Track bar bolts

[Uhdinator]

For those who have upgraded to a better/or adjustable front track bar..........do the bolts on the factory track bar look like this?



i'm going to upgrade to the steer smart Yeti track bar and while doing so will replace the bolts with a sightly larger shouldered bolt if the stock bolts are this sloppy to reduce any possibility of movement/ovaling of the track bar mount holes before they get worn.

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[ckor]

For those who have upgraded to a better/or adjustable front track bar..........do the bolts on the factory track bar look like this?



i'm going to upgrade to the steer smart Yeti track bar and while doing so will replace the bolts with a sightly larger shouldered bolt if the stock bolts are this sloppy to reduce any possibility of movement/ovaling of the track bar mount holes before they get worn.

I just put on the Yeti track bar. The stock bolt was tight in the stock track bar to the point I had to use a ratchet to get it out. It slid right through the Yeti. I will upgrade bolts eventually.

 

[djmason9]

I just put on the Yeti track bar. The stock bolt was tight in the stock track bar to the point I had to use a ratchet to get it out. It slid right through the Yeti. I will upgrade bolts eventually.

I wondered the same thing about mine. I upgraded my track bar to the TeraFlex Front Track Bar Axle Bracket Kit but even that has almost that much slop. The bolt they provide is a M14 x 80mm bolt so I went and got a 9/16 which is just a hair bigger than 14mm and it helped a little but the real issue is the trackbar bracket holes are larger than the track bar hole so theres no way to fill that difference.

 

[RubiRob]

I wondered the same thing about mine. I upgraded my track bar to the TeraFlex Front Track Bar Axle Bracket Kit but even that has almost that much slop. The bolt they provide is a M14 x 80mm bolt so I went and got a 9/16 which is just a hair bigger than 14mm and it helped a little but the real issue is the trackbar bracket holes are larger than the track bar hole so theres no way to fill that difference.

What the bolt is doing (when you torque it properly) is its getting the bracket pressed against the joint collar so technically speaking the slop in that hole doesn't cause a problem really because that's not what is supposed to keep it from not moving. The torque on the bracket /bolt/collar is .

 

[djmason9]

I wondered the same thing about mine. I upgraded my track bar to the TeraFlex Front Track Bar Axle Bracket Kit but even that has almost that much slop. The bolt they provide is a M14 x 80mm bolt so I went and got a 9/16 which is just a hair bigger than 14mm and it helped a little but the real issue is the trackbar bracket holes are larger than the track bar hole so theres no way to fill that difference.

The thing is torqued down to 130-140 lbs as tight as I could get it. The movement I see now isn’t the bolt it’s the bushing flexing so I guess that’s suppose to flex some.

 

[Uhdinator]

Thanks for the input. I have seen videos and info that a lot of the OEM bolts are also threaded all the way. Any slight movement of the sleeve on bolt ends up mashing the threads inside the sleeves and makes it even more sloppy.
I agree that the sleeve on both ends of the track bar should be pinched between the frame and axle brackets when torqued as required.

The frame track bar mount support bracket that I was considering (Rustys) is 1/4" and beefy compared to the OEM frame mount that flexes to pinch the bushing sleeve between the mount. The issue I foresee is that the support bracket is so thick and it goes over OEM bracket end that pinches the sleeve in the bracket, that torquing it to spec is not going to pinch the bushing sleeve tight. This makes it even more important to use a shouldered bolt as big as will fit to reduce any slop of the sleeve on the bolt as possible.

If there's any space between the support bracket and OEM bracket where the bolt goes thru it may be wise to insert a washer if enough space is there to get a good pinch on the track bar bushing sleeve, as I'm thinking that 1/4 steel is not gonna give much when torqued.

 

[californiajeeping]

This video at 3:10 - 3:46 (36 seconds of video) demonstrates exactly what you are referring to.

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