Track bar hitting Savvy gas tank skid

fooey

TJ Enthusiast
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Feb 26, 2017
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223
Location
College Station, TX
I recently installed a Savvy gas tank skid and being a lazy ass didn't cycle my suspension afterwards. Driving around last weekend I went over a big bump and heard a terrible thud.

This morning I pulled the springs and jacked up the rear and found the interference. The middle-ish part of the track bar is hitting the front mounting bracket of the skid.

tempImageZXTbG8.jpg


I have a 2" spring lift, 1" bump stop spacers, no BL, Savvy upper rear arms, stock lower, JKS angled bracket and a Core adjustable track bar.

Any ideas? It almost looks like I could maybe bend the front mounting bracket on the skid back a bit and maybe clear the track bar, is that a bad idea? I'd hate to add more bump, it looks like it would take a ton to go that route.

Here is the passenger side with the track bar making contact:

tempImageaFHBBg.jpg


And here is the driver side:

tempImage8zOANL.jpg


Since my spring perches aren't lining up very well, am I going to have to bite the bullet and get some adjustable lowers?
 
Adjustable lowers and pulling it forward a hair would be easier than trying to bend that skid.
You could tweek the bar too.
 
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How does the pinion angle look? Based on the fact that you're running a UCF no body lift skid, it looks like that pinion angle is more than it needs to be. Hard to tell from the pictures though!
 
How does the pinion angle look? Based on the fact that you're running a UCF no body lift skid, it looks like that pinion angle is more than it needs to be. Hard to tell from the pictures though!
Pinion angle is good, no vibes at all. Might be deceiving due to the awkward angle.
 
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That was one of my first thoughts, but I didn’t know if cutting the end off the slotted hole would weaken it too much. Knowing that yours sees a lot more action than mine, I may go that route.
You could cut it but there's no getting around that your axle is too far back. If you clearance the bracket then you'll hit the cross member next or the pumpkin will hit the tank. As the axle goes up it also moves back and will likely miss the bumps. You should also be checking with the shocks installed if they're not.
 
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You could cut it but there's no getting around that your axle is too far back. If you clearance the bracket then you'll hit the cross member next or the pumpkin will hit the tank. As the axle goes up it also moves back and will likely miss the bumps. You should also be checking with the shocks installed if they're not.
Yeah, you're right of course. The more I look at it, the more I realize I need to just bite the bullet and get lower arms. I'll get the arms and then clearance the mount if needed.
 
Are you sure you need the angled bracket? Without it, it will sit lower.
I believe so. When I did the SYE and the UCF skid I had to tilt the pinion back quite a bit. And as @OldGloryLJ pointed out above, my bumps aren’t really lining up as they are.

I went ahead and ordered the arms. From staring at it for a while I’m almost positive that once I get the axle forward a bit and align the bumps a bit better it will give me the clearance I need. Worst case, I have to knock a bit off the corner of the skid mount with a flap disk.

So much for keeping it simple with a 2” lift!
 
My understanding of this is that the JKS track bar also isn’t do you any good in terms of clearance.
 
Ran across this in another thread. Adding the data points for the future.

View attachment 244426
Interesting

I always thought that the Currie bar was the best clearance in the rear with the Savvy gas tank skid. That’s what I have with mine at least.

I thought I had heard issues about the JKS track bar causing clearance issues. Maybe I heard wrong.
 
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You don't have to cut them. See the depth of the slot? Wedge a chuck of 2x4 off of the cargo step and use a prybar on the end of it to move the mounting flange back to the limit of the slots.
I wouldn't have known, thanks!
 
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Ran across this in another thread. Adding the data points for the future.

View attachment 244426
I use the rough country with jks angled bracket and mine hits the stock gas tank skid. I do have fixed LCAs so a minor adjustment could fix that.

Thus far I haven’t ran into anything major at the local malls but since the pandemic I have had to flex like in years past.