How to relocate your Track Bar

[XJ Stryker]

After putting on a 3in lift on my wife's rig, the axle had shifted to the driver's side by about 1in causing the vehicle to track horrible.

I have read alot about moving the track bar 3/4 of an inch over to compensate and save your self 100+ bucks on a new adjustable track bar. I have no welder so I cannot make my own. So here we go.

First removed the 15mm bolt for some reason this bolt feels like it is torqued to 150 ft lbs I had to used my floor jack and a breaker to get it loose and that was with PB Blaster.

Once I got the bolt out I measure 3/4 of an inch over and drilled my hole. I used a small pilot hole then drilled it out with a 7/16 bit.

I had a hard time getting the axle to line up on the new hole so I used some cajun engineering and came up with this.

scissor jack in the middle

Lined it up perfectly woo hoo.

Popped the bolt back in there and tightened the hell out of it.

Took it for a test drive and realized that since I moved the axle over my steering wheel was pratically upsided down with the wheels straight. Felt weird to drive it like that.

So I loosened up both of these also 15mm and turned it out till the wheel was straight. I turned it with my hand I was surprised at how simple it was with this 21 year old vehicle.

Back to driving straight!

 

[MT Mike]

Nice job Stryker. How long did it take you total?

 

[XJ Stryker]

Not very long maybe an hour or two. I bullshitted a lot with it tried to over think it some but it is pretty straight forward.

 

[Skwerly]

Sweet! Heckuvalot better than paying some tool to do the same bit for 300 bucks haha!

 

[sunburned]

Just an observation, but that hole should be measured 3/4" center to center, not edge to edge. In reality, you moved the bolt over 3/4" + 7/16" = 1 3/16" and now your front axle is out of alignment 7/16" in the opposite direction. Plus, your hole is higher, meaning you added a bit more since the track bar is angled in the direction of the hole movement.


If that actually is 3/4" on center, my bad and never mind.

 

[XJ Stryker]

It was when I put the sharpie mark on it... I raised it a lil just so I wouldnt be to close to the edge. The vehicle tracks great and is now longer pulling to the right which is the purpose. I appreciate the response though.

 

[Yucca-Man]

Nice lookin' Woody - just a wee bit rusty underneath, but still...

Jim www.yuccaman.com

 

[southernrebel20]

Ha I love the "cajun" engineering! Did you try having someone turn the wheel to line it up while you stuck the bolt through? I did that after my 3.5" and it was the easiest part of the whole thing .

 

[sunburned]

As long as it worked :thumbup:

 

[ManBearPig]

I did the same thing with my 4" lift

 

[XJ Stryker]

Ha I love the "cajun" engineering! Did you try having someone turn the wheel to line it up while you stuck the bolt through? I did that after my 3.5" and it was the easiest part of the whole thing .

NO :twak: that's all I had to do? :doh: OH well its done now.

Rust issue well the D-30 on this one is the only thing that is really rusted. PO had a leaky rear main so most of the undercarriage has oil protection. :smoker:

 

[cherokee chuck]

Use a come-along[cable jack] from the frame rail to the housing to move the axle over. It works great & every wheeler should have one.

 

[Blackash132]

I did the same thing with my 4" TrailMaster Lift.
Nice write up.

 

[jeepster_259]

All you have to do to get the track bar to align with the new hole is have somebody turn the steering wheel back and forth. Works perfectly, took me about 5 min.

 

[RCP Phx]

You should have at least clearanced the bracket.Its almost bound up as it sits!

 

[HaleYes]

I can almost smell the PB Blaster from here.

 

[XJ Stryker]

You should have at least clearanced the bracket.Its almost bound up as it sits!

This pic was taken with the axle still hanging down I had jack stands behind the LCA's... its gonna bottom out with the axle at full hang.