Track bar mount welding, need your input.

I made the mistake of redrilling my lower (axle) track bar mount when i first lifted and ran the stock track bar for a while.

sure enough, the hole in the mounting bracket ovaled out soon there after.

I'm now running the RE HD track bar w/HD mount. I've also welded a washer to the outside of the lower track bar mount to help with the ovaling.. common repair.


Now the inner part of the mounting bracket is also ovaled out, so i need to weld a washer to the inner side as well.

Any suggestions how I can weld a washer in there, since I cant get at it from behind with the MIG, it has to be welded though the ovaled hole (kind of a rosette weld ... and yeah i picked that up on P4x4) and then ground flush so the track bar can get back in.. ... get the visual?

gotta be an easier way. besides cutting off the whole mounting bracket and welding a new one in place.

ps. I thought RE used to sell the axle mounting bracket for the track bar..

can't find it on their site for some reason.
only as part of the $400 axle bracket kit. see top right corner: http://www.rubiconexpress.com/images/tnRE9968.jpg

i forget how the stock track bar bracket looks, but i remember when my bolt snapped i was able to get at the nut (bairly) through the lower left side, if its possible, just weld the nut there, thatll keep the back from moving

Weld the hole closed and re-drill?

the prob with that is its hard to get the hole perfect in the unsmooth material of the weld. and it causes more probs than its worth, but its doable

I weld up the old holes always before re-drilling a new one next to it when not using an adjustable trackbar. Never had any problems doing it that way.

yeah, thats the right way to do it, its just alot harder when repairing a hole

Jaso has a good and recent write up on exactlly this problem , if I remember correctlt, on his site..... jeepin.com

To me, all these fixes sound harder than just cutting off the mount, fabbing a new, heavier one that won't oval out, and just welding it to the axle.
Plus you end up with a better product that you can put in a better location (more out of the way).

kid4lyf said:

To me, all these fixes sound harder than just cutting off the mount, fabbing a new, heavier one that won't oval out, and just welding it to the axle.

Click to expand...

i agree, except I'm not comfortable enough with my welding to attach a critical part like the tbar mount. (plus my pos MIG, freebee nonetheless, can barely penetrate, i have to cook the area for a while otherwise i get cold weld gobbles.) granted i can take it to a guy down the street, but that's a project in itself..

anyway, i ended up cutting out a piece of flat stock and was able to actually slide it in from behind and stand it upright, sort of sandwiched with the back of the monut. this piece of stock is held in place by the mount, so there's no more walking. i can also tack it in place on the corners which are visible. i'll try to grab a pic, hard to visualize.

sgtpepper, do you happen to remember the dimensions for that piece of flat stock for the back hole? I've got to get mine fixed; I have two little ones and while I know mine's safe, I don't feel too good about it.
EDIT: "two little ones" meaning my children. Just had to clear that up.

what i thought about doing was make an oversized plate for the most foward hole (away from the axle). Line it up with bolt and mark it very well. Then move the plate away and cut away the factory bracket just where the trac bar will touch. then take a piece of material the same thickness as the stock outer most foward part of the bracket and weld this to that inner area so you have the same internal dimesions. It would only move the trac bar about 1/8 away from the axle more than factory and if you use good steel you will never have a problem again.

I dont know if that makes sense, but if my 7/16 bolt wallows thats what im gonna do.

Yeah, I understand what you intend to do, but I'm not sure I'm confident enough in my welding to have to weld the entire front of the mount back on. Also, I'm just using a 120 volt flux-core welder. Granted, it'll give me 90 amps if I need it, and I melted through 3/16" steel when I was first playing with it, but I'm not sure how I feel about that level of rebuilding such an important component. Sorry for the run-on sentence.

cut your 2 templates out, bolt up your track bar and take it easy down to some local fab guy which would probably do it for 50 bucks. good luck, there is no simple solution to this problem. IF you have stock gears you could always pick up another front axle for 200 bucks.