Track Bar Bracket

[shays4me]

I'm looking for advice from someone who has a similar setup as mine. My JKU has OME 2" suspension in it. It actually came out to 2" total lift over a stock JKU with my bumpers, winch, etc.. So far the lift has been great and I've put about 20,000 miles on it with no complaints. The lift consisted of four coils and four shocks. The only other thing I've added is brake line brackets for front and rear. I've recently noticed that ARB has added a rear track bar bracket to their lift kit and so I'm curious what difference it makes. So, is there anyone who has a 2-2.5" lift that can clue me in through their experiences with and without a track bar bracket? I see brackets selling from $30 to over $100 and I just wonder if they're worth the money or if I'm just throwing my money away with such a small lift?

 

[Mitch502]

I would say at 2" of lift you don't need one, but I don't have a JK so I can't be 100% sure.

If you're asking what a rear trackbar does, it's the same as the one in the front. IT centers the wheels under the body.

My ZJ is at ~5.5" of lift, and I have a drop bracket. Just get an adjustable rear trackbar. A drop bracket basically just drops the tracbar down a designated amount to try and make it factory angles again. Same [general] thing an adjustable track bar does, but apparently a lot of people have failures with brackets, regardless of brand. I'll be buying an adjustable rear trackbar eventually just for piece of mind..

 

[tarditi]

As Mitch502 stated, you really shouldn't need one for a 2" lift.

The track bar locates the axle laterally - control arms locate the axle fore-to-aft. The multi-link suspension allows for the axle to droop and articulate while staying in the same general place as they travel along their range of movement.

When you lift a vehicle, you do change the suspension geometry a bit - if stock links are left in place, the suspension geometry is as if it was under the amount of droop for the given lift. 2" still has a fair amount of travel left in it, but when you start to get into the 3.5+ lifts you will see that the attitude of your axle, pinion angle, etc. are all off a bit without some sort of way to correct them with brackets and longer control arms, etc. This can change handling characteristics, alignment issues, etc.

Engineering geekery here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAiH776Ycyk

 

[codesertrat]

When you put a suspension lift on the Jeep, it lengthens the moment arm acting on the suspension, increasing the tendency for body roll. This is called the "roll center". Raising the trackbar raises the pivot point for the roll center, bring the moment arm closer to the OEM geometry, giving you a better and safer ride.

http://www.aev-conversions.com/education/60

I went with the Teraflex 2.5" suspension lift in some part due to their very beefy rear track bar bracket design.

 

[onetraveller]

As mentioned the track bar position does influence the handling of your Jeep. It also centers the axle. So without correction brackets or adjustable track bars, your axles will not be centered under your Jeep. You can drive it fine with out them, many do. However, if you are a little OCD like me, there are a couple of simple solutions.

I'm using OME 2618 springs in the rear and have the same 2-3 inches of lift. My front springs are Rancho, but I'll be changing them over to OME 2619 in the near future. For the rear axle, I'm using a Teraflex track bar bracket. This corrects the axle centering and raises the roll center to compensate for the lift. In the front I'm using a JKS adjustable track bar to recenter the axle. It doesn't correct the roll center, but the rear compensates enough that it still handles very well.

If you decide to add a bracket, make sure that it is an axle side bracket and that it either welds to the axle, or uses a U-bolt to attach to the axle. The ones that just bolt on to the existing bracket can cause the bracket to be overstressed and fail. A frame side bracket can actually make your handling worse by lowering the roll center instead of raising it.

Mike

 

[codesertrat]

Adding to what Mike said above, you should not use a track bar relocation bracket on the front axle as it changes the track bar angle (Adjustable track bar is fine of course for small changes). The only exception is if the steering drag link is also equally altered in its geometry through a drop pitman arm or similar mods.

It is vital that the track bar and steering drag link are equal and parallel, and failure to maintain that relationship will result in bump steer, where the steering angle changes as the suspension cycles through its range of motion.

 

[kojackJKU]

I installed a 2" lift on my JK and you really don't need any of that stuff for this mild lift. that's the best thing about keeping things civilized, no need for extra stuff.

 

[shays4me]

I installed a 2" lift on my JK and you really don't need any of that stuff for this mild lift. that's the best thing about keeping things civilized, no need for extra stuff.

That's what I thought when I did mine. I just wanted a little extra under belly clearance without the drama and expense, so I chose a 2" lift. I've read up on track bar brackets, I just don't know how much of it applies to my small lift. As far as recentering the axle, I'm not at all concerned. It is presently at most 1/4" out of center when the Jeep is unloaded. If I was OCD about it I would really freak out because I know the track bar travels in an arc so the axle is rarely ever truely centered when the suspension is working anyway. My Jeep is often loaded and the rear is squatting. I'm mostly into function over form. I can appreciate a letter perfect build, but the reality is that my JK is a tool first and gets used that way. It's often dirty and rarely looks good. I'd just like to know if the teraflex rear track bar bracket is really worth the hundred and some dollars they want for my application, or if I'd be better off spending that money on something I need, like more ammo.

 

[NFRs2000NYC]

You don't need it for a 2" lift. Your axle is never centered unless your jeep is 100% factory, empty, parked in your driveway. Add passengers, axles move. Add cargo, axles move. They are almost never dead center. You do not need a trackbar or a trackbar bracket. Save the money for more wheelin' gas.

 

[1stDeuce]

Go read the link that CODesertRat posted. It is correct that you don't NEED the bracket, but it does significantly enhance the handling of the Jeep over what the factory provided. I can testify that an AEV lifted JK on 35" mud tires will out handle (faster through the slalom) a stock JK Sahara with 18" wheels and street tires. No joke. Fixing the rear roll center issue of the factory JK is one of the primary contributors to that improvement, and AEV has it dialed.

And now for a little soapbox rant about adjustable track bars... Having axles "off center" by a tiny amount just bugs the crap out of some people, and they have to "fix" it. What they're actually doing is breaking it. Let me explain: A bit of off center doesn't affect anything about the way the vehicle handles or drives, but when you move the axle over so it's centered at ride height, what you are doing is changing the factory packaging at full jounce, and not necessarily for the better. Jounce bumpers can miss the pads, and control arms can get into things they cleared when it was stock. If you're lifted 6", then some correction may be necessary just to keep the axle from moving sideways so much with suspension travel, but that's done via drop brackets. An adjustable track bar is just hiding the real problem, which is that the axle is going to move to the side too much as the suspension cycles... For 2-3" of lift, the 1/4" of off-center that each axle has compared to stock ride height isn't hurting anything, and putting adjustable track bars on to "fix" it probably won't have much negative effect, but for bigger lifts, the track bars need to be leveled, not adjusted.

Rant off.
Chris

 

[shays4me]

So I guess I'll be the guinea pig on this one. I've been daily driving the JKU for over a year now the way it is. I just ordered the Teraflex track bar bracket from Northridge, and I'm planning on a road trip with the Jeep in a week and a half. I'll report my findings for someone else who may stumble across this thread at a later date. I find a lot of answers to my questions searching old posts, but this one eluded me! Thanks to all who replied!

 

[kojackJKU]

I think it may throw things out of wack the other way brother. I would not waste the 100 bucks on the bracket for a 2" lift.

 

[RubiconGeoff]

I think it may throw things out of wack the other way brother. I would not waste the 100 bucks on the bracket for a 2" lift.

Exactly. If you're relocating the track bar but not the drag link, you'll have those two rods swinging different arcs and fighting each other as the suspension cycles. This will manifest as bump steer. With "only" 2 inches of suspension lift it won't be too bad, but I'm sure you'll prefer how your Jeep drives without that track bar bracket messing up the geometry.

 

[codesertrat]

Exactly. If you're relocating the track bar but not the drag link, you'll have those two rods swinging different arcs and fighting each other as the suspension cycles. This will manifest as bump steer. With "only" 2 inches of suspension lift it won't be too bad, but I'm sure you'll prefer how your Jeep drives without that track bar bracket messing up the geometry.

Nope. He is only talking about adding the rear track bar bracket, not the front. Nothing will be "out of whack".

 

[onetraveller]

I have the teraflex rear bracket installed on 2 inches of lift. Works fine.

Mike