Synergy Jeep JL / JLU / JT Front Track Bar and Sector Shaft Brace

[Roky]

Thanks for this @Roky, I did this to mine tonight.

I've had the brace installed for about 3k miles and had been trouble free up until yesterday. When my son pulled into the driveway, I could hear a creaking sound with every turn of the steering wheel.

I pulled it off and found the bushing had rotated.

I knocked the bushing out with a brass drift, drilled and tapped a hole, and put it all back together with a set screw this time.

Took a little bit longer than 15 minutes as I had to remove and re-insert the bushing, but it made it easier to drill and tap the set screw hole.

Hopefully this will keep the bushing from rotating.

No problem brother...... I wanted my buddy to put more miles on it before I posted, but it sounds like it will work, at least in my head, lol. I reached out to Dave from synergy on here on Saturday and asked him if he thought it would work, and he said yes, and that also removing the bushing and applying red loctite to o.d. of bushing and reinstalling will also work. Good work there.

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[oceanblue2019]

No problem brother...... I wanted my buddy to put more miles on it before I posted, but it sounds like it will work, at least in my head, lol. I reached out to Dave from synergy on here on Saturday and asked him if he thought it would work, and he said yes, and that also removing the bushing and applying red loctite to o.d. of bushing and reinstalling will also work. Good work there.

What concerns me is why we see these rotating?

Must be a heck of a lot of stiction to cause the bushing to rotate. That means one side must be running dry of lube?

Wonder what the long term fix is. Stopping the bushing from spinning doesn't mean that load has gone away.

 

[CarbonSteel]

What concerns me is why we see these rotating?

Must be a heck of a lot of stiction to cause the bushing to rotate. That means one side must be running dry of lube?

Wonder what the long term fix is. Stopping the bushing from spinning doesn't mean that load has gone away.

I think it is one of two things (or a combination), initial lack of lubrication which causes it to spin and no further lubrication can be inserted OR it is misaligned from the beginning, none can be added, and after the initial lube wears off it begins creaking.

Would have made more sense to make it from steel and use a sealed or roller bearing.

 

[Roky]

What concerns me is why we see these rotating?

Must be a heck of a lot of stiction to cause the bushing to rotate. That means one side must be running dry of lube?

Wonder what the long term fix is. Stopping the bushing from spinning doesn't mean that load has gone away.

I don’t know........ this is all I know to do for now, I know that the grease makes it’s way around, even though the pitman nut only turns a half inch ish in both directions when wheels are turned lock to lock. I just greased mine the Saturday and you can see the grease is all the way around.

 

[Headbarcode]

I recently visited the shop and wandered over to the machining area with my yet to be installed sector shaft brace and new Pittman arm nut. Mine has 0.010" of clearance between the bronze bushing and the nut. For a greaseable joint, that's a bit too generous. I have always liked 0.007-0.0075", which takes grease nicely while minimizing built in slop that accelerates wear. Once you get down to 0.005", you have to start leaning on the grease gun lever before the joint takes it in. Also, at that tight of a tolerance, expansion from heat could cause the bushing to freeze to what's riding on it.

Assuming their +/- range from one bushing to the next is kept tight, than the spinning of the bronze bushing in the aluminum parent bore is the result of there not being enough of an interference fit between the 2 pieces. Couple that with too much clearance between the bronze and pitman nut, which is making it possible for the brace to cock slightly from being perfectly level with the nut and causing a bind.

 

[wbee]

That’s the best explanation I’ve seen on the issue. I’m not a machinist but I have suspected the aluminum housing and bushing aren’t staying perfectly perpendicular to the nut causing the squeaking and the bushing twists in the aluminum housing.

I have repeatedly checked the torque on the bolts holding the brace and have noticed they have a tendency to loosen over time even with blue lock tight.

 

[CarbonSteel]

So how hard would it be to make a support from steel (instead of aluminum which I think it is poor choice of materials for that part) and tighten the interference fit? Anyone have those capabilities?

 

[Roky]

One more nugget of information, that pitman nut only rotates a little over a 1/2” in either direction to obtain full lock. The steering wheel spins a couple ish times but at the nut , only a little more than an inch total movement.

 

[CarbonSteel]

One more nugget of information, that pitman nut only rotates a little over a 1/2” in either direction to obtain full lock. The steering wheel spins a couple ish times but at the nut , only a little more than an inch total movement.

Which means the grease is not fully distributed until many turns have been completed.

 

[Roky]

Which means the grease is not fully distributed until many turns have been completed.

Many turns

 

[CarbonSteel]

That’s the best explanation I’ve seen on the issue. I’m not a machinist but I have suspected the aluminum housing and bushing aren’t staying perfectly perpendicular to the nut causing the squeaking and the bushing twists in the aluminum housing.

I have repeatedly checked the torque on the bolts holding the brace and have noticed they have a tendency to loosen over time even with blue lock tight.

Aluminum is not the best choice for that part and over time, I can see the threads stripping from attempting to keep it tightened.

 

[D60]

No problem brother...... I wanted my buddy to put more miles on it before I posted, but it sounds like it will work, at least in my head, lol. I reached out to Dave from synergy on here on Saturday and asked him if he thought it would work, and he said yes, and that also removing the bushing and applying red loctite to o.d. of bushing and reinstalling will also work. Good work there.

If anyone does this I'd recommend "Retaining Compound" over red loctite. I believe Permatex also makes it. IIRC the stuff I've used tended to be green-ish.

 

[Headbarcode]

So how hard would it be to make a support from steel (instead of aluminum which I think it is poor choice of materials for that part) and tighten the interference fit? Anyone have those capabilities?

Very easy. The same outer profile of the brace, but take advantage of the steel being stronger than aluminum and end up with a thinner wall to allow for a thicker bronze bushing. The thicker bronze would allow a shallow radial groove to be lathed in line with the grease fitting. This would help a lot with grease distribution.

I would also opt to modify the reinforcement side of the part to have 2 bolts per side of the brace, for both a stronger friction joint and to keep the brace level with the Pittman arm nut.

The only complication involved would be arranging a sit down with key people at Synergy, to find out the full mentality of there product. From initial design to a tangible product, than their test parameters and results that lead them to a final product. That's a wealth of information that would dictate, or at least suggest, a good starting point.

If anyone does this I'd recommend "Retaining Compound" over red loctite. I believe Permatex also makes it. IIRC the stuff I've used tended to be green-ish.

Yes, green colored and purpose meant for lighter press fit bushings and bearing races.

 

[oceanblue2019]

Very easy. The same outer profile of the brace, but take advantage of the steel being stronger than aluminum and end up with a thinner wall to allow for a thicker bronze bushing. The thicker bronze would allow a shallow radial groove to be lathed in line with the grease fitting. This would help a lot with grease distribution.

I would also opt to modify the reinforcement side of the part to have 2 bolts per side of the brace, for both a stronger friction joint and to keep the brace level with the Pittman arm nut.

The only complication involved would be arranging a sit down with key people at Synergy, to find out the full mentality of there product. From initial design to a tangible product, than their test parameters and results that lead them to a final product. That's a wealth of information that would dictate, or at least suggest, a good starting point.

Yes, green colored and purpose meant for lighter press fit bushings and bearing races.

The JK version of the brace does use a roller bearing. The challenge is the JL has less space so they went with the bushing.

 

[CptFloridaMan]

The JK version of the brace does use a roller bearing. The challenge is the JL has less space so they went with the bushing.

This is coming from a college student so bear with me n


But can one not implement the roller bearing into the aluminum brace to replace the bushing if space is a constraint? I’m not sure behind all the r&d behind widening the aluminum brace itself but imagining it, it definitely seems doable.

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