RE Front Track Bar Mount?

[TJRON]

Today I'm going to drill out the hole and install my RE front track bar (if I can borrow a drill and 5/8" bit).
I'm not sure how the bar mounts. It came with a bolt to go in the hole, a sleeve to go in the joint, and two cone shaped spacers.
My question is do the skinny or fat side of the spacers point to the joint?
Thanks,
Ron

[sethmark]

Skinny side on the joint.

Fat sides should press against the TB mount and bolt.

seth

Humpty Dumpty Land: Formerly Tightey Whitey World

[TJRON]

Thanks Seth!
I found a rat tale file made fast work of the hole. I needed the exercise.
Ron

[sethmark]

Wow. That's hardcore.

Good luck with the rest of the install. BTW, put the jeep on level ground, steer it straight and jump up and down on the front end for a couple of seconds (this will center the axle).

Then find that happy spot where the bolt goes right thru without any force and youre done.

Seth

Humpty Dumpty Land: Formerly Tightey Whitey World

[Ace!]

I did mine a couple weeks ago and bouncing the front end up and down never got it close to centered (I went from 2" to 4" of lift if that makes a difference). Having someone push the body over as I put the bolt through worked like a charm.

Áron O'Proinntigh is ainm dom

[sethmark]

And so in lies a problem... By having someone push the jeep over, you're preloading the track bar, causing steering problems as the suspension cycles.

Humpty Dumpty Land: Formerly Tightey Whitey World

[TJRON]

Well, As I was putting my axle in, it made the job quite easy. I put the contol arm on loosely and let the front end sag (with sprigs) with the Jeep frame on jack stands. Then I raised it up with two floor jacks that can roll and let it follow it's own course until the Jeep left it's jack stands. I could then put stands under the axles and lower it back to normal height. Insert track bar.
I did my rear this way and it came out perfect with guaranteed no binding.
Sounds like a lot of BS, eh?
Ronni

[Hellbender]

Keep a close eye on the tightness of the 5/8" bolt and make sure the nut has a flat surface to seat on. Most rigs have a bunch of casting leftovers up there that will keep the nut from seating properly.

RE's new bracket that positions the hiem pivot bolt horizontally is a MUCH better solution (when you get tired of messing w/ the bolt loosening). I recco welding the bracket onto the frame if possible, for a permanent solution.

HTH

2000 TJ 4.0L, A/T, all factory options.
Jeep Rater Score 360
http://www.hellbender.rockcrawler.com/
NRA Lifetime Member

[Ace!]

I'll keep an eye on it Seth, thanks for the heads up. I haven't noticed anything yet, but I've only been driving it for a few days so far.

Áron O'Proinntigh is ainm dom

[Stu Olson]

Ron....this is from the RE front track bar write-up on my web site:

Note: Upon the advice of a local TJ owner who has had this RE track bar for some time, I re-torqued the bolt to 165 ft. lbs (he does his at 175). I checked the grade 8 bolt specs and 175 is within safe limts. I also put a grade 8 lock washer under the nut. It snuggles in very nicely in the little indented area on the frame bracket. As I write this, I have had this in this configuration for 3 months and everything is still nice and tight. I did not use Loc-tite.


Just thought I would pass this along as it has worked very well for me. My bolt only came loose once and that was when I allowed someone else to work on my front axle and they crossed threaded it. (if you can imagine doing that on a 5/8" bolt)


http://www.stu-offroad.com

[Jeff Weston]

After replacing the heim joint in my RE trackbar (after 60k miles) I used the old nut to "double nut" the bolt in addition to some red loctite. That said, it never came loose even without the double nut. Based on what I've read of others' experiences I figured I was just lucky and the second nut would be cheap insurance.

The only part of my RE lift that seems to wiggle around are the front uppers. Is it just me or are the holes in the arms drilled much larger than the size of the bolt? It seems that the upper arms just can't be tightened firmly around the bushing the same way all the other arms are.

Jeff