Front Track Bar

[Tommy976]

Hello!
I’m buying a YJ that needs the front track bar installed, but there is no accompanying hardware, etc. I’m trying to determine the size bolts needed to mount it to both the axle and frame sides of the bar. Both brackets appear to be there, though I’m replacing the frame side bracket as the attachment hole is oblong and no longer round, but I’m open to suggestions on full replacement as well.
Thanks for any help!

 

[Gilaguy23]

Not to criticize but why reinstall it or them? Most remove them and never look back.

 

[Tommy976]

I thought, but am not 100% sure, that track bars were needed to ensure that your axles stayed where they were supposed to when not wheeling, etc. And, I’ll be using this for highway driving and some off roading, not strictly as an off road Jeep.

 

[Gilaguy23]

On the TJ,XJ,older Bronco's/F150's or any coil spring vehicle they are a must as you indicate. On a leaf sprung vehicle they are not necessary. The springs keep the axles where they need to be. If your lifted and do decide to use them or one make sure you use the extended bracket or adjustable track bar to compensate. You'll find most of us remove the track bars and the sway bars or at least add disconnects for the links.

 

[Flyer58]

Hello!
I’m buying a YJ that needs the front track bar installed, but there is no accompanying hardware, etc. I’m trying to determine the size bolts needed to mount it to both the axle and frame sides of the bar. Both brackets appear to be there, though I’m replacing the frame side bracket as the attachment hole is oblong and no longer round, but I’m open to suggestions on full replacement as well.
Thanks for any help!

Do you have any lift kit installed? The stock length track bar may not work correctly and pull the axel off center. I think the oval hole is there by design to allow some movement.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Gilaguy23]

I'll say the wallowed hole is from a loose T bar bolt.

 

[jeepjoe43]

Hello!
I’m buying a YJ that needs the front track bar installed, but there is no accompanying hardware, etc. I’m trying to determine the size bolts needed to mount it to both the axle and frame sides of the bar. Both brackets appear to be there, though I’m replacing the frame side bracket as the attachment hole is oblong and no longer round, but I’m open to suggestions on full replacement as well.
Thanks for any help!

I was surprised to see it had them, suspect they're more for side impact anti roll-over than handling.
You can have my hardware, if I can find it, I keep all the small stuff that's coming off of mine.
Ex) Kept the rear spiders when I put in a lunch-box locker, ended up putting them back in when I bent the housing.

 

[Flyer58]

The oval hole is definitely there by design to allow some shifting of the track bar. otherwise the axle would not travel straight up and down and it could apply a side load on the bushings.

Here is the rear mount on my YJ drivers side. The right side is round. I still have the front track bar in place.

 

[machoheadgames]

The oval hole is by design. The torque of the bolt keeps the assembly from moving at all once it's all fastened together and tightened.

 

[machoheadgames]

I was surprised to see it had them, suspect they're more for side impact anti roll-over than handling.
You can have my hardware, if I can find it, I keep all the small stuff that's coming off of mine.
Ex) Kept the rear spiders when I put in a lunch-box locker, ended up putting them back in when I bent the housing.

Do you still have the front track bar & its hardware?

 

[jeepjoe43]

Do you still have the front track bar & its hardware?

Don't have the bar anymore.
I haven't had chance to look for the hardware, but I'm pretty sure I have that.

 

[Gilaguy23]

The oval hole is definitely there by design to allow some shifting of the track bar. otherwise the axle would not travel straight up and down and it could apply a side load on the bushings.

Here is the rear mount on my YJ drivers side. The right side is round. I still have the front track bar in place.

Shifting of the bar to install perhaps but its not intended to allow it to slide around with the suspension. There in lies the problem with the Track bar and leaf sprung vehicles. lay the bar flat and secure one end. Draw 2 lines at each end at 90 of the bar laying flat. Now swing it up and down off the secured end. You see how it shrinks as it moves up and down. That's what its trying to make your leaf springs do when the suspension cycles as it pushes and pulls the front and rear diffs side to side. Sometimes I really wonder what engineers are thinking.

 

[machoheadgames]

Shifting of the bar to install perhaps but its not intended to allow it to slide around with the suspension. There in lies the problem with the Track bar and leaf sprung vehicles. lay the bar flat and secure one end. Draw 2 lines at each end at 90 of the bar laying flat. Now swing it up and down off the secured end. You see how it shrinks as it moves up and down. That's what its trying to make your leaf springs do when the suspension cycles as it pushes and pulls the front and rear diffs side to side. Sometimes I really wonder what engineers are thinking.

You are correct on the forces of the bar against the springs and how they fight each other, however they did not cause the hole to become oval. That is factory. If it wasn’t you would have oval shaped rub marks from the bolt head moving around as well as lots of noise. It’s the same situation as the TJ, which comes with oversized circular holes that are larger than the factory TB bolts. The bolt torque keeps enough friction on the bolt head to keep it from moving.

Put another way, if the hole size was critical to the connection security, then the proper hole size from the beginning would have kept the hole from ever getting larger. It didn’t because it doesn’t really matter. Those little U shape brackets on the frame side track bar mount helps keep tension on the bolt as well. Once that sucker is 55 ft lbs it’s going nowhere.

I do agree that a track bar on leaf springs doesn’t make a lot of sense although leaf springs are not good at controlling the axle during steering since they are fixed with bushings that have flex capability. Ideally we would have had steering like the CJ with no track bar. We instead have subpar steering and the track bar half ass helps it feel like it steers better. The CJ springs still let the axle move too just like ours with the bar gone, but the better CJ steering naturally feels a lot more responsive so it works out.

 

[machoheadgames]

Don't have the bar anymore.
I haven't had chance to look for the hardware, but I'm pretty sure I have that.

Bummer. Wanting to add the bar back and see what it feels like with my latest suspension and drop pitman. Maybe someday I’ll stumble upon one free/cheap.

 

[jeepjoe43]

Bummer. Wanting to add the bar back and see what it feels like with my latest suspension and drop pitman. Maybe someday I’ll stumble upon one free/cheap.

I'm sure somebody has one.
I wanted to leave as much OEM in place just because, but...
After the lift, mine wouldn't reach and I wasn't going spend on an adjustable for a part I didn't see a need for.

 

[machoheadgames]

I'm sure somebody has one.
I wanted to leave as much OEM in place just because, but...
After the lift, mine wouldn't reach and I wasn't going spend on an adjustable for a part I didn't see a need for.

I can certainly understand that POV. For the $32 bracket I want to try the experiment. Otherwise definitely agree on just leaving it off.

 

[jeepjoe43]

I can certainly understand that POV. For the $32 bracket I want to try the experiment. Otherwise definitely agree on just leaving it off.

I was willing to deal with the bad geometry, if it would hook-up.
Looked at the brackets too, but to me they just looked hinky.
Gone...

 

[Flyer58]

Looking at my hardware for the track bar I see it has two flat surfaces which clamp on to the bracket with the oval slot. For some reason I was thinking it was just a rubber bushing with no real clamping force.

This way it actually applies a clamping force close to 15,000 pounds when torqued to 55ft/lbs so that bolt ain't going nowhere.

All I can guess is the same springs were used on all YJ's for all configurations so the weight on wheels for an I-6 , I-4, different tops and doors could put that bar eyelet in a slightly different location when installed on the assembly line.

Just guessing.

 

[machoheadgames]

Looking at my hardware for the track bar I see it has two flat surfaces which clamp on to the bracket with the oval slot. For some reason I was thinking it was just a rubber bushing with no real clamping force.

This way it actually applies a clamping force close to 15,000 pounds when torqued to 55ft/lbs so that bolt ain't going nowhere.

All I can guess is the same springs were used on all YJ's for all configurations so the weight on wheels for an I-6 , I-4, different tops and doors could put that bar eyelet in a slightly different location when installed on the assembly line.

Just guessing.

That would for sure make sense. As far as I know they did use the same springs I believe. Been a while since I looked at the part numbers though.

 

[T-Rex Jeepster]

You are correct on the forces of the bar against the springs and how they fight each other, however they did not cause the hole to become oval. That is factory. If it wasn’t you would have oval shaped rub marks from the bolt head moving around as well as lots of noise. It’s the same situation as the TJ, which comes with oversized circular holes that are larger than the factory TB bolts. The bolt torque keeps enough friction on the bolt head to keep it from moving.

Put another way, if the hole size was critical to the connection security, then the proper hole size from the beginning would have kept the hole from ever getting larger. It didn’t because it doesn’t really matter. Those little U shape brackets on the frame side track bar mount helps keep tension on the bolt as well. Once that sucker is 55 ft lbs it’s going nowhere.

I do agree that a track bar on leaf springs doesn’t make a lot of sense although leaf springs are not good at controlling the axle during steering since they are fixed with bushings that have flex capability. Ideally we would have had steering like the CJ with no track bar. We instead have subpar steering and the track bar half ass helps it feel like it steers better. The CJ springs still let the axle move too just like ours with the bar gone, but the better CJ steering naturally feels a lot more responsive so it works out.

So this is why my YJ turns like an Aircraft Carrier?