I think you'll be making life hard on yourself trying to copy Blaines setup, as you're working with a different front end that makes things a lot easier. Blaine has an HP9 with WJ knuckles & crossover steering, which made getting an equal length TB & DL a tough job. The results are worth it, but I think you could go another route with good results. You have the option of various hi steer arms that offer neutral Ackerman. This way you can run inverted T steering, which uses a shorter DL, which makes it pretty easy to run a near equal length TB to the inside of the coil. I tried this with my WJ knuckles (mounting the tierod on the top knuckles), but it resulted in reverse Ackerman, which didn't work well on the trail.
Paul

2extreme, I've got the RE trac-bar that uses a heim now, and since I drive about 25000 miles a year, I'd prefer to not have to replace the heim once a year(which is what I'm doing now).

Paul, I'm building a Tera 50 with 3/4 ton 44 inner knuckles. The axle is bare, no brackets, nothing on it at all, i.e. freedom to do whatever I want. I'm planning on doing crossover steering with hysteer arms on flattop 44 knuckles(how did you know that I have the option to run various hy-steer arms?). I realize that it will probably turn into a big headache, and I always have the option of going to an inverted-T setup, but I like making things difficult, makes a better excuse for procrastination as opposed to laziness

So, no nay-sayers on using TREs??

Ary

You've mentioned a few times that you have a T50, & expressed some interest in Blaines design.
Anyway, if you have the energy to do a crossover & all the work that it will take to make the TB/DL equal lengths, go for it. If I had 3/4 ton inner knuckles, I'd go with the inverted T, as it would be way easier & almost as good.
Paul

I do not think there is anything wrong with TRE's. They have been used for years with good success. I just prefer the simplicity of the Heims.

If you do go with TRE's try to duplicate what ever you use on the steering so that you can limit the number of spares you carry, and reduce the number of tappered reams you need to build each set up.

Best of Luck,
michael

Ary'01XJ said:

So, no nay-sayers on using TREs??
Ary

Click to expand...

I had just a regular old Rusty's adjustable with a TRE. I chewed through TRE's all the time, MOOG HD units, NAPA label, etc.
They all developed various amounts of slop, in short order. I tired of playing 'Identify the Wobble' which always plagued my highway ride.
I like the idea used by www.kevinsjeepparts.com :

A tough johnny joint, good travel, don't have one though, just the regular ORGS bar. Way happier than with my old setup.

As you have already noted,the only problem with TRE's is when they are used in the stock configuration.Once you roll them over 90* they should not bind and last alot longer!

One reason to consider not using TRE's is that they result in a single shear mount. Heims & JJ's should be in double shear.

Double Shear = More Better

The trackbar has no redundancy so failure shouldn't be an option.

I have Kevin's WJ hybrid bar. I like the re-oriented frame end joint and beefy dia.

MaXJohnson said:

One reason to consider not using TRE's is that they result in a single shear mount. Heims & JJ's should be in double shear.

Double Shear = More Better

The trackbar has no redundancy so failure shouldn't be an option.

I have Kevin's WJ hybrid bar. I like the re-oriented frame end joint and beefy dia.

Click to expand...

Although I agree with double sheer being "more better" if you think about it, none of your steering has any redundancy either, and people don't go around worrying about that. I'm actually more worried about my RE heim in single sheer in it's current loose state, than I would ever be about a TRE. I'm worried the heim may fall part and just fall off the mount, if that makes sense.

Ary "Must install new heim this weekend" '01xj

"If it was in double shear,it couldn't fall off"

RCP Phx said:

"If it was in double shear,it couldn't fall off"

Click to expand...

I realize this