Your steering doesn't dictate if you need a track bar or not. Your link suspension
Design does. If your links have less then 20 degrees (rough estimate) of total triangulation then you need to have a track bar to locate your axle side to side under your jeep. If your 4 links have more then 40 degrees of total triangulation then you don't need to have a track bar because the links will locate the axle side to side.

Then like stated above, you don't want to run mechanical steering with a draglink on a triangulated link suspension where a track bar isn't used. You need full hydro. But you can run either full hydro or mechanical steering with a drag link when running a track bar.

 

i gotcha. How are the degrees measured? Is it from the frame down?

 

Between the links from a "top view". The links need to hold the axle side to side right? A triangle will do that. Measure between the triangulation between the upper links, measure the triangulation between the lower links. Are you planning on building your own set up in the future? Please dont try to remove your track bar on your rig. I should also note that a majority of joints in a trangulated suspension set up should be "solid joints". In example, heim joints or rebuildable joint like ballistic or johnny.

 

LEAD FOOT, that is an awsome response. thanks for taking the time to respond correctly and not just as most people do "my brand X that i bought is the best because i bought it and want to make myself feel good about the purchase" or "mine is the best cuz it has the most flex". im not trying to be a flex monster, if i was i would have kept my cj7.
iv understood about suspension droop and the track bar pulling to one side but i forgot that the steering linkage also follows the same path so the steering and track bar compliment each other.
I will be buying a kit from you first of the year. (i dont spend money on my self during the holidays). grinding and drilling do not bother me but my welding skills are not quite up to parr yet so im glad there is no welding required.

last questions i have for you - iv heard that most kits limit turning radius when installing larger tires, does yours?
does your kit come powder coated, unfinished, or do yall spray them?
i see yall offer a SYE, do yall offer drive shafts?
and does the 4link kit come with the HD OTA track bar?
and last, does the OTA HD track bar require welding?

and of course since yall are such a great company i bet yall will offer full belly pan skids and that traction bar by mid january when im ready to order right? lol!

 

No problem. We like to keep our customers informed on technical info as much as possible so they can make an informed decision theirselves on which kit will best fit their needs. Sadly there is a vast amount of tech available on the Internet and we can't include all of it in our kit descriptions. This is why we encourage our customers to research and ask us any questions they have so we can explain in greater detail.

That sounds great. I look forward to taking care of your suspension needs. It sounds like you already have a better grasp on how the track bar influences the steering.

There are a lot of factors that come in to play when talking about tires rubbing control arms. How tall of tire, how much backspacing on the rims, how wide a rim, and what is the actual tread width of the tire mounted on that rim. On 35s on a Dana 30 with 8" rims with about 3.75 backspacing I was able to keep my steering stops at the stock adjustment. My tires did get close though.

We currently sale our kits in bare steel. We have concluded that most customers prefer to choose their own color of paint. We have offered custom paint colors in the past but then there can be problems with color matching when it comes time to touch up. Or sometimes a customer has specified a color but it looks different on the computer screen then in real life.

Yes, we deal Advanced Adapters SYE kits. We don't offer drivelines as a standard product as most can source a stock front driveline that will work perfect for the rear of the jeep. We do have the capabilities to static balance a driveline in house, but not spin balance. Because we wouldn't sell many of these and have to do short production runs; it would honestly be cheaper to go through another company online or locally if the stock front driveline won't work in the rear of your XJ with an SYE installed.

The suspension dictates if you need a track bar or not but as you understand, the track bar should be chosen to match your steering setup. Because of this we do not offer it with our long arm upgrades as a package. We do have a package deal on steering and track bar packages. The track bar does require welding on the over the axle bracket. You will need to cut off the steering stabilizer bracket and relocate it as well as trim the front of the coil buckets and cut off the stock axle track bar mount. Let me know if you have any more questions on this. Brian Lawson did a great job with this conversion on his jeep and was nice enough to supply us with good pictures that are on our website.

I can see what I can do about designing up that rear traction bar for you. Since I'm running link suspension you would be our certified tester. Lol. Remember the traction bar would require welding. What exaxtly are your ideas and what are you looking for in a belly skid? The 4 link kit comes with a partial belly pan and t case skid. Right now the only full belly pan we have planned would come with the front and rear link package where the skid would tie the front and rear link crossmembers together.

 

You, Sir, taught me some stuff today thank you for giving honest and thorough answers.

 

I may build one in the future but ill prob just buy a 3link. And I will always run a track bar haha its not a big deal to me, just trying to understand

 

the main reason i would want a rear traction bar is because of the vastly diffrent terain i come accroas from local sand dunes that really need something to control axle hop to towing a small teardrop or pop up offroad trailer that i feel any time you are towing with high arched springs and over sized tires you need extra control of axle wrap. i also like the idea of how it runs next to the driveline for added protection. i would consider my vehicle to be on the way of a more expedition vehicle and not so much a one themed ride and thats why full skids and driveline protection are crucial for me because when im 4-5hrs from home and 1hr from civilization i want to have a reliable and trusting vehicle with as much critical parts protected as possible. the full coil conversions sound nice but i worry about towing with them or having a fully loaded jeep sitting on coils how they will react on long road trips. i have a welder i just got , its only a 120volt so it only does 3/16" steel and im still learning but is that enough to weld the track bar mounts or do the full coil conversion? also having more links in the rear means more maint. my last expidition vehicle served me great and the only complaint i had was it was big and did not fit down trails good. i had ZERO breakage, ZERO problems. it was nice to wheel it hard and still drive 4-5hrs after. it was a dodge power wagon and i loved it. yes it was bought and not built but what else does a power wagon need? lol!

 

1plunk. Glad you could take something away from the long books I tend to write. Lol

Matt. I figured you were just asking so you could learn about the setup. When people start asking specifics about if they need a track bar and such online I feel I should probably state to not try and take off their existing one because they somehow measured over 45 degrees of triangulation on their stock setup. Lol. You never know who online could read what I post and misinterpret it.

Blue dog. I understand why you are wanting a track bar and it is a great addition to a leaf spring set up. I am currently working on a couple other products but I will put it on the list like requested. I was wondering what are your ideas on the belly skid you mentioned? No, I would not weld suspension components with a 120 welder. Do you have a friend that could weld the bracket on for you? Or even a shop that could lay down a quick bead? You would have to take the whole axle to them after you prepped it but it would be worth it.

 

Yea i plan on gettin pretty serious with my build once i get out of college which isnt to long at all so its best to plan ahead. Ill prob just pick up a nice 3 link system though instead of making one

 

A 120 welder will do just fine if you are good at welding, its a quality welder, and its gas sheilded.

 

[QUOTE="ktmracer419;2163885"]

yup, and they are used in many competitions. the one I would avoid is iron rock (and it isn't even a real 3 link, they just call it that)

I run iron rock, im curios why you would avoid it? I dont do any rock crawling but i do plan on ragging her out eventually. I know its not a "real" 3 link but a radius arm set up. I dont know much about long arms thats what caught my attention about that comment. Is it a bad set up? Not trying to hijack the thread or anything im just curios.......

 

The caster adjuster they thought up is flimsy sheet metal and very finicky to work with. I personally don't trust it.

 

Ive seen too many failures of that bracket, and plenty of snapped 10mm bolts. a single 10mm bolt keeping your axle from flopping around is just stupid.

that and the one factory upper control arm bushing will deflect and lead to axle shudder up front once it prematurely wears out.

 

So to make your own, wat kind of tubing is used?