Front track bar advice

robertgreen79

robertgreen79

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 9, 2019
Messages
140
Location
Maryland
A little background for reference. When I bought this TJ back it had a worn out BDS 3” so I replaced it with a mild 2” spring lift. It has an adjustable front track bar with a bracket that I don’t recognize. Now that the track bar upper bushing is shot, would you recommend trying to find a replacement bushing or just replacing the whole thing with an OEM track bar? This TJ is now relegated to beach trips so road manners are far more important than off-road capability.

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Can you take a picture of your pitman arm? That’s a drop bracket that you don’t likely need, and if the pitman arm isn’t also dropped will cause bump steer.

On a 2” lift I’d probably get an OEM trackbar (you may want to drill a hole on the axle side to move it over slightly) or get a relatively inexpensive adjustable. Remove that drop bracket and likely revert the pitman arm to OEM.
 
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rasband said:
Can you take a picture of your pitman arm? That’s a drop bracket that you don’t likely need, and if the pitman arm isn’t also dropped will cause bump steer.

On a 2” lift I’d probably get an OEM trackbar (you may want to drill a hole on the axle side to move it over slightly) or get a relatively inexpensive adjustable. Remove that drop bracket and likely revert the pitman arm to OEM.
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Thanks so much. That’s where I was leaning. Looks like the pitman arm is still stock

F6C82E33-2347-48FE-B037-ADAC73AA9C4D.jpeg
 
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For your use cheapest would be OEM and relocating the axle mount to get it centered.
Or go with the JKS adjustable, it's not too expensive.
 
I talked to the former owner and he said it’s a rough country adjustable CA. I’m not a fan of their products but apparently some people here say the track bars are decent, but with crappy bushings which can be replaced with Moog or similar. Something else I noticed, is this thing installed backwards? :ROFLMAO: The frame side wouldn’t have bolted up without that weird bracket otherwise

Frame side:
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Axle side:

4B37DAC4-8BFC-4C25-858A-026F64122209.jpeg
 
On the frame side the PO added a drop mount. He may also have added a dropped pitman arm. None of that is necessary. Get rid of it all. On the axle side it looks like he drilled another hole to center the axle with the stock TB, then later got the adjustable RC TB.
 
JMT said:
On the frame side the PO added a drop mount. He may also have added a dropped pitman arm. None of that is necessary. Get rid of it all. On the axle side it looks like he drilled another hole to center the axle with the stock TB, then later got the adjustable RC TB.
Click to expand...

How can I remove the bracket and install the track bar back to the frame side? The bracket is a horizontal orientation and the oem mount is vertical. That’s why I’m wondering if it’s installed backwards
 
robertgreen79 said:
How can I remove the bracket and install the track bar back to the frame side? The bracket is a horizontal orientation and the oem mount is vertical. That’s why I’m wondering if it’s installed backwards
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You'll need a different track bar
 
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robertgreen79 said:
Yep you’re right. Just found this. It’s a different style apparently that requires the bracket to install. Weird. I’ll just go back to stock and utilize that drilled hole.

https://www.roughcountry.com/forged-adjustable-track-bar-1044.html
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If the PO drilled out the frame side mount to add the aftermarket bracket, you will not be able to use the stock track bar. The stock frame side mount had a tapered hole for the tie rod end on the stock track bar to fit. You could weld a new tapered sleeve into the hole, but most likely you’ll be better off with an aftermarket adjustable track bar that uses a different joint for the driver side.
 
Lax22 said:
If the PO drilled out the frame side mount to add the aftermarket bracket, you will not be able to use the stock track bar. The stock frame side mount had a tapered hole for the tie rod end on the stock track bar to fit. You could weld a new tapered sleeve into the hole, but most likely you’ll be better off with an aftermarket adjustable track bar that uses a different joint for the driver side.
Click to expand...

The install instructions don’t require drilling the original frame side hole so that should be fine. It requires drilling only for the top portion of the bracket.

Brianj5600 said:
If it steered and drove with no quirks before the bushing went bad, I would just replace the $20 bushing.
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That’s the problem I’m having, finding the correct bushing. Also, I’m wary about keeping that drop bracket as I went from a 3” lift to a 2” lift
 
Is the company that built the track bar still in business? If so they should be able to sell you a replacement or give you a part number for the bushing. They probably use a common bushing and not a special bushing.
 
Brianj5600 said:
Is the company that built the track bar still in business? If so they should be able to sell you a replacement or give you a part number for the bushing. They probably use a common bushing and not a special bushing.
Click to expand...

Yeah it’s rough country. I emailed them. Hopefully I’ll hear back
 
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