Track bar ? on YJ

[77GreenMachine]

Some of y'all too young to remember when YJs were near the top of of the off road hierarchy.
Anybody else here spend the $$$ for the old school JKS telescoping YJ front track bar? That thing was awesome (back in 1999)

Never heard of her. You’re showing your age...

 

[Jody Treadway]

Never heard of her. You’re showing your age...

I would post some pics of one in action from wayyyy back, but the ex-wife kept the old photos.
Which is only fair, because she also kept the STD that I never got too.

 

[hunterdan]

While looking for info about track bars I watched a video about the jks telescoping track bar. Was pretty cool and gave full flexibility....kind of expensive

Some of y'all too young to remember when YJs were near the top of of the off road hierarchy.
Anybody else here spend the $$$ for the old school JKS telescoping YJ front track bar? That thing was awesome (back in 1999)

 

[hunterdan]

I did end up ordering TRE from Barnes. Much more time in figuring out which tie rod end than I expected. All of the franchise parts stores said "might be in the warehouse"
I got the left outer Tre and got same part number for drag link at pitman arm. I'm hoping they are the same part as Barnes had no idea about any of it. My threads on left outer Tre are right hand threads and it's 7/8"x 18. As far as degree of bushing on parts I ordered it's 7 degrees. Barnes didn't know what degree a wagoneer or GM truck had in 1978. Connor at Barnes said to ream it if it's wrong.
Previous owner sent me this pic when I asked what axles came from

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

I did end up ordering TRE from Barnes. Much more time in figuring out which tie rod end than I expected. All of the franchise parts stores said "might be in the warehouse"
I got the left outer Tre and got same part number for drag link at pitman arm. I'm hoping they are the same part as Barnes had no idea about any of it. My threads on left outer Tre are right hand threads and it's 7/8"x 18. As far as degree of bushing on parts I ordered it's 7 degrees. Barnes didn't know what degree a wagoneer or GM truck had in 1978. Connor at Barnes said to ream it if it's wrong.
Previous owner sent me this pic when I asked what axles came from

The PO must not have done the swap. Those are FSJ axles for sure. GM axles would be SOA from the factory, and you can tell they werent converted. My guess is waggy axles, but they could also be J10. GM never made a driverside drop axle either.

That doesnt really matter much for this conversation, as the tierods should be the same, as long as you pick bottom vs top mount.

 

[hunterdan]

The PO must not have done the swap. Those are FSJ axles for sure. GM axles would be SOA from the factory, and you can tell they werent converted. My guess is waggy axles, but they could also be J10. GM never made a driverside drop axle either.

That doesnt really matter much for this conversation, as the tierods should be the same, as long as you pick bottom vs top mount.

Thanks for the info. Any idea what generation so ordering parts might be easier. Connor at Barnes said my passenger TRE is not available. The ones they have are longer before drag link mounting holes. I guess if I can't find one I would need an adjustable drag link

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Here is something I saw on Pirate, that seems to be pretty good info:

74-79 has Front passenger drop about 61.5" WM to WM, Rear is offset to passenger side. There are a wide trac models but few and far between. 80-91 has driver drop about 60.5" WM to WM. Be very careful because all 83-84 and some 85s have the vacuum disconnect. The passenger side axle (long one) will work as a spare for other years. Rear axles are 80-most 86 have centered AMC 20 axles with 1 piece shafts. Some 86 and 87-91 have the nice Dana 44 centered axles. All the years have disc brake front ends and 11x2 drum brake rears. They are all 30 spline axles front and rear. The Centered rear Dana 44 (87-91) axle shaft are different lengths so you have to carry 2 rear shafts as spares. The front 80-91 are only 1" spring pad difference from 87-95 YJs so the are very easy to mount up. Gear ratio are as follows 74-79 (Everyone) has 3.54 gears. 80-91 (most) have 3.31 gears and a (few) have 2.71 gears. The axle tube is 2.75" with a thickness of 3\8". There are a few out the 74-79 that have Flat top knuckles but not many. Thats about all there is to the Waggy Dana 44s.

Your axle looks to be 80-91, non-vacuum disconnect. You can pull a tape on the WMS to determine if it is a waggy axle (~60") vs J10 (~65").

 

[hunterdan]

Here is something I saw on Pirate, that seems to be pretty good info:

Your axle looks to be 80-91, non-vacuum disconnect. You can pull a tape on the WMS to determine if it is a waggy axle (~60") vs J10 (~65").

Thank you sir.

 

[89wrangler]

I will look in the shop when I get home, may have some waggy tie rods and drag links hoarded away.

 

[hunterdan]

I will look in the shop when I get home, may have some waggy tie rods and drag links hoarded away.

Cool...thanks

 

[hunterdan]

Well, parts came in from Barnes. TRE is not the same. Any idea's?

I will look in the shop when I get home, may have some waggy tie rods and drag links hoarded away.

Part they sent is ES2234RWS
I counted threads per inch and it looks like my original TRE is about 14 tpi instead of 18. Both are 7/8". Mounting bolts is smaller than the one Barnes sent me also.

 

[89wrangler]

I would guess it is a standard waggy tie rod end based on the size of the pivot rod. What sucks is it appears they are not stocked anymore at the parts stores to go and compare one.

 

[hunterdan]

Thanks for the pics and help. I was thinking that the GM and waggy were the same part. 7/8" x 18. I also thought they would be same length and pivot bolt size. Are you saying this is like a Cherokee size?

 

[hunterdan]

Don't know if this will help but cleaned off grease and saw these numbers.

 

[hunterdan]

I looked up the numbers on the TRE and it is one from rugged ridge. They offer a needed up steering system for the YJ. Tie rod is 1.25" O.D. and looks like a one ton Tie rod from a "waggy" but is not. I guess my tre is a Wrangler pivot bolt size with a 7/8" thread like one ton waggy/ GM. What I can't figure out is... shouldn't the Dana 44 front axle need a larger (1 ton) pivot bolt at the steering knuckle? Could the previous owner have kept the YJ knuckle somehow or maybe swapped all outer stuff into the Dana 44? I do notice a new upper ball joint and a new lower ball joint nut....

 

[89wrangler]

The good thing is you have seemed to figure it out. Also those TRE's are stocked at the local parts stores since they are for a wrangler from 1991 thru 2006 as well.

 

[hunterdan]

The good thing is you have seemed to figure it out. Also those TRE's are stocked at the local parts stores since they are for a wrangler from 1991 thru 2006 as well.

Yeah, I have massive headache but I'm figuring things out. Thanks for sticking with me on this.
I just discovered that PO welded in some bushings at steering arm to accept Wrangler pivot. Now I have to figure out if stock Tre will screw into tie rod. One site says that rugged ridge Tre must link to RR tie rod. M20x1.5 vs 7/8x18

 

[Jody Treadway]

I'm pretty sure the RR stuff is metric thread.
For sake of clarity, you cannot use a YJ knuckle on a Waggy 44 housing. So, at least you can rule that out.
On Waggy 44 into YJ swaps I have done, I have always used the OEM Waggy tie rod and drag link. Assuming your taper is still the Waggy degree, you may want to consider that. Would make getting parts easy and assembly is nothing fancy.

 

[hunterdan]

I'm pretty sure the RR stuff is metric thread.
For sake of clarity, you cannot use a YJ knuckle on a Waggy 44 housing. So, at least you can rule that out.
On Waggy 44 into YJ swaps I have done, I have always used the OEM Waggy tie rod and drag link. Assuming your taper is still the Waggy degree, you may want to consider that. Would make getting parts easy and assembly is nothing fancy.

Thanks for the info. The PO welded in steering arm bushings to fit Wrangler size pivot bolt and taper.
I was hoping a stock Tre would be the ticket. Nope, I just talked to advance and 87-90 are a different Tre than 91-06. Looks like I can only use rugged ridge parts for tie rod and drag link.......unless jeep makes a metric Tre on some model?
I guess I asked for all this when I bought an axle swapped YJ.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

you can get a reamer and drill/ream it out to 1 ton TRE taper. Then you can run 1 ton TREs and not deal with that other stuff.

 

[hunterdan]

you can get a reamer and drill/ream it out to 1 ton TRE taper. Then you can run 1 ton TREs and not deal with that other stuff.

I could do that but then I would need new drag link and tie rod. Rugged ridge uses M22x1.5 metric threads so future parts have to be from them.
Below is a pic of welded steering arm bushing so it accepts Wrangler pivot bolt. Also I noticed my leaf spring u bolts are misplaced...I think. I believe U-bolts should be where I'm pointing my wrench. Leaf spring is a little twisted due to this.

 

[89wrangler]

Those spring perches are wider by about an inch if I remember correctly so they probably made the adjustment there it looks like.

 

[hunterdan]

Those spring perches are wider by about an inch if I remember correctly so they probably made the adjustment there it looks like.

Anyone have ideas about a remedy? I wonder if this could be part of the reason this Jeep goes into a death swerve on curves. Leaf spring is twisted some.

 

[89wrangler]

I would fix the tre issues and see what it does. They did that to align The springs. Without it they would be “twisted” a lot more. As long as the u bolts are tight, should affect the handling.

 

[hunterdan]

I would fix the tre issues and see what it does. They did that to align The springs. Without it they would be “twisted” a lot more. As long as the u bolts are tight, should affect the handling.

Yeah, don't want to throw time and money at this jeep I've been down that Rd.
Sad thing is I thought Tre was bad because boot was torn and hanging out of tre. When removing I screwed up threads with some 2lb hammer smacks. Once I got it off I found that Tre was like new because I think it is . Should have used pickle fork to remove and just replace boot. Now I know that all front end is newer and in good condition. PO must have bought the whole crossover kit from rugged ridge.
I think next I'll start checking leaf spring bushings