OP
Not quite a write up, just my steps and some of my hiccups when getting the new track bar installed
So here are the pictures I managed to snap, sorry in advance about the quality of the pics.
First I decided to try and get the Chassis nut/bolt out but I was not able to get it to budge at all even though I had been liberally applying PB over the course of a about 5 days. Even an impact had no effect on it so I gave up on that part for the time being and moved over to the axle bolt.
This was an interesting nut to get off. I was able to stick a 17mm Flare wrench in a little hole in the side as nothing else seemed to fit. luckily this wrench just barely fit in the small gap and I was able to easily remove the bolt.
I then went back to the Chassis side and ended up cutting the whole joint off. I figured I was replacing everything anyway and I just wanted it off at that point. Using a Dremel I slowly cut it off. I tried to attack the nut but the dremel just wasn't able to get a good angle. I then decided to go for the bolt which worked fairly well. An angle grinder would have made this much easier.. and faster..
After I had the old and broken track bar bits out I was finally able to start putting the new equipment in. The instructions said to pop in the chassis side first and torque it down to 165 foot lbs if I remember correctly.
After I had the Chassis side in I could then begin the wonderfully fun centering process...
I tried using the ratchet strap method to center the axle but I just couldn't get it to work. I read that people attached the strap to the Chassis side mount and the axle yoke but I was just having issues and not seeing the results. I then tried what Jerry suggested in some other threads, jouncing the bumper to try and have the suspension center the axle. I drove forward and reverse a few times trying to have it centered on its own but that didn't work for me either. I eventually gave up on the ratchet straps and the jouncing methods and got my girlfriend down to the garage to use the steering wheel method.
Since I still have to really tune in the alignment, change my pitman arm, add bump stops, and cycle the suspension I figured I could live with a slightly off center steering wheel for a week. This part was pretty straight forward. I used the edge of the perch on each side. I didn't get a pic but I was having a hard time making sure I got the same part of the tire on each side so I ended up using a square against the tires to make sure I had the same point on each side.
After it was damn close on each side I had her hold the wheel steady and when to attach the axle side bolt only to find that the whole was not big enough... I never actually check if it wwould fit before hand..:eusa_doh:
So I had to drill it out to fit the 1/2 diameter bolt. After the drilling I had to go back and re-center the axle and THEN I was able to slide the bolt in.
I then realized that since the bolt was larger that would mean the nut is larger as well. See that was a litte bit of an issue since that 17mm flare wrench JUST BARELY FIT. All the other combo wrenches I had at the time were ratcheting on one side and a standard wrench on the other. because of that I needed to go out and get some standard combo wrenches and I was then able to slide it in the bottom hole with ease.
I know its hard to tell here but there was a small hole in the side that I used when getting the nut off but when putting it back in, the wrench was too big to fit there again. Luckily I was able to fit the wrench in the bottom hole for the install. I forget what the torque specs were for the axle bolt but I think it was like 65 ft lbs or something.
The instructions say to tighten the Jam nut at the end and they mention that it may be easier to remove the track bar entirely to tighten the jam nut but that just didn't jive with me after all that work to get it. I just tightened it up while it was installed.
I want to say thank you to everyone who replied and helped while I tackled this repair. Your help is much appreciated!
So here are the pictures I managed to snap, sorry in advance about the quality of the pics.
First I decided to try and get the Chassis nut/bolt out but I was not able to get it to budge at all even though I had been liberally applying PB over the course of a about 5 days. Even an impact had no effect on it so I gave up on that part for the time being and moved over to the axle bolt.
This was an interesting nut to get off. I was able to stick a 17mm Flare wrench in a little hole in the side as nothing else seemed to fit. luckily this wrench just barely fit in the small gap and I was able to easily remove the bolt.
I then went back to the Chassis side and ended up cutting the whole joint off. I figured I was replacing everything anyway and I just wanted it off at that point. Using a Dremel I slowly cut it off. I tried to attack the nut but the dremel just wasn't able to get a good angle. I then decided to go for the bolt which worked fairly well. An angle grinder would have made this much easier.. and faster..
After I had the old and broken track bar bits out I was finally able to start putting the new equipment in. The instructions said to pop in the chassis side first and torque it down to 165 foot lbs if I remember correctly.
After I had the Chassis side in I could then begin the wonderfully fun centering process...
I tried using the ratchet strap method to center the axle but I just couldn't get it to work. I read that people attached the strap to the Chassis side mount and the axle yoke but I was just having issues and not seeing the results. I then tried what Jerry suggested in some other threads, jouncing the bumper to try and have the suspension center the axle. I drove forward and reverse a few times trying to have it centered on its own but that didn't work for me either. I eventually gave up on the ratchet straps and the jouncing methods and got my girlfriend down to the garage to use the steering wheel method.
Since I still have to really tune in the alignment, change my pitman arm, add bump stops, and cycle the suspension I figured I could live with a slightly off center steering wheel for a week. This part was pretty straight forward. I used the edge of the perch on each side. I didn't get a pic but I was having a hard time making sure I got the same part of the tire on each side so I ended up using a square against the tires to make sure I had the same point on each side.
So I had to drill it out to fit the 1/2 diameter bolt. After the drilling I had to go back and re-center the axle and THEN I was able to slide the bolt in.
I then realized that since the bolt was larger that would mean the nut is larger as well. See that was a litte bit of an issue since that 17mm flare wrench JUST BARELY FIT. All the other combo wrenches I had at the time were ratcheting on one side and a standard wrench on the other. because of that I needed to go out and get some standard combo wrenches and I was then able to slide it in the bottom hole with ease.
I know its hard to tell here but there was a small hole in the side that I used when getting the nut off but when putting it back in, the wrench was too big to fit there again. Luckily I was able to fit the wrench in the bottom hole for the install. I forget what the torque specs were for the axle bolt but I think it was like 65 ft lbs or something.
The instructions say to tighten the Jam nut at the end and they mention that it may be easier to remove the track bar entirely to tighten the jam nut but that just didn't jive with me after all that work to get it. I just tightened it up while it was installed.
I want to say thank you to everyone who replied and helped while I tackled this repair. Your help is much appreciated!
