Trac Bar replacement bushing?
 

I am correcting my trucks steering problem of wandering on the road and poor responsiveness from the steering wheel. I just installed the Lukes Link to repair the ball joint end of the trac bar and this helped tighten the steering considerably. I had a friend move the steering wheel back and forth while I watched the front end and noticed that I have a lot of movement in the bushing end of the trac bar that mounts to the axle. I am looking to see if anyone knows who offers a replacement bushing. I definately prefer a urithane bushing over rubber.

Thanks,
Kevin

Moog makes a rubber replacement bushing or you could upgrade to a poly bushing made by energy suspension. The Poly bushing is $8.99 + tax at Autozone and is available by special order. Let me know if you need the PN and I will dig up my receipt.

When I instaled my Lukes Link, he sent me the replacement bushing for that end of the track bar too. No problems since I installed it.

Same here! Cannot say enough good about Johnny Laucus and the Luke's link. Before I spent 10 minutes on the phone with John, suspension & steering & brake pull problems were a mystery. Thanks to him, I'm now able to diagnose and fix the problems - myself - and I've helped my neighbor with a '97 CTD get his brake pull problem fixed.

It's all about having someone move the steering wheel with you under the truck looking at it. Look for movement in the tie rod ends, both ends of the track bar, drag link, etc. My truck has 230,000 miles and steers like the day I bought it (with 7 miles on the clock)...

Not trying to steal the thread but I have the same problem. Am a little confused though, does the Luke's Link just replace the balljoint end of the original tracbar?

Thanks
jeff

Yes, just the balljoint end. You have to make sure you have a FACTORY tracbar, as the Moog replacement unit (from NAPA, etc.) is a lot smaller. The ball stud from the Moog will work but not the trackbar itself. As I understand it, the joint end is what goes bad most often - but John recommended (and included for $8) replacing the bushing at the other end too.

I ended up replacing outer tie rod ends (great expense - THE BIGGEST DOWNFALL of the design of these trucks if you ask me), a ball joint and all control arms (because you can't replace CA bushings in factory control arms - THE SECOND BIGGEST PROBLEM IMHO).

I'm pretty sure the NAPA bars are not made by Moog. Also last I checked the Moog bar was as larger or larger in diameter than the stocker. I have a one of each, I will try yo check them if I remember.

When I discovered my Trackbar was loose, I bought a replacement from NAPA here in Omaha. It's definitely the MOOG bar, and it's thinner at the end where you put the Luke's Link. The Luke's Link won't fit on it properly... Johnny Laucus himself pointed this out to me, thankfully I had saved my factory trackbar. Luke's Linnk definitely only works on a factory trackbar - I know this much for sure...

Cool, thanks for the replys. I hope to be doing this soon as I just got new tires and don't want them to wear abnormally.

Would anyone mind telling me how much these cost? Money's kinda tight and just wondering how much to set aside :rolleyes: .

Dodge wanted almost 700 to do this :o :o . They also told me I should get a new steering stabilizer. any thoughts?


Thanks again
Jeff

I think I spent about $75 on the Luke's Link and the end bushing for the track bar. The instructions are good, you need a bench grinder and a couple metric box-end or open-end wrenches... give yourself 2 hours to take your time.

Basically, you take the factory bar and use a bench grinder (or cutting wheel or ??) to remove the ball stud from the factory trackbar. You do this by grinding off the backside of the factory trackbar's ball joint, so that the stud can be removed through the back of the bar. The instructions show you how/where to grind.

Then, you fit the ball stud into the luke's link kit, and stick it back on the factory trackbar. Pay attention to the spring preloading instructions in the kit, it's easy to measure and get right. Then you reinstall the trackbar.

HELPFUL HINT!! To realign the trackbar to the axle & frame mounts, have a friend turn the steering wheel of the truck... I did it by myself by turning the wheel and locking it into position, the holes will line right up. Some people were going through the trouble of winching the truck left or right to get them to line up.

While you're under there, and after the trackbar is installed, have a friend turn the wheel back and forth about 30 degrees each way, look at all steering components and check for ANY movement. Anything loose will contribute to wandering steering & brake pull. On mine, a balljoint and both outer tie rod ends needed replaced. The Tie rod ends on one side are not replaceable, you have to replace the entire bar ($230)...

Good luck.

-scott

Thanks for the info. Scott. I appreciate all the advice. 75$ aint bad at all and hopefully Ill be able to do this sooner than I expected :) .

Have a bad feeling about the tie rod though. Last winter I slid into the guardrail on an on-ramp with my front left tire. According to the local tire shop it only needed an alignment but something tells me that the tie rod is now goin to have to be replaced to :rolleyes:

Thanks again
Jeff

who sells the lukes link ?? is there a link ?? ( no pun intended ) :D :D later, scott

Can the same "Lukes Link" be used on the tie rod ends to tighten them up? I am asking this without looking at my truck, so if this is an obviously stupid question I appologize.[eyecrazy]

They claim it DOES work. Check the bottom of this page...