Horray!!! my truck passed it's annual ( UK ) MOT inspection with flying colours yesterday, but had an advisery, that the stabizer has alittle play in the ball joint.

I'm not sure i am using the right name for it, it's the one that sits behind and above the steering damperand is attatched to a leg on the chassis via a ball joint right behind the pitman arm. I can't find a picture or diagram anywhere to explain my self any clearer

Is it possible to tighten it a fraction more or is it best to replace with a new one, if the latter is the case, what would anyone recommend, an OEM or is there any other on the market at a reasonable price

 

Sounds like the trac rod your describing. there problem prone. Check out www.lukeslink.com or someone else will chime in for the newer stuff/trucks.

 

Solidsteel has a conversion so you can use the much better designed 3rd gen tracbar on a 2nd gen.

www.solidsteel.biz

Not sure if this is what you consider "resonably priced" though,
but for a non lifted truck, this is the best solution currently out there, IMHO.

As my truck is lifted, and my tracbar is still good, I don't have one yet.


phox

 

i have the solid steel track bar kit on my truck and like the way the truck handles with it,here's a link on where to buy http://www.protintnw.com/steeringsuspension.htm

 

This is a much better set up than the solid steel conversion, and it's about $145 cheaper......

http://thurenfabrication.com/stocktb.html

Nicest thing about it is you can rebuild it if necessary for less than $30.

 

Hey Cowhand,

Have you used Solid Steels 03 track bar replacement?

 

Yup. Wouldn't put it on my truck if it was free.

The 03 track bar uses rubber bushings in both ends that are molded into the bar, so they're not replaceable. The rubber gets soft after a while and the axle will start to move again. Last time I priced the SS bracket and 03 track bar, the total price was around $415. The DT track bar is a far superior product, and it only costs around $360, and the Thuren bar is better yet and it's only around $270.

Look around on pavementsucks.com. Lots of guys over there running big suspension lifts. This alone puts a lot of stress on the track bar. Add to that most of these guys actually go out and beat on their trucks a little bit. Even the folks with stock suspension are going with the DT or Thuren track bar 10 to 1 over the ss/03 set up (mostly the Thuren bar). Hard to find anyone over there that has even considered the solid steel set up.

Personally, I like the Thuren set up because it's adjustable, rebuildable, BEEFY, and for lifted trucks, the frame bracket is welded on. The stock height track bar doesn't use a bracket at all, it's a direct bolt in replacement.

I talked to Don Thuren yesterday, he says he's getting 5-6 calls a week from 03-04 owners that are having front end shimmy at 50-60 MPH from bad track bars. As soon as he gets a "guinea pig", he's going to design a replacement track bar for the 03-05 trucks.

 

Wow, the Thuren bar may just be exactly what the doctor ordered. I hadn't seen this before. And the price... that's icing on the cake!!

This helps my budget tremendously... maybe I can afford those Mach injectors now.

 

Thanks, that is good info...I won't make a decision until Solid Steel releases the adjustable trackbar, I would bet that it has poly bushings instead of rubber.

 

Hope it's something with a higher durometer than straight poly......

 

Just looked at the bar on Darrin's site.....he says it has a higher durometer rubber bushing that "doesn't hammer out like steel rod ends, heims or polyurethane".

In 20 years of wrenching and building off road vehicles, I've never seen a poly bushing "hammer out". If the bushings are replaceable, it might last. I'd be interested in how much the bushings are to replace.
It doesn't matter what kind of rubber he uses, it's gonna get soft. Something has to wear on the axle end, whether it's the rubber bushing or the sleeve through the middle of it.

It appears to me that if the front suspension were compressed with the wheels turned to the left, the track bar will hit the tie rod where it bends around the diff cover.

I like the design of the adjustment sleeve, but it needs a jam nut on both sides.

All that leaves is the cost issue.....$175 for the bracket and $225 for the non-adjustable bar......still $40 more than the DT and $130 more than the Thuren.....

 

as always, excellent info Cowhand. I need to do somthing soon.

 

I don't guess the Thuren will fit with a Mag-Hytec with stock suspension? The website reports rubbing on stock diff covers.

 

Hey everyone..

As I was talking to Conrad(Cowhand) yesterday he mentioned I better get on this site and answer some questions so I thought I'd start here. Just browsing around a bit it seems like a awesome site and I'll try to hang out here more often... Anyway...


I thought I'd rather just state a few things that I believe in when it comes to suspension design rather than come across like my products are the best thing out there. Anything is better than the stock POS dodge 2nd gen. design and it's not like my products don't have any drawbacks, which I will list also. Hopefully my input will help some of you make a decision on what to buy when it comes to a track bar and other suspension components, be it my stuff or anyone elses. These things are just my opinions from my suspension design background which is pretty extensive and is what my brain is fixated on most of the time. I don't do "lift kits" and most of my stuff is built from scratch so thought goes into everything.

----first and most important, a track bar is a steering part, not suspension. It locatates the axle under the truck and if there is ANY play it will feedback into the steering in a compounded manner. Just as if someone were grabbing the steering wheel and yanking on it. locate it with close to ZERO play and you have full control.... 1/2" of deflection in the trackbar is about 3" of steering wheel movement.---

-rubber and standard polyurethane have NO buisness in a steering part. would you use rubber in place of the TRE's?

-a super high durometer poly that is closer to feeling like nylon(plastic) is the only "bushing" that seems to have close to zero deflection.

-a track bar is designed to only see lateral loads but if it is not perfectly parallel to the ground it will see more of a load when the suspension compresses/extends. The more it's angled the more you feel it in the wheel, and fight to keep the truck strait, when you hit a sharp bump if you have ANY play in the trackbar.

-a track bar should be adjustable to center the axle in the truck. I've seen talk about "the bumpstops won't line up" but in reality, the bar is only about 3/8" longer with a 3" lift. If your 3" lift uses bumstop spacers then that would technically mandate you use a longer trackbar and if not, a 3/8" shifted axle isn't going to make the bumpstops mis their stops...

-the more moving parts and threaded adjusters, the more things to come loose...

-if you were to run solid HEIMS on both ends of the track bar you will get a hammering effect which will accelerate wear, elongate bolt holes, and let the bolts shift. If you could make both ends with 3/4" bolts, dual heims would be the ideal setup, but in my opinion 3/4" heims would be the MINIMUM size to run with a heavy a$$ truck..


----- a track bar is an interesting suspesion/STEERING part. Not a lot of thought goes into it, it seems really simple, and on a Dodge it usually is. Might explain why Dodge had a newbie design the 2nd gen track bar design but I still can't figure out how they let it slide for almost 10 years and then put rubber on BOTH sides of the 3rd gen bar... With converging 4 link and radius arm design suspension the trackbar also has to twist a considerable amount with a good amount of suspension travel and still not have any slop which can make it tricky. -------

A few honest drawbacks to my track bars....
stock replacement bar***
-you can't even think about running the MagHytec cover.
-you have to paint it.(trying to keep cost down)
-only one adjustable end making getting the axle center a "little" more involved than others.
lifted bar besides whats listed above****
-has to be welded on allthough the MagHytec cover fits fine if lifted high enough..


Hope that helps some....


Don Thuren

 

Hey Don, thanks for coming on board the DTR. I appreciated your response.

I have very LITTLE experience with aftermarket steering parts... in fact, none besides a Borgeson Steering Shaft. So my question is regarding the "Rubicon Express" connection point on the frame end. What is the "sheer strength" or "fracture strength" of that end? Is it comparable to OEM, or much stronger? That would seem to be the weakest link, of course "weak" is relative.

And secondly, your website says you have about 10 of these on trucks right now and data is limited as to whether they rub much. Is that still the case or do you have more trucks running them and more data to analyze / share?

Thanks in advance.
Steve