idahoboarder

Recently got the re1660/1665bar and bracket. Got it and realized it is for a 4 1/2 inch lift. I have a 3 inch. Has anyone modified this setup to work on a 3 inch? Can you cut the threads on the bar down or drill a new hole in the bracket? I have heard people say you can cut the threads. I don't wheel it hard. I'm trying to get rid of the thumping noise I'm getting from the stock bracket being enlarged where the stud goes. I don't want to go to the re1660(seen the heim ends blow apart before). Any help is much appreciated!

SteveMongr

I have the RockKrawler trackbar and bracket. According to them I can cut the bar down because the female threads are longer than the joint that screws into it and has a separate jam-nut.

Measure the depth inside the trackbar and shine a light in there to make sure the threads go to the bottom also. Compare to the joint that screws in.
Call RE tech department and ask them about it also.

ShowMe Cherokee

Yes, you can cut the threads, although depending on your lift you might not need to, or at least not much.

I just put one on my RE 3.5" lift. The track bar is made for 4-6" lifts, and it bottoms out with quite a bit of thread left. I took about 1/2" off mine, just to make it engage more threading. Worked like a charm.

idahoboarder

This is exactly what I was thinking. I was actually surprised how much thread is still exposed after tightening it all the way down. Do you have and steering linkage issues with it? That was another question I had.

Teephphah

ShowMe Cherokee - I'm just getting ready to replace my 2.5" RE spacers with 3.5" RE springs up front. Have been thinking hard about the 1660/1665 with the bracket brace too.

Had my doubts about whether it would fit or not, or even if it was necessary at all yet. (I noted that they include lower control arms in their 3.5" SuperFlex and/or SuperRide kits, but not a track bar)

What I'm hearing you say, if I'm not mistaken, is that it CAN work, if you cut some of the threads off the male end to "shorten" the bar a bit to make it fit more comfortably on a 3.5" lift. (Idahoboarder points out that the male end is a bit longer than necessary really, and that was my experience with their sway bar quick disconnects too - you can't tighten them down all the way to the end of the male threads - so I guess at least they're consistent.)

With that in mind, after having done it, do you think it actually makes a sufficient difference to justify the little bit of extra work involved versus just staying stock?

Any thoughts you might have on this will be appreciated as I'm sort of piecing my Phase II lift together part by part as I squirrel away my "petty cash." Just wondering if I need the track bar or if it can wait a while. (Current tires are getting bald, Winter Is Coming, and I can't move up to new 33's without getting the new lift on, so . . . you know . . . scheduling and stuff.) So, thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

ShowMe Cherokee

Tee,

You can use the stock track bar with the RE 3.5" lift but you will have to drill a new hole in the axle mount to shift it over towards the drivers side to make it fit. The adjustable track bar eliminates that step.

The ball joint on my stock track bar was worn out anyway, so I decided to upgrade instead. The new frame bracket is beefier than stock and of course the track bar is as well. It uses slightly larger hardware as well, so you end up drilling out the existing axle mount to 1/2".

If you get the RE 1600 track bar I don't think you need a different frame mount. The RE 1660 doesn't use the standard ball joint post and requires the additional frame bracket (and therefore costs more), but I think it's worth it for the added strength. Even after I cut 1/2" off the bar threads there is a significant amount remaining, even with the collar only a couple of turns away from bottoming out.

If you cut it, you can actually mount it on stock height (I know because I tried before my lift), but you won't have enough clearance with the front differential.

Hope that helps with your decision making.