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Track Bar Bracket


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I am running a Rubicon Express 3.5 inch lift. I have been having issues with the stock track bar bracket working itself loose over time. Is it ok to weld portions of the track bar to the frame or has anyone had success with other options. Thanks in advance.

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You could, but I wouldn't.  If it's coming loose either the bolts weren't tight enough, are compromised, or the metal of the bracket or frame is moving around too much.  I'd take it off and make sure nothing is cracked, put new 10.9 metric bolts in, and torque it up proper.

 

If it still came loose I'd go to a heavier duty aftermarket version.

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Torque em to proper specs and loctite you will be fine. I have never seen an xj fail in that area offroading with only 3.5"s of lift. Ive been running 32s and 5.5" for years and no problems. I will say though the best bang for the buck is ditching the factory steering gearbox spacer with an aftermarket one or fabing one up yourself. The top of the three bolts always seems to break first. If you do this heat the bolts first with a little torch since they are most likely corroaded to the spacer. They also put a ton of loctite on em from the factory. I believe the torque is like 75ft lbs. off top of my head. Just the solid spacer style and the cheap collar style brace to box makes a huge difference for well under a hundred bucks. The best part is it takes a lot of stress of that one side of unit rail where they have been known to stress crack. My next build @6.5" longarms and wj knuckle conversion will have an ironman fab brace which looks overkill. I like this setup combined with the front unit frame weld in brace behind bumper to tie in a built in winch.

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On 3/27/2018 at 8:02 PM, desertmike said:

Had a similar problem.  Ended up using  CASTLE nuts.

 

So after you torque the castle nut down you drill a hole through the bolt and lock the nut with a cotter pin? Otherwise it's like any another nut.

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Sorry, I misspoke.

Its not a castle nut but a nut that is not quit round.  If you look at the treads they are kind of oval.  When you tighten them they clamp onto the bolt treads.  They use them to keep axle shafts from coming loose ( backing plates come to mind).  I can't think of the name right now.

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3 minutes ago, desertmike said:

Sorry, I misspoke.

Its not a castle nut but a nut that is not quit round.  If you look at the treads they are kind of oval.  When you tighten them they clamp onto the bolt treads.  They use them to keep axle shafts from coming loose ( backing plates come to mind).  I can't think of the name right now.

 

Stover.

 

They're kinda the better self locking nut.

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Probably true Dirty. In the USN on submarines, probably the RCN too, they are used everywhere to secure equipment to bulkheads because of the vibes, and they work well. I grew to hate them, but with respect. They were always called distorted thread nuts, thus I've always called them that. Who, WTF was Stover?

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Well crap, fellas... I learned something today.  Distorted thread nuts -- never heard of such a thing.

 

I bought all new hardware when I did my lift. I thought the nuts they sent me were out of spec so I didn't use them!  Didn't look right at all. lol  

 

20180329_184635.jpg.6494abc246ab768ce911f0e14c95d960.jpg

 

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