dieselcarpenter

So I am going to put in Rough Country 2" leveling coils. Front is loose and clunky, no wobble yet but it does shimmy over bumps, So putting together shopping list for front end components.

Is it better for ride and long range durability including washboard roads and dirt, to go with poly bushings in the control arms or trac bar? or should I stick with rubber?

Are the OE bushings bonded in like most stock control arms and act as a torsion members vs a bearing?

I have never dealt with poly in a pivot application, do they crush in and torque or do they pivot on the poly and sleeve like a bearing bushing?

Can the stockers be replaced with new stock rubber or do I need buy the whole assembly arm with bushings if sticking with stock? I assume polys are pressed into the arms after persuading the old ones out with heat and presses?

GumpsVa

Don't play with the Trac Bar bushings just go and buy a Doug Thuren Fabrication Trac Bar. I had the Death Wobble and replace a lot of the Front End Parts still had it until I purchased the Trac Bar. The one I purchased can be adjusted up to a 3" lift but he dose have other ones that adjust to Higher Lift kits also bought a Steering stabilizer. Also have upgraded the front end to the 2008 Mod

dieselcarpenter

So the consensus is get an adjustable trac bar. even if staying stock height or (2") leveling only?

What about control arms? oe rubber or poly if sticking with oe arms?

I noticed that the synergy trac bar on Genos is cheaper than thuren but I have the Y steering and it says I need to relocate the steering stabilizer? is this easy to do? with the issues with the T steering I am leaning toward staying Y maybe adding the box stabilizer.

I am running 285/70 r17 now biggest would be a 35x12,50 I am happy with the 285s though, once level may want to go to 35s.

.boB

Rubber. The poly bushings are kind of nice if you want to firm up the ride. But it can make it too firm depending on the kind of driving you do.

Also, poly is high maint. Most don't know and don't bother. But poly will start to bind after a while. You'll need to take them apart and grease them on a regular basis. On my race car I do it once a month. On my street car I did it once a year, but should probably have done it more often.

For my new race car, I'm using rubber bushings that are considerably more firm than stock, but don't need maint like poly does.

Shorts

Yes. It will give you more flexibility to dial in your alignment, even if the adjustments are on the small side. It'll be worth it to remove the track bar as a culprit from the steering issues.

Rubber. New rubber will be firm again, IMO firm enough and take it back to "new truck", least for those parts. Poly would be very firm, too firm IMO. You want to refresh and you'll feel the refresh with rubber.

What issues with the Tstyle are you referring to?
IME going from the Y to T was good. With the Y I had bumpster that gave me the ******* when I'd cross expansion joints at highway speeds.

In lieu of staying with Mopar steering linkage of any flavor, if you are going to Thuren for the adj trac bar, ask him about the new HD steering linkage. Here is suppose to be one coming out with better joints in place of the TREs that does not require drilling out the knuckle hole like the kit currently on his site. Suppose to be a bolt on application. If I had the option, meaning the Thuren linkage was available and I was doing steering linkage work, I'd pick Thuren over Mopar.

Remember, if you really want to clean up the steering slop you'll want to upgrade the steering box to Mopar's big box.

dieselcarpenter

I am refering to the current recall. Its my understanding that going to the 2008.5+ T steering from mopar while better for wobble and geometry also has problems with damper slip and ball joint ends. My old style has solid bar and not prone too crushing etc... may be wrong but this what I came across here on DTR with dealing with the recal that came out in last November (13)

Thurens stuff is awesome and it costs accordingly just like carli ball joints. Not sure I can swing it when I am also staring new injectors and cp3 in the face.




As for rubber, is it best to buy the bushings and press into my existing arms? or pick up the raybestos arms with bushings installed from rockauto?

junebug95628

I just fixed this issue with my truck.

I weighted the options and decided to go to track bar bushings instead of bar. The amount misalignment the 2" spacers I just added is negligible. I used that money to convert to the 08 T style from my local dodge dealer who matched Internet pricing. I also replaced all 4 ball joints and added Bilstein shocks. The truck drives awesome again and I would say 80% of the better driving is due to the track bar bushings.

ripping r

I disagree with rubber bushings ride better or softer than poly. I have 1/2 longer arms with poly bushings. the ride is awesome and the arms have grease fittings so not a big deal to keep them lubed up.

yarosig

Be sure to use moly grease when lubing both and you'll be just fine

rammike

Anyone replace bushings in 2008 track bar? I bought Energy Suspension poly bushings for mine but it appears they are not the right size for my track bar. My eyelets are only 5/8" wide where the bushing goes, the bushings I bought are 1" wide and 3/16" smaller od than id of eyelet. Must be a less frequently used vendor for track bar at DC...Does anyone offer poly bushing for my track bar?