Been dealing with the issue for awhile, but it is time to do something about the steering on my 99 2500. As one put it very well one time, "its like steering an elephant with a rubber band". Anyway, have gone through the front end looking for anything with wear in it. Have already replaced the steering box and all 4 shocks, as well as put on new tires. Have come to my trackbar and drag link. My trackbar is just flat wore out and needs to be replaced.

Have pretty much narrowed it down to either a 3rd gen conversion (probably from source automotive), or a direct bolt in replacement from Thuren's. The Thurens bar is definitely a cheaper route, but I am not sure how it will last. I have no doubts from looking at their website and talking to a few that is a well built piece of iron. However since it is a direct bolt in replacement, it must still use a similar method of atachment to the frame side of the track bar, where my current bar is wore out, and is arguably a bad design. Anyone have any experience with these, or what you are seeing as the best route to go. Don't mind spending money to do it right, but don't like buying gold when silver will do just fine.

When all is final, plan on replacing the track bar, putting on a DSS steering stabilizer, and locally obtained moog type drag link. Oh, general use of the truck entails daily driving to work during the week, general farm truck all the time, approximately 25K miles per year, mostly 2 lane highway and dirt roads, both empty and towing. Never severe off roading, just pasture checking and the like.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Elvis

 

I have had decent luck with the stock bar and a Lukes LInk. But even with the Lukes LInk, the track bar assembly is limited to 30-40k miles at best in my opinion.
Im sure guys who have gone with the aftermarket have better results though.

 

Thanks Smoky,
I was afraid of the 30-40K life span on track bars, as that only equates to about 1.5 to 2 years before replacement in my case. Thats too much money to be throwing away in my opinion. Track bar looked almost new when I bought the truck at 153K, and drove pretty dang good. Now at 173K ( plus a 7.5% difference adder in the odometer = ~ 22K miles) this thing is all over the road and I have an easy inch of play in the track bar.

 

I thought Thuren bar is not truly a bolt-in replacement, it requires welding. Is this not the case? I was considering it at first as all reports about it are great, but I didn't want to mess with welding. So I bought a lifetime replacement from Advance Auto Parts. Autozone has them too, $130. Replacing it takes all of 30 minutes, so I can afford to spend that much once every three years for no extra cost.
-P

 

The thuren bar can be either bolt in or welded, i believe it depends on if your truck is lifted or not

 

I've had good luck with my MOOG bolt on replacement track-bar. It comes with a lifetime warranty (double check when you buy it), I'm on my second one, 115,000 km into owning the truck (second is lasting longer than the 1st, still seems fine, new steering box needed, though). It is quick to replace, take off one wheel, loosen the nut almost all the way, hit it with a sledge, take off the bolt on the other end, slide a new one in, bolt it up, and adjust the sleeve on the link off the pitman arm until your steering is centered again... can be done in less than an hour.

 

The Thuren trac bar is hell for stout. Mine bolted right in and the attachmnet point on my truck was ok for the clearance issue. The third gen refit requires some welding to offset the frame mount location for axle clearance on the drivers side. Not a big deal for a certified welder. The ends of the Thuren unit are replaceable and a lot less expensive than a 'lifetime' trac bar, which you will be replacing every 2-3 years anyway and paying for an alignment. The Thuren ends are around 75 bucks for the set I was told. I'm not sorry I went with this set up. Also, when you call Thuren you talk to Don himself and he's very helpful in finding out if his part will work on your truck or not. Good luck, Kurt

 

hi
i have replaced my trackbar with a 03 up track bar with the bracket from ssi industreys .

IT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE BEST MONEY I HAVE SPENT !!!!!

truck drives EXCELENT !!!!

BRACKET WAS AROUND $200.00 delivered from kens in ct .

got a very low milage 06 track bar from clasified here $100.00

i cant say enough about how good it handles and drives .

put urathane sway bar mounts on and some new lifetime end links i got off e bay better than stock <greasable> and came with urathane bushings for half the cost of dodge ones !

also resealed my stearing box and adjusted it , no more leaks and no more wander !!!
befor it was all over the road !

 

Gentlemen,

Well I was leaning towards going to a Thuren, but I did a clearance test this morning with the rattle can lid, and I think it would hit.
kurtaing, what kind of clearance do you see with yours installed. With the cap centered under the frame joint, there is only about an 1/8" clearance up and down before it would hit the "pumpkin" of the differential. I would sure think that would interfere under suspension travel. Any thoughts?

 

while on this topic, i got to thinking the other night. I would like to see if anyone has just said thats it and swapped in leaf springs in the front. I personally like the ride of coils better, although my shocks are toast so im sure id notice no diffeence anyways. but with some leaf springs, all these track bar headaches would be gone.

 

Sorry for the late reply. Mine had about 3/4" clearance with the lid. I also put on a 2" leveling kit which increased the clearance to about 2 3/4". Make sure you cut a notch out of the can lid to go around the existing trac bar rod. The Thuren head is the same size (diameter and depth) as the can lid and will fit up to the same location as the stocker. Mine was close but the leveling kit and extended bumpstops solved it for me. Kurt

 

Well I called Don, and we agreed that it probably wouldnt fit on my truck. I didnt cut the slot, mainly cuz I wanted to see how close it would be when the front drivers was under compression, and it was too close for me to feel real comfortable. Don reccommended a 3rd gen upgrade, and I went with the solid steel one, mainly cuz I could get it quicker.

I do like the idea of the old leaf springs, but would probably never have the time or the $$$ to do it. Add that to the list of " if i could build the perfect truck....." list.

Thanks for all your help guys. Hopefully this SSI stuff works out.

 

Don's stuff will work. Good luck. Kurt

 

I got the 03' track bar from Thuren Fab and track bar relocation kit for my 98'. Also got the bent steering kit. Best on the market IMO.