Sway Bar Clearance Issues

[Groundhog]

Has anyone else experienced this problem:

The rear sway bar and extensions rub against the springs when the axle droops. I set the control arms to the specified length but it gets worse the shorter you make them, so I pushed the axle out a little further to get clearance.

JP magazine ran an article on lifted ZJ's and they claim their control arms are much shorter. My axle is so far back that my upper track bar bolt is 1/4" away from my gas tank skid plate.

Any tips or tricks? What am I doing wrong?

Driver:
http://www.ardvrk.com/images/rearone.JPG 
http://www.ardvrk.com/images/reartwo.JPG


Passenger:
http://www.ardvrk.com/images/rearthree.JPG
http://www.ardvrk.com/images/rearfour.JPG

Thanks

 

[NomadJeep]

Wow, that is really weird.  I would call RE.

And I know you moved the arms to see if it would adjust for the sway hitting,  but man are they threaded out.  It looks way to far.  What is the spec that RE said? 

 

[Groundhog]

RE didn't know what to make of it.

The upper rear control arms are 1/4 inch longer than stock- at 13 1/2 inches. RE has you set the lower rears to 17 1/4 inches, mine are at 18 3/4 inches right now. I did that for two reasons - one was to attempt to clear the sway bar, the other was to set the pinion angle at the appropriate setting. I'm two degrees too high, still!

I'm going to remove the sway bar and have it bent out to clear the spring. If that's not an option, I'll look into replacing it with an Addco or something similar, If I didn't drive this thing every day, I'd take it off and forget about it. That's probably why RE hasn't had a lot of complaints, most people might choose to not use the sway bar for off roading. I've read a few sites where the installer does not use it after the kit is in.

Right now, I have another problem - My 9/16 bolt on my JKS front track bar keeps coming loose from the frame rail mount. It's torqued at 85 ft lbs, then I went to 95 ft lbs and I even used lock-tite. JKS is getting back to me in the AM. It's a straight bolt in a tapered hole. I didn't like the looks of the design when I put it in. The bolt has a zerk fitting in the head for greasing it so I can't just use any old bolt. I don't know what they are going to suggest.

Kevins Off Road has a new twist on the JKS bar that welds the original frame rail bracket to the JKS johnny joint - I might just get one of those if this can't be solved.  A friend of mine had a similar problem with his Dodge truck - kept torquing the bolt tighter and tighter and it snapped on the highway! He barely got it to the side of the road.

 

[Groundhog]

JKS suggested torquing the bolt @110 ft lbs! So I did.

Came loose on the way home from work today. I've never seen anything like this before.

The bolt is a custom job so I can't swap it out. JKS will be getting another call from me on Thursday.

Time to call Kevins Off Road I guess...

 

[NomadJeep]

That happend on 2 of my Front track bars for the Rubi...  on the RE and the JKS.  I cleaned, used lock tight, and the when to the hardware store and got 2 jam nuts.  Mine has about 1/2 of threaded bolt sicking up past the nut.  I just threaded the first jam nut against the JKS nut, and then threaded the next jam nut locked against the other.  It has not loosened sense.

 

[Groundhog]

I went under the jeep tonight and actually removed the track bar from the frame rail, just to see what was going on inside the bolt assembly - the tapered spacer is damaged from the side to side movement. I'm going to get back in touch with JKS on Thursday and see if they have a larger/ additional tapered spacer they can send me.

It looks as though the tapered hole in the stock frame rail bracket is too big and the bolt is moving inside the tapered sleeve. Maybe I goofed when I drilled it out to the required 9/16. In any case, I may have a JKS front track bar for sale soon if I have to switch over to the Kevins Off Road model. I won't be trusting the JKS mod again, not for that kind of money!

I didn't like the straight bolt through a tapered hole idea when I saw it. And drilling that thing out was no picnic - I almost broke my wrist when the drill bit caught.
I think I'll let Kevin do all the hard work this time and just bolt on the new frame rail.

If you haven't seen this thing, check it out:

http://www.kevinsoffroad.com/images/trackbar_conversion/trackbar5.jpg

 

[NomadJeep]

Rusty's has one that is the same....  at least yours bolts...  TJ's are welded so we can't switch to that style unless you grind welds..

 

[kevinc]

my RE trac bar is the same.  single shear bolt throught the drilled out tapered hole where the factory ball joint-style bar was.  I have no problems with mine.  I tightened the hell out of mine, just a grade 8 bolt from a local hardware supplier.  Lock nut (not nyloc), and no loosening.  BUT.......single shear is just plain not cool.  Kevin's trac bar conversion consists of the JKS bar i believe you have, and a factory trac bar bracket that has a squared off "U" shaped piece of steel welded to it to convert from a vertical bolt to horizontal so that the joint won't be able to bind (plus, it is double shear). If you buy one, you can send in your old track bar bracket for a decent core refund.  that would be my move.  HTH,

Kevin C.

 

[Groundhog]

Kevin,
This may be a stupid question, but what exactly is the difference between a single shear bolt and a double shear bolt and how do you tell the difference? I'm assuming it's a tensile strength thing but can you elaborate?

 

[kevinc]

the bolts aren't different, the bracket is the difference.  with the RE trackbar that has you drill out the existing tapered hole and stick a bolt in it is single shear.  The bolt would only have to shear at one point to break free of the bracket.  For a double shear bracket, like your lower control arm brackets, the bolt has to shear in two places to break free of the bracket.  i guess  that isn't the best explanation, hopefully someone else can elaborate.  it's hard to get the thought from my noodle to the screen.  too many beers yesterday! :grinyes:  HTH

Kevin c.

 

[Groundhog]

No, I get it. It's a design thing - stress spread over a greater area. Makes sense to me.

I'm ordering the Kevin's part soon. I had to get underneath and re-torque it again yesterday.  Way too much of a hassle for me, the weak link in the chain.

After this problem is solved, this Jeep will drive better than any vehicle I've ever owned.

Thanks for the feedback.

Ron