Help with the track bar on my TJ

J

justinthesink

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Joined
Feb 3, 2022
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North Carolina
Hello all, new to the group but I've used it as a resource a lot the last several months. I bought an 04 LJ a few months ago and have been slowly replacing things that are worn out. When I test drove it everything was pretty loose and my steering wheel had a lot of play. I planned to replace the track bar. When I took it off, I noticed it hadn't been torqued down enough and was slightly lose in the brackets. Once I torqued it properly, it cleaned up the steering a lot. I decided to check my axle to make sure it was centered. It's about an inch and an 1/8 toward the passenger side. I took everything back apart, got the axle centered, but the adjustable track bar that's on there seems to be too long. I have it as short as it'll go and I can't get it to meet the bracket.

The only way I could think to solve this is to buy a new one. From looking at the front end and talking to the previous owner, their son was in a fender bender at one point. They must've had some repairs done and I wonder if they had to replace the track bar.

I've looked at some of adjustable track bars out there and they seem to attach by drilling out the factory tapered hole. There is currently a dropped track bar mount that is partially secured by a bolt in that location. My thought was I could remove that mount and attach whichever new one I buy ( jks?) through the drilled out factory mount, hoping it's not been drilled out bigger than the size of the new track bar bolt.

Am I missing anything here? I've attached a couple pictures of the frame side mount.

Just to give a little more background, I'm fairly handy, not a mechanic, and learning as I go. Also, all the modifications were done before me, so all I know is what I've been able to research and find out at a local shop. After taking it to that shop, our best guess on the lift is 2.5" and the track bar seems to be rough country.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

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First, welcome out from the shadows. 🍻

Second, the experts will chime in shortly but you've got all kinds of aftermarket going on there. A dropped pitman arm and dropped track bar mount that should be returned to an OEM configuration.
 
Yes you can go back to a stock mounted track bar. You will also need to install a stock pitman arm. Most of the recommended track bars will require you to drill out the frame side track bar mount.
Also need to look into what ever your diff cover is hitting. The shiny metal indicates it hits something often? Most likely that drop TB bracket.
 
Like others have said you'll be best off removing the dropped pitman arm and returning to oem height, remove drop bracket on TC upper/lower mount. Since you do have all those pieces though it should cancel everything out but as @Gollywomper pointed out the bracket appears to be hitting the diff so for the cost of a new pitman arm will likelu save yourself a much bigger headache later.

How are you measuring the axle to center it? From the photo the rubber bumper, inside the spring, looks like it's pretty far off the bottom of the pad.

A way I've centered an axle in the past was marking the half way point on the axle and running a plumb off the center of the jeep, roughly the crank pully. Another way is to simply remove the TB and jump on the front bumper a bunch of times. It won't be as accurate but it should be close.
 
justinthesink said:
After taking it to that shop, our best guess on the lift is 2.5" and the track bar seems to be rough country.
Click to expand...
That would explain your problem if that is correct. That old style RC track bar with drop bracket and dpa is for their 4-6" lift. Maybe the PO switched to their 2.5" springs and used the same track bar. I bought a Jeep with that setup on it and removed it ASAP. The Jeep was all over the road and dangerous to drive.

p.s. The shop shouldn't have to guess at the lift height. Stock springs measure 12" front/8" rear.
 
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Get rid of the dropped track bar mount. You may be able to retain the stock track bar. It is a check and see item. Replace the dropped pitman arm with stock. You should be good to go! 👍🏼

Welcome formally to the forum!
 
looks like it's forward of the OE mount. is all of the original mount still there on the frame?
 
L J said:
First, welcome out from the shadows. 🍻

Second, the experts will chime in shortly but you've got all kinds of aftermarket going on there. A dropped pitman arm and dropped track bar mount that should be returned to an OEM configuration.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the welcome! It's already been a huge help!
 
Gollywomper said:
Yes you can go back to a stock mounted track bar. You will also need to install a stock pitman arm. Most of the recommended track bars will require you to drill out the frame side track bar mount.
Also need to look into what ever your diff cover is hitting. The shiny metal indicates it hits something often? Most likely that drop TB bracket.
Click to expand...
Thank you for pointing that out @Gollywomper . I'll check that out this morning. I'm going to order the track bar and stock pitman arm as well.
 
Alex01 said:
Like others have said you'll be best off removing the dropped pitman arm and returning to oem height, remove drop bracket on TC upper/lower mount. Since you do have all those pieces though it should cancel everything out but as @Gollywomper pointed out the bracket appears to be hitting the diff so for the cost of a new pitman arm will likelu save yourself a much bigger headache later.

How are you measuring the axle to center it? From the photo the rubber bumper, inside the spring, looks like it's pretty far off the bottom of the pad.

A way I've centered an axle in the past was marking the half way point on the axle and running a plumb off the center of the jeep, roughly the crank pully. Another way is to simply remove the TB and jump on the front bumper a bunch of times. It won't be as accurate but it should be close.
Click to expand...
@Alex01 thanks for the help. I watched a few videos on YouTube... I tried jumping on the front bumper but couldn't seem to get it centered. I saw another video or post somewhere that said to disconnect the track bar and move the steering wheel. That got it centered for me. Let me know if that is not a good method. Thanks again for the help.
 
TheBoogieman said:
That would explain your problem if that is correct. That old style RC track bar with drop bracket and dpa is for their 4-6" lift. Maybe the PO switched to their 2.5" springs and used the same track bar. I bought a Jeep with that setup on it and removed it ASAP. The Jeep was all over the road and dangerous to drive.

p.s. The shop shouldn't have to guess at the lift height. Stock springs measure 12" front/8" rear.
Click to expand...
@TheBoogieman Maybe that's what happened. It's definitely not easy to drive... If I'm looking at the springs, can I just measure the difference between the 12" and those on there now?
 
someguysjeep said:
looks like it's forward of the OE mount. is all of the original mount still there on the frame?
Click to expand...
Thanks @someguysjeep . It looks like it to me. You are correct though, it is forward of the OE mount. The drop bracket is bolted to the frame up against the oe mount. It's secured to the frame with 2 bolts directly to the frame and 1 through the oe mount.

Also, newbie question, should I respond in one post to all replies? Or reply to each post individually?
 
justinthesink said:
@TheBoogieman that picture is helpful. Just measured and I'm getting 16" in the front and 12" in the back. So looks like I'm at 4" not 2.5"...
Click to expand...
Still remove the drop pitman arm and drop bracket and it will make your life easier. Align the front toe-in yourself too. I bought a Jeep with those issues and got $500 knocked off the asking price. The AC only worked on high too. Another $500 off so I could buy a $15 blower motor resistor. 🤫
 
probably best to remove that drop stuff. don't jump the gun and start ordering parts b4 you investigate what they left you with once that stuff is moved. the OE TB mount hole could have been altered, you wanna verify it's size and condition if it appears to have been enlarged. is the taper still present?
the TB bend could come into play vs the diff cover once the TB moves backwards to the OE hanger, so check that also.
the Heim style joint flipped onto it's side tends to collect crap and not last long, you may want a different joint on the top end now.
 
TheBoogieman said:
Still remove the drop pitman arm and drop bracket and it will make your life easier. Align the front toe-in yourself too. I bought a Jeep with those issues and got $500 knocked off the asking price. The AC only worked on high too. Another $500 off so I could buy a $15 blower motor resistor. 🤫
Click to expand...
@TheBoogieman Nice! Hoping to pick up on some of those tricks of the trade over time. I enjoy it, just wish I had a little more knowledge. I knew there were some issues but based on what I saw them going for around me, it seemed like a solid deal. Been looking for an LJ for a bit after selling my JK last year.

I'll be be looking for a thread on adjusting toe in once I get the new setup on haha!
 
someguysjeep said:
probably best to remove that drop stuff. don't jump the gun and start ordering parts b4 you investigate what they left you with once that stuff is moved. the OE TB mount hole could have been altered, you wanna verify it's size and condition if it appears to have been enlarged. is the taper still present?
the TB bend could come into play vs the diff cover once the TB moves backwards to the OE hanger, so check that also.
the Heim style joint flipped onto it's side tends to collect crap and not last long, you may want a different joint on the top end now.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll have to take it out of commission for a little bit to see what I'm dealing with. Just from what I can see without taking it apart, the OE hole has a bolt through it that appears bigger than the factory tapered end was. I guess what I'm nervous about now is taking it apart and finding out the OE mounting hole is bigger than the bolts in the replacement track bars I may be looking at.

Any recommendations on a track bar that may be better (I'm sure there's probably a thread for that question too)? I had researched a bit and saw the JKS and Metal Cloak adjustable ones were right in the same range as far as cost.
 
justinthesink said:
Thanks, I'll have to take it out of commission for a little bit to see what I'm dealing with. Just from what I can see without taking it apart, the OE hole has a bolt through it that appears bigger than the factory tapered end was. I guess what I'm nervous about now is taking it apart and finding out the OE mounting hole is bigger than the bolts in the replacement track bars I may be looking at.

Any recommendations on a track bar that may be better (I'm sure there's probably a thread for that question too)? I had researched a bit and saw the JKS and Metal Cloak adjustable ones were right in the same range as far as cost.
Click to expand...
MC offers the same type top end joint.
Currie or RockJock offer upper joints and full track bars most speak highly of.
i think JKS bars can work well too, IIRC.

if the stock location exposes to much stem or doesn't offer much thread engagement you'll need a new bar, if it's close you might could just get a new upper end for that 1. all depends how things mesh together at your top end of travel
 
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