When I crawl under my jeep and grab my trackbar, I can wiggle it. I have play in my steering, and I've had death wobble recently, which I've 'fixed' by replacing the steering damper and rotors. I think I need to replace my track bar.

Never done this before, and it would be the biggest repair I've made (mostly tune-ups so far.) I've settled on the OEM Moog trackbar: Moog-DS1235.

How difficult will this be? It seems like a simple project. What tools will I need? I'd appreciate any advice you have?

Thanks.

If your interested, here's a link to all the work I need to do:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/99-...3/#post1702746

 

The steering stabilizer will not really cause or fix death wobble. Its a bandaid basically. With a properly working steering setup you dont even need one.

The trac bar will cause serious issues. And Moog parts are good replacements.

I dont remeber the exact sizes, but you shouldnt need more than the common socket and wrench sizes. The axle side mount of my OEM bar had a nice little helper tab to make things easier, but I would still have wrenches in case.

Also, soak the bolts and nuts in PB Blaster at least 24 hours before trying this.

 

There will be wiggle front to rear as the bar is rotating on the axis of the ball joint but you should not have side to side movement. Really the best way is to start the Jeep and have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you look for play in the entire system.

 

Make sure you torque the axle mount bolt (90 ft lb?) or else it will come loose and wallow out the hole. Recommend upgrading to a double shear track bar.
http://jeepin.com/features/trackbarfix

http://www.tntcustoms.com/trackbarsystemmjxjzj.aspx

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch...egory_Code=PFX

http://synergysuspension.com/Synergy...t-p-25582.html

http://www.rubiconexpress.com/jeep/X...px?folder=XJTB

 

The thing was totally shot, but it must just be a symptom. Oh well. At least it
stopped the DW, which I'm sure will come back if I don't fix the root of it. Should be able to do it with you folks helping me

 

OEM will be more than fine for something that sees little to no off pavement use.

 

Huh...well it only does move from from to back, not from side/side. When I twist it, it can rotate about 15 degrees. I'll double check, but you are saying it is ok to move a little, as long as it's front to back?

 

Thanks for the links!

Embarrassing, but I don't have torque wrenches. Will a ratcheting breaker bar be enough to get her tight, or will I need to pick up a torque wrench?

 

Make sure you rent a pickle fork from your local parts store to remove the track bar from the bracket on the frame side!

When installing the new one, the hole on the axle end will not line up. Have a friend turn the steering wheel until it lines up! Love this trick for track bars...

Good luck! Very easy project.

 

Yes, the tracbar is there to prevent your front axle from shifting side to side under your Jeep. The ball joint obviously is a point of pivot. The movement front to back is just twisting the ball joint. There should not be much there or you might be looking at a bad bushing on the axle side but you can move it none the less.

Kinda hard to explain without things getting confusing. Basically if you have side to side play in the trac bar while someone is turning the steering wheel back and forth then you need to replace it. If not then it's fine.

 

Replacement is pretty easy with the right tools.
BFH and a pickle fork.

Similar to this (pic shown was my draglink removal)


Instead of buying new parts, you might wanna replace just the bushings.
Here is a good write-up.

Also check the trackbar/axle mounting hole. An oversized mounting hole would cause the trackbar to move as well.

GL.