New trac Bar, thinking heims but have???

[price209]

I have moved my front axle about an 1 1/2" forward and have gone to a full width hp 44. I was thinking of going to a heim joint style trac bar. Who has done this, and can you use the factory trac bar mount on the frame or does that have to be re-done as well as the axle side.

 

[DirtDonk]

As far as the stock upper mount, that all depends on what size rod end you go with I would think. It's proven large enough for some, but if you go all big-dog on it, you'll have to either fab one up or use one of the pre-fabbed mounts from places like Ruff-Stuff Specialties and Ballistic Fab and Poly Performance.
At least I think those three have stuff that would work. I don't have part numbers.

For the lower end, I replied in your other thread that what you ultimately do might depend on which tie-rod/draglink setup you choose, and if you want to keep the draglink and trackbars at the same length or if it's not that important.
I would think the lower mount is strong enough when slightly modified, but you might want to build your own if you end up with a longer draglink.

Several people over the years have built new mounts over on the outside of the radius arms, so you might get some inspiration from those threads.

Good luck!
Not sure if you want to combine the two discussions after the fact, but some of the answers to one might be appropriate in the other as well.

Paul

 

[slowRoaner]

there is enough material on the factory frame trackbar mount to cut it off flush with the frame, and then reweld in new location, but only enough for the reuse of the factory track bar. I have done this before.

When you cut the mount off, you lose some material, so a larger diameter joint will not fit. But the factory track bar will if you are careful in how much you cut off.

On my most recent project, I used the factory mount, in the factory location, with a currie johnny joint. Currie makes a "slim" fit joint for another (jeep jk) track bar application, with 1/2" or 5/8" through bolts. I used 5/8ths and drilled my mount out to fit.

I am running a heim joint on the axle side.

So far (500 miles) this has worked really well. I think two heim joints are too much and will rapidly deteriorate the joints, as well as increase vibrations while driving on the road. You need a little give in the joints.

The strength of a 1/2" grade 8, double shear bolt, is more than enough for anything youll throw at it, but I believe the mounts tend to rip off. If you can support it some more and beef it up, for you situation, id just cut the mount off and build around it with a lot more reinforcement. Move it forward and keep it on the same "height" or horizontal plane that its on now and build around it beefing it up with the rest of the frame above..