Bad Rag Joint? Wandering

[Skiddy]

Thanks Lars.
I did find the double hemi track bar and may pick it up next week. For the cost it is worth trying.
Just dont want to replace my box $$$$$$

Link to double hemi track bar:
http://www.stonecrushersteering.com/OTHER_PRODUCTS.html

Anthony does make some good stuff

 

[lars]

Thanks Lars.
I did find the double hemi track bar and may pick it up next week. For the cost it is worth trying.
Just dont want to replace my box $$$$$$

Link to double hemi track bar:
http://www.stonecrushersteering.com/OTHER_PRODUCTS.html

That's not the one I had, but actually I think it's nicer. I'd buy it without hesitation. Getting rid of any squishy rubber bits that could affect steering is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Justafordguy]

JohnJohn , I may have missed it but did you ever get your alignment checked after you started having this problem? I would be interested in what your current caster is. Mine was kinda scary to drive and felt like it had a ton of play in the steering when driven over 45 mph. I never found any play anywhere but it sure felt like it while driving. My caster was only about 1deg. I have about 4.5deg now and it drives with one finger at 65. The change was night and day.

 

[DirtDonk]

Was that Performance Unlimited Lars?
And not to take away anything from Anthony's stuff, but I prefer a Heim at just the upper end myself. Like BCB sells
The lower bushing keeps at least some isolation going on, and will also keep your trackbar from twisting on the rod ends. Not a big deal on a straight bar of course, but with a "kinked" bar to clear the diff housing, that rocking motion just doesn't look right.
I can't say from an engineering standpoint just what would be wrong by having your trackbar twist on it's mounts. It just didn't seem right to me.
In the case of the BC bar, the upper having a rod end now, still takes any angularity stresses off the bar, mounts, bushings, threads and joints, should allow the lower bushing to last half of forever (the lower lasts a long time anyway), should need less servicing, and would still be tighter than your existing bushings.

I know that the '76/'77 oval upper bushings should, by design, move more than the earlier round ones, but in my mind you're better off with no side-to-side movement at all on a trackbar. And with the new steering setup you have now, I don't see any dire need for an oval shape of the extra play it offers.

If you don't have an adjustable trackbar, you probably should. If for no other reason than fine-tuning the centering of the axle assembly. If yours is perfectly centered already though, and you don't feel the need for a new adjustable bar, then just replace the upper bushings with polyurethane ones and see what that does. Should tighten it up pretty decently.

In my experience, even that 1/8" of play is more than enough to cause some wandering. Maybe not as severe as you're experiencing, but the worn bushings or loose mounts always made for noticeable wandering in my daily-driver.
Even a lower bolt that had broken loose from it's weld and had less than an eighth inch of movement made for a very consistent wandering even on city streets.

Paul

 

[lars]

Was that Performance Unlimited Lars?
And not to take away anything from Anthony's stuff, but I prefer a Heim at just the upper end myself. Like BCB sells
The lower bushing keeps at least some isolation going on, and will also keep your trackbar from twisting on the rod ends. Not a big deal on a straight bar of course, but with a "kinked" bar to clear the diff housing, that rocking motion just doesn't look right.
I can't say from an engineering standpoint just what would be wrong by having your trackbar twist on it's mounts. It just didn't seem right to me.
In the case of the BC bar, the upper having a rod end now, still takes any angularity stresses off the bar, mounts, bushings, threads and joints, should allow the lower bushing to last half of forever (the lower lasts a long time anyway), should need less servicing, and would still be tighter than your existing bushings.

I know that the '76/'77 oval upper bushings should, by design, move more than the earlier round ones, but in my mind you're better off with no side-to-side movement at all on a trackbar. And with the new steering setup you have now, I don't see any dire need for an oval shape of the extra play it offers.

If you don't have an adjustable trackbar, you probably should. If for no other reason than fine-tuning the centering of the axle assembly. If yours is perfectly centered already though, and you don't feel the need for a new adjustable bar, then just replace the upper bushings with polyurethane ones and see what that does. Should tighten it up pretty decently.

In my experience, even that 1/8" of play is more than enough to cause some wandering. Maybe not as severe as you're experiencing, but the worn bushings or loose mounts always made for noticeable wandering in my daily-driver.
Even a lower bolt that had broken loose from it's weld and had less than an eighth inch of movement made for a very consistent wandering even on city streets.

Paul

It was Performance Unlimited, Paul. I still have the tie rod ends off that track bar on my Bronco (swapped from the bar they were originally installed on, which is long gone somewhere, when I did my long track bar mod years back). In service for almost 8 years. I have beaten the crap out of them and continue to be amazed at how well they are holding up. Fortunately they seem to be tolerant of a lot of misalignment because they've never come loose. I was warned that having a solid link would transmit more noise. Maybe, but in that case all it did was add a little bit to the cacophony of noise already coming from the chassis

 

[DirtDonk]

Yeah, I hear 'ya. Same thing for poly body cushions. I use them on both trucks and couldn't tell you that there was any difference in noise. Just that they worked a whole lot better than the old clapped out ones!

I look at the lower trackbar bushing the same way as coil spring insulators or radius arm bushings. Desirable from the standpoint that any help is better than none, but don't expect anything to make an EB truly isolated from road noise.

Paul

 

[JohnJohn]

I am going to get my alignment in a few days. I have alot of castor with the long arms and my track bar has new poly bushings with about 4000 miles on them.
It drove a bit better before I had the wheels balanced. I did not see them add air but when i checked it turns out the took me from 30 PSI to 40. I aired them down to 29 and it drove a bit better.
I have a few other things to check and will post an update.