Issue after installing front track bar relocation

mgmavant · Jun 10, 2013

So I'm having some issues after installing a front track bar relocation bracket today. Last week I installed the 4" EVO Enforcer lift kit, and I installed everything from that kit without any issues. The caster was set at ~4 degrees after the install, and the rear axel was centered with the Evo rear roll center correction bracket that came with the lift. I had a JKS adjustable rear track bar, but I was able to set that to the proper length without any issues. After the install, the Jeep drove great - no issues at all (after recentering the steering wheel). I ran out of time to do everything I wanted to do last weekend, so I still had to install the extended brake lines, a new drag link, the front track bar relocation bracket and ball joints.

So today I figured I would work on the brakes and the front track bar relocation bracket. I got the brakes swapped out without any issues, so I did the track bar bracket while I had the front wheel off. The bracket installed just fine without any issues, but when I did the test drive, the steering feels really flighty now. The Jeep also will feel like it's being torque-steered when I step on the gas pretty aggressively (it's a 2008, so I've got the 3.8 and it's a manual - 35" tires with 4.10 gears). It almost feels like I don't have enough caster, but why would that have changed when all I did was the track bar bracket?

I checked the caster and it looks like it's right around 4 degrees, I've tripled checked all the bolts to make sure they are all tight and to spec, and everything looks really good. The only thing that seems a little odd is the passenger side jonny joint is not aligned very well. I straightened it out, and retorqued everything, but the Jeep still drives the same and the joint went back to the way it was before. I think it did this before I did the front track bar bracket, but can't be 100% sure.

Because I'm still waiting for the 13/16" bit to come in the mail (no store around here seemed to have it so I ordered one on line) I didn't install the new drag link (it's a flip kit). So my question is did I mess up and install the track bar bracket too soon? The only thing that changed was raising the track bar and the sway bar end links - I had raised the steering stabilizer before with a separate bracket, so this new bracket only rose that a little bit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

piginajeep · Jun 10, 2013

So you installed the bracket without installing the drag link on top the knuckle?

If that's the case this is your issue.

The misalignment of the control arm is nothing to worry about and it has nothing to do with steering

piginajeep · Jun 10, 2013

You will be fine until you can flip the drag link btw. It will just steer like shit

When you raise the track bar bracket you are changing the geometry on the drag link and track bar. They need to be parallel. Without flipping the drag link at the same time it's making your steering worse not better.

This is why your jeep is flighty

jeeeep · Jun 10, 2013

none of the Lowe's in the area have the bit? wow..
hopefully the bit will arrive soon, in the meantime just keep an extra pair of shorts for those special moments! :icon_crazy:

mgmavant · Jun 10, 2013

Thanks for the quick response! I kind of figured that might have been the issue, I was just a bit surprised that the steering was so bad. Oh well, hopefully that drill bit gets here real soon. I didn't try Lowes, but when I searched on the web, it didn't even come up with anything for my local store (Gaithersburg, MD) so I figured they didn't have it.

Any hints on removing the tre on the pitman arm end when I am able to flip the kit? I figured I would hit it with a pickle fork and hope for the best.

BTW - I love the lift kit. The Jeep really did drive nice before I put the bracket on - even the wife commented on how nice it felt. :clap2:

piginajeep · Jun 10, 2013

Posts some pics when your done!
Edit: you will not need to remove the tre at the pitman arm. Just unthread the drag link then thread the new one on.

munstie · Jun 10, 2013

Had the same issue while waiting for the draglink flip to come in. It will drive like shit until you get the flip kit installed, but you will love the way it drives when it's all on. Just check the passenger side at full lock on the steering wheel and full stuff to make sure the draglink isn't hitting the frame rail.

2011 JKU 3.5 R.E. Longarm lift.

piginajeep · Jun 10, 2013

munstie said:
Had the same issue while waiting for the draglink flip to come in. It will drive like shit until you get the flip kit installed, but you will love the way it drives when it's all on. Just check the passenger side at full lock on the steering wheel and full stuff to make sure the draglink isn't hitting the frame rail.

2011 JKU 3.5 R.E. Longarm lift.

He has the Enforcer kit with the proper bump stops. This will not be an issue.

mgmavant · Jun 10, 2013

I actually got the Synergy drag link which has new joints at both ends, so I will have to remove both ends. I assume the knuckle-end will ring out like the tie rod ends, but not sure about the pitman arm end. I went the Synergy route because it came with both links and the ones I have on there now seem pretty worn out.

I'll post some pictures when I get a chance to snap some. I actually had a guy come up to me at in the parking lot yesterday and ask exactly what lift and tires I had because he thought it looked great. My kids asked what he asked, so I told him, and my youngest asked if I told him I have a monster Jeep. I told him no; I can't say that until I get the 37" on:rock: The wife just looked at me and shook her head, knowing full well that sooner than new tires will be in the mix.

EDIT: When I checked all the clearances, everything looked really good. I did have a little rubbing on the passenger side because the axle wasn't centered, but now that I have that dialed in there's no issue - well, except the steering. I went with the 37" set up so it comes with 3" bump stops, even though I'm on 35" right now.

Heholua · Jun 10, 2013

mgmavant said:
So I'm having some issues after installing a front track bar relocation bracket today. Last week I installed the 4" EVO Enforcer lift kit, and I installed everything from that kit without any issues. The caster was set at ~4 degrees after the install, and the rear axel was centered with the Evo rear roll center correction bracket that came with the lift. I had a JKS adjustable rear track bar, but I was able to set that to the proper length without any issues. After the install, the Jeep drove great - no issues at all (after recentering the steering wheel). I ran out of time to do everything I wanted to do last weekend, so I still had to install the extended brake lines, a new drag link, the front track bar relocation bracket and ball joints.

So today I figured I would work on the brakes and the front track bar relocation bracket. I got the brakes swapped out without any issues, so I did the track bar bracket while I had the front wheel off. The bracket installed just fine without any issues, but when I did the test drive, the steering feels really flighty now. The Jeep also will feel like it's being torque-steered when I step on the gas pretty aggressively (it's a 2008, so I've got the 3.8 and it's a manual - 35" tires with 4.10 gears). It almost feels like I don't have enough caster, but why would that have changed when all I did was the track bar bracket?

I checked the caster and it looks like it's right around 4 degrees, I've tripled checked all the bolts to make sure they are all tight and to spec, and everything looks really good. The only thing that seems a little odd is the passenger side jonny joint is not aligned very well. I straightened it out, and retorqued everything, but the Jeep still drives the same and the joint went back to the way it was before. I think it did this before I did the front track bar bracket, but can't be 100% sure.

Because I'm still waiting for the 13/16" bit to come in the mail (no store around here seemed to have it so I ordered one on line) I didn't install the new drag link (it's a flip kit). So my question is did I mess up and install the track bar bracket too soon? The only thing that changed was raising the track bar and the sway bar end links - I had raised the steering stabilizer before with a separate bracket, so this new bracket only rose that a little bit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
View attachment 34485

I would really check this control arm again and make sure its straight and the jam nut and pinch bolt are properly torqued :beer:.

wayoflife · Jun 10, 2013

mgmavant said:
I actually got the Synergy drag link which has new joints at both ends, so I will have to remove both ends. I assume the knuckle-end will ring out like the tie rod ends, but not sure about the pitman arm end. I went the Synergy route because it came with both links and the ones I have on there now seem pretty worn out.

Just because your TRE's can move doesn't mean they are worn out. They would only be worn out IF you can move the joints up and down or side to side - rotating around is totally normal. Having said that, removing the TRE from the pitman arm is a job and will require the use of a good pickle fork and a BFH.

mgmavant · Jun 10, 2013

Thanks for the info - hopefully I can get the old joint out without too much of a problem. I figured that since I was replacing just about all the other joints in the front, I might as well replace this one, too. There is a ton of play in the joint, but to be honest I'm not sure if it's really worn out or not.

wayoflife · Jun 10, 2013

Again, rotational movement is totally normal. Getting the passenger side TRE out is very difficult to do. Good luck to you.

mgmavant · Jun 11, 2013

So I was able to install the new drag link this evening, and it seems that everything is back to where I was before I put the track bar bracket on - so this is a very good thing! The steering is still a little "light" but that might be a result of the caster (don't have a real good way to measure) or perhaps the ball joints (I know they are pretty shot). Regardles, the Jeep drives great again, but still has some room for improvement (I have some ball joints standing by to be installed - maybe I'll tackle that in a week or two).

FYI - removing the drag link from the pitman arm wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I gave it some good hits with a 4# hammer (maybe a couple dozen) and then I used a pickle fork and it dropped right out after the second hit on the pickle fork. The hardest part for me was reaming the hole out of the knuckle after drilling it out. Not really hard to do, I was just nevrous about removing too much material. It took me a good 20-30 minutes just doing that alone (the whole job took about an hour).

Thanks for all the assistance!

Here's a cell phone picture of the Jeep as I was replacing the drag link in the rain - I don't have a garage anymore, so I was trying to get a little cover over my house.

Beyrgut · Jun 11, 2013

Head to wally world and get a 10x10 popup canopy for a make shift garage then all you need is a shop fan to provide the A/C. Sounds like you are really close to working out your kinks :thumb:.

Lost-jkur12 · Jun 11, 2013

I'm about to order this lift. Do you think I could skip the DL flip for awhile? Rather put the money in better shocks to start.

Thanks

paychex.308 · Jun 11, 2013

Lost-jkur12 said:
I'm about to order this lift. Do you think I could skip the DL flip for awhile? Rather put the money in better shocks to start.

Thanks

NO! get the drag flip and the bilsteins or rancho 9000s. that will save you some money and then you can save up for the KINGs if you want to.

andrew -

mgmavant · Jun 11, 2013

Lost-jkur12 said:
I'm about to order this lift. Do you think I could skip the DL flip for awhile? Rather put the money in better shocks to start.

Thanks

Based on my experience, I would say the Jeep handled about the same with and without the flip kit - maybe a tad bit better now, but it's hard to tell because of the track bar bracket issue I had kind of skewed my feel of the Jeep between the flip kit and no flip kit. I did have my steering stabilizer already raised with the Tom Woods SS relocation bracket, but I don't think that would have much of an effect. I had the lift on for a little over a week without doing the flip, and I didn't have any issues - but I didn't wheel it either, just driving on the road.

I really wanted to go with the Kings because of the reviews and the fact that they were valved specificly for this kit, but decided that the Fox 2.0 would suit my needs just fine and I've been very happy with the choice. For the money I saved between the Fox and the Kings, I was able to order some LoD sliders. I don't do any high-speed offroad/dirt road driving, so I figured the Fox's would be fine. I have to say, I've very impressed with the Fox shocks - very stout and they ride real nice on the road. I had OME shocks on before, which was a clear upgrade from the stock Rubicon shocks, and the Fox shocks are a real nice upgrade from the OME shocks.

I don't have any experience with Blistien or Rancho, so I really can't compare those to the Fox.

As Eddie mentioned before, the drag link TRE at the pitman end was actually in pretty good shape, but it did flop around pretty easily and was very loose - no lateral movement, though. I will say that I did have a knock in my steering while stopped or going real slow when I changed directions, and that appears to be gone now, so maybe this corrected that issue. The new drag link is a lot beefier than the OEM one, and I'm pretty happy to have all new TREs now (after about 90k miles on the original ones). The only thing left to do now is put some new ball joints in and I should be good to go for another 90k!

mgmavant · Jun 11, 2013

Beyrgut said:
Head to wally world and get a 10x10 popup canopy for a make shift garage then all you need is a shop fan to provide the A/C. Sounds like you are really close to working out your kinks :thumb:.

That would have been really nice! I probably lost about 15 pounds doing this install being out in the sun and wrenching on the Jeep - this really made me miss my old garage.

The best part of the install was when the kids helped me with bleeding the brakes - all three of them were taking turns pressing the brake for me (they are 9, 7 and 6 - so they got tired pretty quick).

Lost-jkur12 · Jun 11, 2013

mgmavant said:
Based on my experience, I would say the Jeep handled about the same with and without the flip kit - maybe a tad bit better now, but it's hard to tell because of the track bar bracket issue I had kind of skewed my feel of the Jeep between the flip kit and no flip kit. I did have my steering stabilizer already raised with the Tom Woods SS relocation bracket, but I don't think that would have much of an effect. I had the lift on for a little over a week without doing the flip, and I didn't have any issues - but I didn't wheel it either, just driving on the road.

I really wanted to go with the Kings because of the reviews and the fact that they were valved specificly for this kit, but decided that the Fox 2.0 would suit my needs just fine and I've been very happy with the choice. For the money I saved between the Fox and the Kings, I was able to order some LoD sliders. I don't do any high-speed offroad/dirt road driving, so I figured the Fox's would be fine. I have to say, I've very impressed with the Fox shocks - very stout and they ride real nice on the road. I had OME shocks on before, which was a clear upgrade from the stock Rubicon shocks, and the Fox shocks are a real nice upgrade from the OME shocks.

I don't have any experience with Blistien or Rancho, so I really can't compare those to the Fox.

As Eddie mentioned before, the drag link TRE at the pitman end was actually in pretty good shape, but it did flop around pretty easily and was very loose - no lateral movement, though. I will say that I did have a knock in my steering while stopped or going real slow when I changed directions, and that appears to be gone now, so maybe this corrected that issue. The new drag link is a lot beefier than the OEM one, and I'm pretty happy to have all new TREs now (after about 90k miles on the original ones). The only thing left to do now is put some new ball joints in and I should be good to go for another 90k!

Good info, thanks a lot. :thumb:

Issue after installing front track bar relocation

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