Drilling a stock TB bushing sleeve ??

[heyhar]

I had a Kevin's track bar in my '92 for a while, and one of the steps in installing it was to drill a 1/2" hole in the axle bracket. I've since gone back to a stock track bar, which meant having to make the hole smaller again. I tried to drill out the OEM type bushing to accept the half-inch bolt, but like you've found out, the little nipples in the bushing sleeve will grab the bit and twist your arm. To fix mine, I had bushing sleeves from a Daystar kit that fit the original bolt, but more importantly, were the same outside diameter as the inside of the 1/2" holes. So I cut a few 'slices', and welded them into the holes, and now the holes were back to stock size.

But, what I found out doing this was that an aftermarket urethane bushing, with its inner steel sleeve that will pass a 1/2" bolt, will fit into a stock track bar, once the original bushing is out. That way, you could install a Kevin's or Daystar urethane bushing in the bar, drill out the axle mount to accept a 1/2" bolt, and you should be back in business! I've used 1/2" fine thread bolts and nuts, a lock washer, and red Loctite, and never had it come loose.

 

[dave92cherokee]

I found another option that could possibly work. The manche I'm building the axle bracket was egged out so I drilled it to a 1/2". Then I was replacing the swaybar links and noticed that the metal sleeves for the axle side link is just a hair larger than 1/2". Pressed the old sleeve from the stock trackbar and the OD is the same for the two. Pressed the old swaybar link into the trackbar and it fit perfectly. At autozone it's part number SL231 for a replacement bushing and sleeve. Haven't verified if it's got the right ID but should be.