Sheared Track Bar Bolt

[Backdraft]

Today I pulled into a local business and turned around in their parking lot. In the middle of my turn i heard/felt a pop. My steering got nice and sqishy at the same time. Looked under to see what happened and the frame side bolt on the track bar had sheared in half. I'm running a RE HD adjustable trackbar. The frame side is connected with a grade 8 3.5 inch long half inch bolt. When I gave it a good look, I found I had a regular nut on it. I'm ASSUMING with 15,000 miles ive put on this truck in combination with the regular non locking nut, along with vibration and a good amount of oil from a previous power steering leak, the nut worked itself loose. I'm guessing the play in it from working loose is what caused it to shear with the proper load applied. Anyone have any insight? Am I on the right track? Anyone experience the same thing? I wouldnt consider this such a big deal normally, but I'm running the TNT long arms (radius arms) and if this thing decides to make it a habit of shearing that bolt, it's going to make for an interesting ride at 75mph!

 

And just to be clear, I replaced it with another grade 8 bolt with a locking nut

[Blue88Comanche]

while we are talking about lock nuts, try to stay away from the lock nuts with the rubber insides. my experience with them is that over time they will tighten and eventually sheer the bolt from stretching. granted my experience is with our Precor strength equipment but they also use grade 8 bolts.

[JFAComanche6]

I didnt get more than 10,000 miles out of my last STOCK track bar before it went bad and eventually came loose. This seems to be a common problem for MJs because another guy I met with an MJ said his does the same thing more often. Your problem is a bit different than mine, but it's the same area.

[nhrocker]

My XJ has a TnT track bar setup in it (uses the same RE joint for the frame connection), and I could never keep that bolt tight. Once it loosened it would wear out or just start stretching. I got used to checking mine all the time and always carried a spare bolt. I think I changed it about once every year or two while I was still driving it.

 

It's been parked for a while now, but if I ever get back to working on it I'm going to try boring the center ball of the joint out to take a larger bolt. It just seems too small for the potential stress it sees.