Hi guys - I have a 1996 XJ with a roughly 5 inch lift, the previous owner did it and I'm not sure about the exact number, but basically my jeep recently failed safety inspection and one of the reasons was "too much play in the track bar". It's had death wobble ever since I bought it and I just haven't gotten around to fixing it but I know that the track bar is also one of the main causes. I inspected it by having a helper turn the steering wheel a little bit each way while I looked at the mounts and noticed some lateral movement on the lower mount. The bolt doesn't move, but the bar is moving side to side relative to the mount. I'm pretty sure that this means it should be replaced from the research I have done but I have some questions.

Can I just replace the bushing inside the track bar instead of the whole thing if that is the piece that is wallowed out? How do I know which one is the right one to buy?

Do I need to jack up the car to do the job or is it fine to have it on the ground? There is plenty of room to access it.

How can I identify the track bar I have in order to buy a replacement? I noticed that mine is different from the stock track bar since it does not have the end with the castle bolt and cotter pin, rather both ends look pretty much the same. It is adjustable too. If anyone could identify it I would really appreciate it.

Here's some pictures of it:






Thanks!
Kate

 

Bushing replacement is not too bad a job. Stay with rubber if not doing hard wheeling. Poly is noisy.

 

I imagine that the heim on the axle side is the source of free play. Its probably easiest to source another heim, but whatever you do, you'l need to determine the thread size, thread pitch, and shank length of the installed heim in order to purchase a replacement heim or a shell for poly/rubber bushing.

While you have it off, I recommend upgrading the axle-side trackbar bolt to a 9/16" bolt such as what's sold by Clayton Offroad. The heim or bushing you purchase would need to be able to accept a 9/16" bolt.

 

Yeah, upgrading that bolt size will help, might want to weld a washer where it mounts too. Will keep it from deforming in the future.

 

Is this the right bolt?

What are the good brands that make 9/16in heim joints that would work with this bolt? The instructions for the above bolt say that it requires the Clayton Offroad MB01B701740 bushing, which does not look to be a heim joint.
Is it possible to swap to a giiro joint or johnny joint instead?

Thanks for all the advice I really appreciate it!

 

Yes, that's the 9/16" axle-side trackbar nut and bolt. Their bushing is not specifically needed. Its only necessary to use a heim joint that is designed to accept a 9/16" bolt. For reference, the stock bolt is 7/16".

It will likely be necessary to use some washers or heim joint stand-offs to properly fill the gap in the axle-side trackbar mount.

There are no giiro joints or johnny joints that fit the XJ axle-side trackbar mount. A heim is not the end of the world. They just tend to wear and loosen up more quickly than a rubber or poly bushing.

 

Since the track bar itself is moving where it mounts, the hole is likely wallowed out. You can't fix that with just a bushing; the bracket or bar end is damaged. With a 5-inch lift, you need an adjustable aftermarket bar like you have. To identify it, measure its center-to-center length and the bolt hole diameters. The movement is your death wobble cause. Replace the whole bar or repair the mount if it's the bracket. Do the work with the Jeep's weight on the tires.

 

First thing I would do is remove the track bar. Then I would spec out the heim joint at the axle end. I could guess and say you could have a 9/16 or 5/8 heim. These are listed as "through bolt size by threaded shanks size" so a 5/8 x 5/8 heim would fit a 5/8 bolt through the joint and fit a 5/8 "fine thread" bung. Heims typically only use a fine thread shank soo what ever bolt size you believe it is its likely the fine thread version as well. Not at all uncommon to buy/use an oversized heim with a reducer or mis alignment spacer to correct the over size bolt hole.

Your factory track bar would be an 11mm not a 7/16s btw and no the close enough rule doesnt count here.

Id also inspect your upper bushing while its out and replace that as well IF you decide to keep this track bar all together. If the mounting hole on the axle looks good and round /not oblongered or egged out then run it as is or replace/beef up bracket or sure go to a larger bolt. What ever makes you feel better about it. I personally go to a Barnes4wd replacement bracket because they are 1/4" and won't egg out but that also means No more factory 11mm(not7/16) bolt hole.

The split on aftermarket track bars seems to be the 3" and under or 4" and over soo if your confident in that 5" lift then choosing your replacement around the 5-6" lift will prolly be just fine. In any case ive had a 3" rough country under the front of one of my XJs up into the 5"lift range without issues.

 

I would verify that the bolt size matches the rod-end. Maybe someone skipped the step of enlarging the holes in the mount and just used the oem bolt?

 

Thanks for all the advice! Basically at this point I have replaced the track bar with the Rough Country Forged Adjustable Track Bar for 4-6" lift. It took forever to get those bolts out but after about 5 hours total I got the new track bar in. It fits well and I don't get nearly as much death wobble anymore but occasionally if I go over a bump it starts to shake. So I'm thinking it might be that the mount is wallowed out and needs to be drilled larger. Can I drill into both the axle-side mount and the axle-side part of the track bar and use a bigger bolt, or do I need a different bigger bushing instead of drilling directly into the bushing already there? I think if I were to do this I would purchase the bolt mentioned above, the Clayton Offroad 9/16" track bar bolt. The frame-side mount seems to be in pretty good shape, it actually looks super similar to the new mount that came with the RC bar, so that's why i just kept the old one.

 

Depends on the amout of material the sleeve in the bushing has, I redrilled mine to match the replacement bracket i added to the axle which wasnt much bigger than the factory one. Remember that bolt size isnt the issue- thin material for the bracket and potentially loose hardware is the issue

 

I have the RC trackbar. If you want to go with the 9/16" axle-side track bar bolt, the bushing definitely needs to be replaced with a bushing that will accept that bolt. I did exactly this. It was also necessary to have the trackbar machined to accept the bushing. Overall, its a very doable activity, but it may cost you almost as much as purchasing a trackbar with the correct bushing.

 

Ok, I also think I may have under-torqued the bolts, I did 40ftlbs on the axle side and 60 on the other, so I will retighten them.

Would it be better to go with a 7/16 bolt? If so, where can I find one? I've looked online and haven't found many besides this: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...LCuLDe8epnZ0cM and I'm not sure I trust the quality of this one.

Thoughts on this one? It says it is M12 which translates to 15/32, so slightly bigger than 7/16.



Thanks for all the help!
Kate

 

If an M12 bolt fits through the bushing, its a step in the right direction. Make sure its Class 10.9.

Yes, the torque levels you used are too low even for a 7/16" bolt. The torque spec for a Class 10.9 M12 bolt can be found online. The ones for sale for track bars are fine thread.

 

Great! Yes it says it is M12 class 10.9 and it also gets 4.9 stars, so I will order this asap and torque to 92ftlbs (what I found online). I also just realized I uploaded the wrong picture whoops. Meant to add this one:

Thanks for all the help I really appreciate it. Hopefully this makes driving much smoother!