So what front track bar brand has a good reputation with solid warranty is recommended?
I'd recommend the Currie/RockJock or JKS.
I'd also look at Currie's CorrectLync steering setup.
-Mac
So what front track bar brand has a good reputation with solid warranty is recommended?
You'll need an alignment, but that's it for changing out that piece.
Not to rag on you but in the time since you last asked questions and now you could've done a good amount of work or at least research. Going down in lift is much easier than going up. You'll just have to remove/replace the parts we told you about, and then from there it's just adjustments. Pinion angle is fairly easy, but can be tedious. Track bars will need to be adjusted too to center the axle, and then the alignment like I mentioned. I agree with @tnjeepguy, take it slow and check marketplace constantly if you want parts for cheap (it's how I've built my rig so far). Everybody in here I'm sure has multiple stories of rushing through an upgrade/buying what the first guy told them and regretting it. At this point all I can recommend is to just start tearing into it and try and understand what you're doing as you do, it's the best way to learn.
I'd recommend the Currie/RockJock or JKS.
I'd also look at Currie's CorrectLync steering setup.
-Mac
View attachment 710667
Make sure everything is tightened. This looks loose.
At this point, a little upward works.
A plastic Johnson magnetic angle guage is $10-15. A Klein electric is ~$30.
The jeep shop said i needed a new front track bar without telling my why (I assume worn bushings) or without telling me I'd need a stock pitman arm. So maybe I should just do the job myself for those parts? Looks simple enough. The jeep shop wanted to charge me $350 for a Rock Krawler brand track bar, but that sounds overkill for me since all I want is to just drive around the desert trails with my kids. So what front track bar brand has a good reputation with solid warranty is recommended?
And therein lies my problems trusting Jeep "specialty" shops. It feels like they either Jeep snobs think I should spend money on parts i'll never be able to justify the prices, or they're lazy like you said. I'd rather do the job of lowering from 4.5" to 3" springs and shocks myself, but if I screw something up, then I'd end up in the shop to fix my self-created problems in the first place.
If he can turn a wrench on a 60, he can turn a wrench on a jeep. The hardest part leaving Aviation Maintenance and going to vehicle maintenance,
"if it doesn't fit, make it fit."
As told to me by a highly respected member here
Here’s my advice: for your intended purposes you should go for no more than a 2.5” lift, which will restore mostly-stock geometry and improve stability on and off road, low and high speed.
Going from 35’s to 33’s helped boost power not because of tire weight but because of better gear ratios. That effect is amplified even more with smaller tires.
As @GATORB8 said, you may have other hardware underneath that wouldn’t work with a shorter lift; e.g. a custom driveshaft for a 4.5” lift is likely too long for a 2.5” lift. Post photos of the other steering components, control arms, rear driveshaft and TC yoke.
Ultimately I’d recommend the 2.5” lift with 30 or 31” tires. You’d love the handling and power gains. Since you already have 33’s, I’d do the 2.5” lift plus a body lift which can be removed later if you go with smaller tires.
I had a YJ with 2.5” lift and 30’s; it handled moderate rocks and obstacles just fine.
View attachment 708042
View attachment 708044
This is Hidden Falls, isn't it? I had a friend come within about a half a degree of flipping his Sami in that exact spot.
This is Hidden Falls, isn't it? I had a friend come within about a half a degree of flipping his Sami in that exact spot.
Hidden Falls is one of those parks where every time I go out with friends I think "this will be a pretty calm trip, there are bypasses for everything" and then we end up spending hours stuck on some trail because we got overconfident.
Last time I went two of my friends were night wheeling before the rest of us got there. They had decided to do Green Mile for some reason and got stuck. Neither vehicle was running right, the other TJ having a potential fuel pump issue and the Toyota Pickup just being too low for the angle it was at and dug its axles into the dirt. Took them a few hours to get unstuck, ironically happening right as we finally arrived to the park. For whatever reason they decided to do it again the next day. At that point the only three vehicles running well enough to do it were a JK on 37's, an XJ, and the same Toyota Pickup. We let the Jk go first since he was the most likely one to make it up without issues. Half way up he turtled on a center ridge on the trail and his transmission cable broke, so he was stuck in neutral. It was a long day.