Currie Track Bar vs. JKS Track Bar for 2" Lift?

Chris

Chris

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On my previous TJ that was lifted with the 4" Currie lift, the Currie track bar was excellent. This time around, since I'll only be doing a 2" to 2.5" lift, I'm considering the JKS track bars, only because I hear that they provide better clearance for the Dana 44 diffs and require less bump stop on smaller lifts.

However, I don't have any real world evidence of this. Only what I hear people repeating on the internet, which is hard to provide assign any credibility to.

I'm wondering if anyone on this forum has a 2" lift with either Currie or JKS track bars. I'm curious how much extra bump stop you had to add with either of these track bars, and if you have any issues with the track bars hitting the diffs (this applies to people with Rubicon D44s only, as their diffs obviously stick out more).

Thanks in advance!
 
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What about Metalcloak? I’ve heard great things regarding their clearance.


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zip04 said:
What about Metalcloak? I’ve heard great things regarding their clearance.


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Another good one. Rumor has it that the Metalcloak front track bar needs modifications at low lift heights. IIRC, it needs to be trimmed for length at less than 3" lift. It can be done though.
 
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I only have Dana 30 experience, but the JKS TB clears with 0.75" bump stop extensions. Sorry, doesn't help. I'm a post whore too. The pics might help give you a visual to compare against a Dana 44 cover maybe.
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zip04 said:
What about Metalcloak? I’ve heard great things regarding their clearance.


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Everything I read says it won't work with a 2" lift unless you cut off a chunk of it. @Matsonian might be able to help answering this for sure, but he doesn't respond to his PMs or emails, so he seems to be MIA.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
I only have Dana 30 experience, but the JKS TB clears with 0.75" bump stop extensions. Sorry, doesn't help. I'm a post whore too. The pics might help give you a visual to compare against a Dana 44 cover maybe.
View attachment 29835 View attachment 29836 View attachment 29837 View attachment 29838
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Those pictures do help actually. I can see you've got an inch or so clearance between the diff cover and the track bar. I'm not sure how much further the Dana 44 diff cover sticks out in comparison to the Dana 30.

@David Kishpaugh, if you see this, I'm curious if you have any experience with this matter? I know you work on these things for a living, so you must be able to give me an idea of which track bar is ideal for 2" of suspension lift with the least amount of bump stop for a Dana 44 front end.
 
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StG58 said:
Mo' pictures, mo' betta'...

What's that look like when you start stuffing one side and drooping the other?
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As you can tell by the date stamp, that was some time ago. I seem to recall having no clearance issues when I stuffed each side. That first pic of the JJ looks a little deceiving. I could stick my index finger between the JJ and the diff cover, so there was a bit more room there than it looks like. The tie rod came very close to hitting the TB though. I think, to be on the safe side, I'd go with 1" BSE's.
 
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Ill dig up pics, the last jks pics posted are the old jks bar likely with stock length control arms, as well as, obviously, stock diff cover and v8zj tie rod.

The last test fitting i did with and for jks with 16" lower arms, 15" uppers, the currie tie rod landed on the track bar @ 3" bumpstops.



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david.kishpaugh.1 said:
Ill dig up pics, the last jks pics posted are the old jks bar likely with stock length control arms, as well as, obviously, stock diff cover and v8zj tie rod.

The last test fitting i did with and for jks with 16" lower arms, 15" uppers, the currie tie rod landed on the track bar @ 3" bumps.



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Which would also be the case above if the v8zj rod wasnt on there.....


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StG58 said:
Another good one. Rumor has it that the Metalcloak front track bar needs modifications at low lift heights. IIRC, it needs to be trimmed for length at less than 3" lift. It can be done though.
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I’m running the MC trackbar at 2.5” OME and no issues. Good clearance. Dana 30. I still have over an inch of adjustability at the frame. I.e. I could make it shorter
 
Chris said:
Everything I read says it won't work with a 2" lift unless you cut off a chunk of it. @Matsonian might be able to help answering this for sure, but he doesn't respond to his PMs or emails, so he seems to be MIA.
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Just call them tomorrow.
 
I forgot to mention that I'm planning on running the ZJ V8 tie rod, along with the stock length control arms, since I'll only be at 2" of lift.
 
JMT said:
I’m running the MC trackbar at 2.5” OME and no issues. Good clearance. Dana 30. I still have over an inch of adjustability at the frame. I.e. I could make it shorter
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Track bars. When did they start calling 'em track bars, I wonder? I grew up knowing 'em as Panhard rods. Ramblers had them in their full size cars all the way through 1966 (as they were rear coil springs with a torque tube set-up). So seriously, is there a difference between a Panhard rod and a track bar? Inquiring minds want to know...


200px-Panhard_rod.svg.png


A Panhard rod (also called Panhard bar or track bar) is a suspension link that provides lateral location of the axle.[1] Originally invented by the Panhard automobile company of France in the early twentieth century, this device has been widely used ever since.
 
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@Chris, just wondering why you need an adjustable track bar on the front with a 2.5" lift. I don't even notice one side being different. The rear, yes, but for some reason the front doesn't seem to need it at that lift height.
 
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glwood said:
@Chris, just wondering why you need an adjustable track bar on the front with a 2.5" lift. I don't even notice one side being different. The rear, yes, but for some reason the front doesn't seem to need it at that lift height.
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Looking forward to @Chris' answer, as if I recall correctly, the fronts rarely were thrown off-center with the lower lifts. The suspense(ion) is killing me! :)
 
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glwood said:
@Chris, just wondering why you need an adjustable track bar on the front with a 2.5" lift. I don't even notice one side being different. The rear, yes, but for some reason the front doesn't seem to need it at that lift height.
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Well, technically I probably don't. I'm just really OCD like that. I think even if I knew my axle was off center by 1/4", it would bother me. Crazy OCD, haha!
 
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