Is my trac bar [frame] mount bent?

[Whoaa]

77' w/ a Dana 44

Does this mount look correct, the angle look right? Is it bent outward?

The hole where the bolt goes through looks like its wallered out. I was thinking about welding some [thick] washers on each side of these wallered holes to square it back again. But if its bent, I think it'll just be easier/better/faster to replace the whole mount. Suggestions?

What about the goober plate cob welded on the side of it.....this can't be factory, is it?

I going up 5 1/2" on the suspension and have a dandy WH trac bar riser fitted, and getting ready to weld to the front diff housing.

If the frame side of this mount is wrong, now is the time for me to fix it. Just cut this old one off, weld a stock trac bar frame mount back on the same location? Add some little triangle shaped gussets to the side of the mount for strenght?

thanks guys!

 

[Gweiner]

Yeah, that looks weird to me. Mine is straight/vertical off the frame rail. I will take a pic of mine On the morning when it's above freezing.

 

[DirtDonk]

The plate is not stock.
The bracket still looks correct from the front (side-to-side shape) but does look a little "back" from original. Might just be the angle of the camera too, since we don't see it directly from the side.
Wait for Gweiner's above-freezing pics to be sure.

Maybe a PO did that on purpose, to better match the angle of a stock trackbar end after a lift kit was installed?
Too bad they hadn't heard that adjustable trackbars could do the same thing simply by twisting the upper eye.

Fixing the holes is a definite must-do. A thick washer is good, but they even make "weld washers" to repair just such a thing. They have a shoulder that fits down into the metal (kind of a very, very short sleeve?) so that the bolt is riding in a completely new surface and reinforces what would otherwise be a single layer flat washer.

Ruff-Stuff Specialties and some of the other custom fab accessory companies sell them.

Paul

 

[BoureeOne]

Have you added P/S? Have you used that Pitman Arm before?

 

[Whoaa]

This was going to make me not sleep tonight. I just went down to the shop and took some pic's...

This mount is splayed out some, is the way they are, or bent?. The wollered out hole and the cobbed welded plate on the side makes me cringe. Looks to me like someone worked on this before, didn't do the quality of work that I would have...common on these old cars I guess. I'm strongly leaning towards cutting this crap off and welding on a new mount.

.

 

[Whoaa]

Have you added P/S? Have you used that Pitman Arm before?

It's a 77 and had/has factory P/S. But I did add that top-of-the-line WH super pump, slide style steering shaft, and the fancy/heavy duty quick ratio box.

And YES I have used that pitman arm, steering shaft and steering box -I have a few thousand miles on the current set up, now I'm going to a drop arm when it goes back together

 

[DirtDonk]

For some reason you're not taking pics from the only angle that matters. Straight from the side so we can see any potential bend. From these last pics it looks perfectly fine except for the added plate and fancy oval holes.

If you're going to cut things off, just cut the plate first to see what's underneath. Looks like the rest of it is good to go after you fix the holes. Maybe that's a coverup, maybe it's just what remains of some kind of mount the PO had and cut off already, or maybe someone told him that these brackets were prone to bending, so he "fixed" it his way? Hard to tell.
Best to make sure it's not hiding something of course, but it looks like you have enough good stuff still to work with.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Another thought. Maybe that's what's left of an old trackbar drop bracket. Looks about the right thickness. Maybe the old one was just welded in that one spot, so when they removed it for whatever reason, they simply used a cutoff wheel to cut the material instead of the welds. Probably quicker...

The wallered out holes were a pretty common site back when. Lots of bolts came loose without anyone knowing why the truck was wandering all over the place. After not too long, the bolts have had their way with the bracket. Luckily it's one of the easy fixes on these rigs.

Paul

 

[Whoaa]

Another thought. Maybe that's what's left of an old trackbar drop bracket. Looks about the right thickness. Maybe the old one was just welded in that one spot, so when they removed it for whatever reason, they simply used a cutoff wheel to cut the material instead of the welds.


Paul

^...I think you may be right.

I was trying to pic's in-line w/ the frame to show it splaying out. Side to side (front to back in reference to the frame) it appears square.

Here's a pic of the 76/77 style and it shows the mount angles out from the frame, just like mine http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Trac_Bar_Drop_Bracket_7677yr

 

[Lmfp]

If you look real hard in the the second picture it looks like the bracket was cut off and rewelded just even with the bottom of the frame. can anyone else see it?

 

[Lmfp]

well after looking back at the first picture it might just be a scratch im looking at.

 

[turbotim2]

I just compared to mine, your is normal (although there is some added on metal as dirtdonk mentioned and the obvious bolt hole being worn out). The 76-77 bracket is a little different than all of the previous years.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Looks correct for a '77. The '76 and '77 have a little different mount than the '75 and prior. There is some geometry correction that went with the Y-steering linkage that made them drive better. So that doesn't look bent to me.

 

[Apogee]

Standard '77 frame track bar bracket, and I agree that it looks like it had a drop bracket installed at some point and then cut off. This actually tends to be pretty common since a lot of EB people aren't aware of some of these types of differences with the '76 and '77 model years, so when they lift them they just assume it will need a drop bracket, when that may not be the case, especially if you convert the steering linkage to something more lift friendly at the same time.