Track bar and bracket issue

Hello all,

So here’s the backstory. I have 1991 XJ to had little over a 3 inch when I bought it. The previous owner didn’t have receipts or much of a memory so I’m a little in the dark on the parts he used. I think however it’s a RE 1600 adjustable track bar and the stock bracket.

It creaks and makes tons of noise all the time. Everything is tight and when I hit the heim joint with some lube it quieted right up. The other consideration is the bracket has socket head bolts at the frame rail and everything I’ve read indicates this should be welded nuts with bolts going in from the bottom. There are no welded nuts on mine. When I first bought it the upper bolts that go into the bracket in the wheel well weren’t fully tight as well. No idea how long it was like that so maybe there is some wallowing out.

I’m leaning towards either replacing the heim if I can get one from RE or an IRO double shear bar and bracket. I’m just not sure if that’s necessary and also concerned about if there may be issues where the bracket mounts to the XJ. I’m fine to spend some money to do it right but also there are plenty of other things I should fix so I’m also fine with a simpler/cheaper fix. Thoughts?

Good start might be to disassemble what you have to see how things look.

But if you want to replace stuff, double shear will give extra strength. If you go with a drop track bar bracket (e.g., the IRO bracket drops the track bar mount point by 3/4"), then you'll want to go with a pitman arm that gives an equivalent amount of drop. This is needed to keep the track bar and drag link parallel.

I had an RE1600 and the stock bolts on the frame side bracket had stretched and would not maintain proper torque. I later discovered that the frame bracket bolt holes had wallowed out as well.

I would suggest fresh bolts, or better yet a double shear track bar with bracket.


I installed the IRO double shear trackbar and HD bracket with the 3/4" drop, and I strongly recommend against a drop pitman arm until lift exceeds about 5-6 inches.

maxbraketorque said:

If you go with a drop track bar bracket (e.g., the IRO bracket drops the track bar mount point by 3/4"), then you'll want to go with a pitman arm that gives an equivalent amount of drop. This is needed to keep the track bar and drag link parallel.

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That's a negative on the drop pitmen arm!!!!

Tim_MN said:

I had an RE1600 and the stock bolts on the frame side bracket had stretched and would not maintain proper torque. I later discovered that the frame bracket bolt holes had wallowed out as well.

I would suggest fresh bolts, or better yet a double shear track bar with bracket.


I installed the IRO double shear trackbar and HD bracket with the 3/4" drop, and I strongly recommend against a drop pitman arm until lift exceeds about 5-6 inches.

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Thanks all. I’m definitely good to replace the bolts as a first step and will take it all apart and investigate a little further. I’m curious about the missing welded nuts. The PO has done some creative fixes so maybe he cut them off or maybe the 1991 was set up differently. Just everything I’ve looked at had them. Seems like it would be adding a weak spot with just a standard nut and bolt with washers.

I have had the track bar frame bracket weld nuts break loose, and also had their bolts seize and snap off. I would simply replace what you have with a shouldered nut like the control arms and leaf springs use. Weld nuts are simply to speed up the assembly lines, you don't have to mess with the other side fastener or any tools, just jam your bolt in and snug it down.

Zj pitman is a very good tunning tool when a slight drop is needed to maintain drag link and track bar are parallel.

If tall lifts I have no Problems running a drop pitman and track bar bracket to match.
Steering brace and Lack of frame reinforcement is far scareier than this fear of dropped pitman arms that floats around the internet

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I'm surprised to see the negative reaction to a drop pitman arm. What's the source of the dislike?

The interweb Internet gods spoke at some point

Drop pitman arms are bad, why? Just do as I say

I think it comes from a drop pitman paired with a not dropped track bar causeing bumpsteer and deadly death wobbly rigs. But apparently thats a jeep thing and drop pitmans took the blame for lazzy humans slapping shit together.

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A drop pitman arm may help in some builds but most of time they make things worse. Do all of your suspension and steering mods first and then see if a new pitman arm would work for you.

I have lifted 4 of my 7 XJ Cherokees, and 6-8 or more for my Jeeping buddies. My local Jeep Club has 32 members, and about two thirds of them are XJ Cherokees. No drop pitman arms anywhere.

Look at the Join Date of the Members suggesting a drop pitman arm is unnecessary with a stock axle side bracket and 1-5 inches of lift. One might suppose that acquired knowledge and greasy hands experience is better than Internet mythology.

Tim_MN said:

I have lifted 4 of my 7 XJ Cherokees, and 6-8 or more for my Jeeping buddies. My local Jeep Club has 32 members, and about two thirds of them are XJ Cherokees. No drop pitman arms anywhere.

Look at the Join Date of the Members suggesting a drop pitman arm is unnecessary with a stock axle side bracket and 1-5 inches of lift. One might suppose that acquired knowledge and greasy hands experience is better than Internet mythology.

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But does the internet mythology say a drop pitman arm is good or bad? The initial impression I got from this forum is that the mythology is that its bad, i.e., people saying its bad with no explanation as to why. And as Evan03 said, I'm also seeing other forums where people say its bad because they were used without a drop track bar bracket.

As I see it, a drop pitman arm aids in keeping the drag link parallel to the track bar when using a drop track bar bracket. It also helps reduce the angle of the drag link. These are good things. Would a moderate drop pitman arm, say a 1" drop, create a problematically higher bending load on the sector shaft?

Your point about people not having issues when combining a drop track bar bracket and stock pitman arm is noted, but did any of them try a drop pitman arm to see what it changed? And the experience you mention doesn't necessarily point to a drop pitman arm being bad. It just says that people have gotten along without using one.

1" drop could be very useful 1" flatter angle is a huge beni in drag link track bar angle.

Many things on the the internet have no backing as to why. One thing I do see as a constant is jeeps are a dumpster for gathering mostly all the incorrect parts then the gathering parties cry about how shitty it went bad

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The only thing that counts are the angles which have to be measured from "pivot point to pivot point", shapes of the trackbars and draglinks mean absolutely nothing. Yes flatter is better but harder to achieve without some fabrication.

Translation. Nothing wrong with drop pitman arms when used correctly.

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RCP Phx said:

The only thing that counts are the angles which have to be measured from "pivot point to pivot point", shapes of the trackbars and draglinks mean absolutely nothing. Yes flatter is better but harder to achieve without some fabrication.

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This is where I’m a little unsure. On my current set up with the heim joint, the pivot point is below the bracket but on the IRO double shear I’m considering the pivot point would attached into the bottom of the bracket. I’m curious if the 3/4” drop basically just accounts for that difference and would still be pretty much level.

Can you share some pictures of your steering and track bar. Directly from the front and pictures in general of what youve got going on.

The zj pitman could help or could make it worse depending on what youve got going

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Nomad Nate said:

This is where I’m a little unsure. On my current set up with the heim joint, the pivot point is below the bracket but on the IRO double shear I’m considering the pivot point would attached into the bottom of the bracket. I’m curious if the 3/4” drop basically just accounts for that difference and would still be pretty much level.

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First realize that the RE 1600 trackbar is one of the worst. I've had my RE 1660, 1665, and 1670 now for over twenty years!

Evan03 said:

Can you share some pictures of your steering and track bar. Directly from the front and pictures in general of what youve got going on.

The zj pitman could help or could make it worse depending on what youve got going

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Nomad Nate said:

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