Track bar No.1 Critique please

[slider58]

I am truing to male it so the track bar stays out of the way of the diff. housing. Is there any reason this won't work? The straight line angles of the track bar and the draglink are the same. The draglink is a couple of inches longer than the track bar but am hoping a ram-assist will tace care of that. Fire at will!;D Thanks Guys!

 

[Skiddy]

Some of the problems I see are that looks like you are going to have a very bad bump steer also when you make a bend like that it is more prone to bend even more when more pressure is applied. I am sure there are more problems also. After I wake up maybe they will come to me;D

 

[broncnaz]

I'm not sure what straight line angles your talking about but I dont see any that match between the trac bar or drag link. Let me know how many beers you drank so I can drink that many and then maybe I could tell you its good.
I'd leave that trac bar straight that bend actually puts the trac bar closer to the housing than if it had been left straight. I understand that everyone says the angles need to be the same between the trac bar and drag link but they dont always have to be exactly the same angle some differance is OK due to the differant lenghts of each. Its just usually best to have them close as possible. I also see bump steer written all over this one. But you never know sometimes things do work that shouldnt so you can always try it first.
Is your tie rod bent in at the ends? thats interesting if it is let us know how that works out for you.

 

[Apogee]

Looks parallel to me...point to point on the track bar mounts anyway. I don't think you'll have that much bump steer, except for what the different length relative to the drag link induces. I'm a little curious what wall thickness you used for your track bar as those are some pretty severe bends.

Interesting tie-rod setup to clear the diff cover. I'm curious how that's going to work out for you too.

 

[tonto]

The draglink is a couple of inches longer than the track bar but am hoping a ram-assist will tace care of that. Fire at will!;D Thanks Guys!

I'm curious why a ram assist will cure this?

If you want to know if it will work, break out some chains & the floor jack and remove the coils and cycle it.

Why did you change the track bar to begin with ?

 

[tsmustangs]

I would not run a bent track bar. I've seen them in other vehicles bend when they are straight. To start the bend is just going to create problems.

Terry

 

[OX1]

Hence the reason I did not go with a riser (yet). Have to put it right under the frame unless you want to make the track bar really short.

I'd put a big gusset on that lower bend, should be enough space that you won't hurt uptravel at all. Speaking of which, did you cycle suspension and see if you even need the lower bend, maybe the tire will hit way before a straight track bar on that end will hit the frame?? At the very least I would figure out exactly how high you can go and put the minimum bend needed on the lower end. Same for the upper end. Otherwise, it's been done (Z-bars) for a million years on steering systems, but ain't legal anywhere in jersey, thats for sure.

 

[GubNi]

I would not run a bent track bar. I've seen them in other vehicles bend when they are straight. To start the bend is just going to create problems.

Terry

Yeah, what he said.

 

[bmc69]

I'll take the other side of the argument.;D

first..that setup looks very much like the one I recently did for HHDL's rig on 5.5 Cage coils. I'm on record as not liking nor using drop brackets and it's not easy to do a riser on an HP44 dif. So..mine come out like the one being discussed in this thread, You can get away with those kinds of bends IF you are using stout enough material..i.e. something with more than 1/4" wall.

Edit: Both of the rigs I've built similar to the one in this thred have had zero on-road steering issues..even the 'prototype' that had a large mismatch between length and angle of tie rod and drag link. Neither has a steering damper..cuz I don't like to use those either

 

[OX1]

it's not easy to do a riser on an HP44 dif.

You mean on 78/79 cast wedgie setups??

 

[slider58]

Okay. The front end is a d60 out of a 2005 superduty, that is why I changed the track bar. The tubing is 1.50 x.250 wall. There are two 30 degree bends. The angle of the draglink and the angle of the mounting points of the track bar is the same. If I went with a straight track bar, just before full compression, it would hit the diff cover this way it will never hit. I had to go down the way I did then to dodge the oil pan. It has been my experience that a ram is the best steering stabilizer there is. I do not really like the way I had to do the tie rod but had no choice in order to clear the diff cover and the stock location of the trackbar mount. I plan on going d70 from the knuckles out which will change everything anyway. Maybe next winter. I am not saying this will work it is just the best I could come up with up to now. That is why I came to you guys. It is called trackbar No. 1 because I am not at all opposed to starting on No. 2! I really do thank yoo all for your input!;D

 

[bmc69]

You mean on 78/79 cast wedgie setups??

Roger that.

( Watch closely now folks..I'm psychic..or psycho..whatever. Mr. Oxley is going to respond to this reply of mine by rubbing my nose in pics, approximately 2-acres each, that clearly show how cleverly and effectively he did a riser mod on cast wedgie HP44... ;D )

 

[bmc69]

The tubing is 1.50 x.250 wall. There are two 30 degree bends.

That is where you might have trouble with those bends in the track bar...but some testing is in order first, yes?;D Then you could go with something beefier..assuming you can bend it.

 

[slider58]

I am pretty sure I could bend something heavier as long as I wasn't trying to do a 90 degree bend. I have room to put a gusset across the lower bend but the top bend is way to close to the end. I am thinking it would rip the mount off of the frame before it will bend the top one! Probably shouldnt say that, It will probably happen now!

 

[crawln68]

Roger that.

( Watch closely now folks..I'm psychic..or psycho..whatever. Mr. Oxley is going to respond to this reply of mine by rubbing my nose in pics, approximately 2-acres each, that clearly show how cleverly and effectively he did a riser mod on cast wedgie HP44... ;D )

Here is how a friend of mine did his. ;D

http://www.norcalbroncos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1110

 

[bmc69]

Here is how a friend of mine did his. ;D

http://www.norcalbroncos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1110

Nice job there too! Guess I've just been too lazy to design and fab th something like that..

 

[broncorob]

You'll probably be fine, though 1 bend is better than 2. I had a pre-bent panhard on the comp buggy made out of 1.25x.281 wall dom. That buggy saw countless brutal roles and never had a problem with the panhard.

 

[TonyPDX]

I think those bends are a bit extreme but I also think there is little chance of bending it in use unless you get broadsided by a semi. I built mine out of the same material and it took about 18,000lbs of force to put two shallow bends in it for clearence. I would bet you upper mount would fail long before the track bar.

I also don't think your bumpsteer will be bad. Kind of hard to tell from the photos but the "straight line" angles look pretty good as do your lengths.

 

[76Broncofromhell]

You're going to bend the track bar. Gusset the hell out of those bends or build a straight piece. It will live with a slight bend to clear the differential but with angles that extreme you are asking for trouble when you put some lateral force on the axle.

Otherwise it's a pretty good build. I would personally set the bump stops a little higher and run a straight bar just to eliminate the stress of it all, but I usually like to simplify things.

I would also gusset the frame mount while you're under there, just so you have the piece of mind.