• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Bent trackbar frame bracket and possibly frame?

MG2000XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Last night I let a buddy of mine drive the jeep since he has never driven it. Wet roads, worn out tires and sharp turn= bent trackbar bracket. Ended up sliding it into a curb pretty hard. I have the RE hd trackbar and braket and the actual bracket cracked and bet. Alignment is off axle shifted. Is it possible that I bent the frame where the bracket bolts to it? I will have pictures shortly.
 
MG2000XJ said:
Last night I let a buddy of mine drive the jeep since he has never driven it. Wet roads, worn out tires and sharp turn= bent trackbar bracket. Ended up sliding it into a curb pretty hard. I have the RE hd trackbar and braket and the actual bracket cracked and bet. Alignment is off axle shifted. Is it possible that I bent the frame where the bracket bolts to it? I will have pictures shortly.
I dont know,but if you didnt,Id invest in the RE trackbar brace for next time!
 
Bent trackbar frame bracket and possibly frame? *pics*

So here are some pictures of the damage,

Everything still bolted up:




Bent plate and cracked weld in the corner:


Cracked welds in both corners and bent plate:


My question is how hard would it be to bend back this area of the frame? its only bent 1 or 2 cm's at most. Could this pose a threat? I figure if the new bracket lines and bolts up the it should be fine b/c the motor mount is also tied in there. The trackbar bracket brace is the next mod for sure.
 
Last edited:
Re: Bent trackbar frame bracket and possibly frame? *pics*

MG2000XJ said:
So here are some pictures of the damage,

Everything still bolted up:




Bent plate and cracked weld in the corner:


Cracked welds in both corners and bent plate:


My question is how hard would it be to bend back this area of the frame? its only bent 1 or 2 cm's at most. Could this pose a threat? I figure if the new bracket lines and bolts up the it should be fine b/c the motor mount is also tied in there. The trackbar bracket brace is the next mod for sure.
Dude,that doesnt look good at all !
 
I know, my buddy who did it is paying for the new bracket but if the frame is tweaked, Im screwed and his wallet will be too. Any other opinions guys? Is this bracket supposed to be vertical or slightly at an angle? I cant remember how it was before.
 
A minvan hit my passenger tire at 35, my stock track bar braket is fine (i even sandblasted it to make sure there were no cracks), the frame is level where yours is bent, and my trackbar has a very slight curve.

How fast was he going?
 
I dont think he was going much more than 20 mph maybe 30. Happened on campus here at school. That is also why I dont have too many tools at my disposal. Ill try to get my hands on a bfh and see what I can do.
 
MG2000XJ said:
I dont think he was going much more than 20 mph maybe 30. Happened on campus here at school. That is also why I dont have too many tools at my disposal. Ill try to get my hands on a bfh and see what I can do.
Are you in MB? Costal? I find it hard to believe that that area would be bent. It looks to me like hte TB Bracket is bent and that is giving the illusion that the frame is bent. If you look:
2352827480100669327S600x600Q85.jpg
The flat plate is bent so that it does not sit level.
 
You'll probably need to heat it up before you bend it back. That metal has now been stressed so you may need to add a brace in there to reinforce it, otherwise it'll bend even easier next time. After you fix it get an alignment too. HTH -B
 
Yeah it looks like the unibody is bent in that area... I dont know I'd just about leave the unibody alone and adjust the trackbar back out to center the axle? You might cause more damage and weaken the area more bending the unibody back. If it were mind I would bend the bracket back and re-weld the cracks up and bolt it back up... leaving the unibody alone unless you have some plate and a welder handy to reinforce the area.

how hard did you hit a curb I'd imagine what 40 or so?

EDIT: I find it hard to believe that bent like that at 20mph... but it is a unibody...
 
I would inspect that motor mount and surrounding area really well, chances are there are some other things that bent seeing that you bent that .25" plate the tb bracket is made from, that whole area is pretty crucial. Good luck, it were me I probably would be hitting my buddy up for a new track bar bracket, that one will never be the same, square up your unibody rails and whatever else is bent to the new bracket. There has to be more damage also, check the axle mounts, the trackbar itself, steering components etc etc! It is no easy feat to bend that bracket.
good luck
 
Yep, freshman year at coastal. The bracket took most of the force but if I run my hand over the frame at that spot I can feel that its a ittle out of place. I checked the ca mounts they're all fine, steering is fine too. Still need to further inspect the motor mount and frame. My buddy is def buying me a new bracket and if there are further problems he will pick them up too. I dont have a welder or any other major tools, just the basic handtools and odds and ends. I will go ahead and try to bolt the bracket back up once I get it and if it doesnt line up Ill go from there. Thanks for all the help guys!

Edit: Skullvarian, I will be replacing all the hardware too with grade 8 stuff like you said.
 
Last edited:
another thought I had, I would be replacing ALL the hardware in that area also, including the motor mount hardware.
 
MG2000XJ said:
Yep, freshman year at coastal. The bracket took most of the force but if I run my hand over the frame at that spot I can feel that its a ittle out of place. I checked the ca mounts they're all fine, steering is fine too. Still need to further inspect the motor mount and frame. My buddy is def buying me a new bracket and if there are further problems he will pick them up too. I dont have a welder or any other major tools, just the basic handtools and odds and ends. I will go ahead and try to bolt the bracket back up once I get it and if it doesnt line up Ill go from there. Thanks for all the help guys!

Edit: Skullvarian, I will be replacing all the hardware too with grade 8 stuff like you said.

OK, good luck. I am in Hartsville on the other side of Florence. If you see you need additional help and or tools hit mu up back channel and you can come to my shop one Saturday and we can get it straight.
 
Update: I got the new bracket and put it on and the frame is definately bent.
Here are some pics:

Bolt that dont sit flush


The gap between the bracket and the frame


How its sitting as of right now


I drove around a little bit today, its completely out of alignment and I have to driv 500 miles home at the end of the week so I gotta figure something out fast.
 
the easiest way I can think if would be to get a new motor unibody mount for that side and try and torque it back to shape using the square re bracket and the square new motor mount, the mount itself is pretty thin but embossed so it may be just stronger than that unibody tab that is bent, other than welding/cutting I don't see an easy way. Your motor mount is bent anyways so that should be replaced, hard to tell which plane the motor mount itself bent into. Good luck
 
buy the RE TB brace...

bolt the old bracket up, and beat it back into shape, bolt the new bracket up, and 'fine tune' with a BFH till the brace ligns up, then bolt it all up...

check back in 6 months to fix the inevitable frame cracking...

I dont know that id go to all the effort of changing the motor mount hardware and all that, but my rig is far from nice anymore...
 
Back
Top