can someone please explain the track bar to me and also the symptoms of a bad track bar.....my steering is sloppy and this may be part of the reason..... :

 

What do you mean by sloppy?

I know in my truck you have @ 4 inches of play in the steering wheel. Meaning that when the steering wheel is centered you can move the wheel left or right a few inches.

Driving a rack&pinion car you have to be careful not to rest your hand on the wheel too much b/c it moves the car with little input to the steering wheel.

 

My best shot, I'm sure someone can correct anything I mess up. The track bar connects to a point on the frame next to the drivers side tire, and to the axel on the passenger side. The end on the drivers side of the truck is a ball stub and the weak link in the bar. To test mine I had my son turn the steering wheel (truck is off) side to sde while I watched the ball stud for movement. Somewhere I read a TSB that stated some very small amount of play indicated a worn bar and to replace. Mine was obvious that it needed replacing. However, I also have play in the shaft bearing on the steering box so I ordered a Darins steering stabilizer. Now if I only had the time to put it on.

 

the 4" of slop sounds about right, i guess that's normal...my street isn't paved and when i drive down it something bangs around under there. i thought this may be part of the noise, i've noticed alot of posts about the track bar...i felt around and nothing seemed loose.

 

[quote author=barracuda link=board=4;threadid=17782;start=0#msg166499 date=1059679993]
the 4" of slop sounds about right, i guess that's normal...my street isn't paved and when i drive down it something bangs around under there. i thought this may be part of the noise, i've noticed alot of posts about the track bar...i felt around and nothing seemed loose.
[/quote]

For something banging around under there, I'd put a wrench on the lower shock bolts. They tend to loosen up and make some noise.