Trumpster

Bullet points here for folks who don't want to read the whole bit:

- 4.5'' lift, adjustable control arms upper and lower: uppers @ 15.5'' / lowers @ 16.75'' (originally 16.5'')
- Track bar is binding on the axle mount, appears as though the axle is too far to the rear of the vehicle
- I'm not cutting or bending brackets to make this fit. If it's not the right part I'll get a different one before I cut or bend.
- Any and all help is appreciated.

Ok, I can't get this thing finished up. With the help of RC I got the rear figured out (went for 3'' leaf packs and a lift shackle) so the jeep is sitting on the ground now but I CANNOT get the track bar to line up properly, it is binding on the mounting bracket on the axle.





I tried to get the lower control arms adjusted out a bit to help this but once I adjusted the lower control arms out a bit I was having a hell of a time getting them mounted back to the body. Right now the lowers are adjusted to 16.75'' and the uppers are at 15.5'' and the track bar is still binding pretty good.

If I take the track bar out and hold it where it would need to be to not bind in the axle side mount this is how far off it would be (excuse the crappy cell phone pick).



I need help, I need to get this Jeep on the road again and soon or I'm going to end up in a bind. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Trumpster

Sorry, forgot to say this is a 4.5'' Rough Country X series lift with the nitro shocks. If you have any other questions or need more info let me know and I'll get it to you all ASAP.

sdcc-xj98

i did this exact same lift over the summer except i bought the kit used for about 6 months... the way i installed the trac bar was i installed the upper mount first then, with someone under the car, you turn the steering wheel and the body of the car moves over so to speak. this will line up the lower mount holes and you can install the lower mounting bolt.
hope this helps

sdcc-xj98

and the someone under the car is to tell you which way to turn the wheel ^

hankthetank

^^^^^^^^^^its obvious from the PICTURES that he has the bolt in...thanks for coming out.

trump, you have the adjustable uppers right?

Trumpster

I was able to get it in the mounting holes on both sides, that's how the first 2 pictures were taken. The third picture was for reference on how far angled the track bar was.

The problem is that it is binding against the axle side bracket. If you look at pictures 1 and 2 there is a distinct rub mark on the track bar just to the left of the label on the track bar that is caused by the mounting bracket because of the angle it's at. When bolted up the frame side of the track bar is way too far forward to allow for proper range of movement for the track bar. Hence the rub mark/binding.

ericfx1984

my guess would be your axle is too far back, move your lower further out, or just use a pry bar and bend that bracket out a little bit

freegdr

Adjustable control arms ?

freegdr

Lift...........Lower Control Arms/Upper Control Arms
********Decimal**Fraction**Decimal**Fraction
Stock........15.75.......15 ¾........15.00.......15
2”.............15.92.......16............14.88.... ...15
3”.............16.09.......16............14.92.... ...15
4”.............16.33.......16 3/8......15.03.......15
4.5”..........16.47.......16 ½........15.11.......15
5”.............16.62.......16 5/8......15.21.......15 ¼
6”.............16.97.......17............15.44.... ...15 ½
7”.............17.36.......17 3/8......15.74.......15 ¾
8”.............17.81.......17 ¾........16.09.......16
9”.............18.30.......18 ¼........16.50.......16 ½
10”...........18.82.......18 ¾........16.96.......17
__________________

Trumpster

Like I said in the original post, yes I have adjustable control arms and they are adjusted to 16.75 for the lowers and 15.5'' uppers. The instructions that came with the lift said they should be 16.5'' for the lowers and 15.5'' uppers so I figured I'd try pushing them out a bit to see if that helped the track bar binding but it didn't at all.

I'm not going to go just bending or cutting brackets to make this work, if it's not fitting then it's not right. I think that the track bar is wrong, it is drastically different than the stock one. I'll post pictures tomorrow of the difference, they're still on my camera right now and I need to convert them before I can post them.

freegdr

Dont blame ya at all ya pagood money it should fit ...

freegdr

in this picture outer c seems tilted way back to me....

hankthetank

i thought this too since that track bar is for xj, tj, lj...dunno who knows maybe it fits a tj better than an xj.
But like freegdr said your c looks like its tilted pretty far back...optical illusion? do your coils look like they are tilted or bulged at all?

kickice24

I have the same kit and mine went in just fine. The track bar IS very different than stock. Something is out of alignment. The values provided only for control arm length are only good if the sliders on the lower control arm mounts are in their stock location. If they've been adjusted, that may be your issue. If that's all good, don't be afraid to reach out to RC, they have excellent c/s and stand behind their product. My trackbar TRE failed after 6 months and the replaced it free no questions asked.

GRIMUS99XJ

15.5 uppers and 16.25 lowers not 16.75. a 1.25 difference between the uppers and lowers are to extreme for the 4.5 lift as well as to long. This is not an issue of the trac bar not fitting an XJ this is a simple adjustablilty issue. I know its not the funniest thing to do but the best way for proper fitment is little adjustments at a time until all things line out, thats the main advantage with adj arms.