Jeep JL Wrangler Track Bar Relocation Bracket : HOW TO Recenter Your Rear Axle
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
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Any time you change the ride height of a Jeep JL Wrangler, the front and rear axles will shift to one side or the other. The reason for this is because they're solid axles that are held in place with a track bar that's mounted on one end and then on the frame rail on the other. However, with a 2.5" lift or less, the shift is minute and really, not enough to matter. Certainly, it won't affect your steering, handling or otherwise. However, when you start getting into the 3"-3.5" of lift or more and if you're running shocks that will allow for big enough articulation, you will start to see some issues and especially so in the rear.
Because your rear axle will shift to the passenger side, your rear drive shaft may start to make contact with your gas tank skid. There are a few ways you can address this issue but one of the cheapest and easiest solutions is to install a rear track bar relocation bracket. By restoring the geometry of the track bar, essentially make it sit flatter again like it did when stock, your axle will return to a more centered position. Also, in addition to helping provide more clearance for your driveshaft, you may also see the added benefit of improved handling as well. For our purposes, we decided to install a track bar relocation bracket made by EVO Manufacturing and in this short video, you'll see just how easy it is to install.
Eddie, your tool collection is impressive....so is your know-how
LOL!! It's taken a really long time to acquire both. Well over 20 years to be exact.
Great video. Seeing how everything works together (or doesn't work when things are modified) is important. I never understood the track bar function until now. Thank You and God Bless!
Awesome! I wasn't sure if anyone would have cared to see this but I'm glad to hear you found it to be informative :)
Eddie and Cindy make all The Jeep JL things look easy! Thanks!
LOL!! All we'd ever hope to do is show people that they can do this too :)
Just gave me some great insight on how to get a nut in a hard place with a wrench. Never thought of duct tape lol! Thanks for another great video!!
LOL - Glad to hear I was able to share some of my shadetree secrets :)
Missed this one somehow! Glad it popped up in my feed. I'll sleep better now after some good learning. Take care. 👍
Awesome - glad you stumbled across this video and found it to be helpful.
Made a lot of difference, when things are more inline saves wear an tear on other parts cool stuff.....
Can't wait to watch your next project!!
Awesome! Got more coming your way :)
Nice and easy mod that should take care of an issue. I love it when it works out!! Clean install as usual!
Thanks :)
You are the best Eddie!! I would like to put my TJ in your hands. The problem is that I live in Spain. 😁
LOL - I'm flattered you'd say as much.
you are so good at every thing u do about jeep
LOL!! I am truly flattered. thank you :)
Love the videos! Bought my first Jeep already lifted, currently reverse engineering it to see what I have/need. Horrible idea, much easier to start stock so you know what you have. I’m wondering what you did to push the Jeep over for the track bar to line up?!
Just had someone push on the side of the Jeep :)
Oh those welds!! EVO does a great job of manufacturing! Instructions are over rated.......as long as you apply brute force judiciously! Another great video!
LOL!! Well said :)
You are way to organized....I'm jealous! Great videos!
LOL - thank you. Glad you enjoy our videos.
Another great video to watch!!
I ordered a 9/16 drill bit as noted in your video but ended up using a 7/16 drill bit for the hole and it was the same size as the predrilled hole from EVO.
You should do a full review on the JL with mods and prices in one video that would be awesome
Hmm, I'll see what we can do. We've made so many changes and have so many more to come, it'd be hard to do just one video.
3 plus inch lift = adjustable track bar + relocation braked. Relocation bracket to correct the geometry and adjustable tb to fine tune it in the middle.
Wouldn’t an adjustable track bar correct that instead of the relocation bracket is it a more cost effective way or what is the pros cons of bracket vs Adjustable track bar
An adjustable track bar will only correct the position of the axle, not the geometry. Ideally, you want your track bar to sit as level to the axle as possible, just like from the factory. Sitting at an angle can affect the quality of your ride so a relocation bracket like this is not only more affordable, it'll also correct geometry. What it can't do is make micro adjustments to address any additional corrections that you may want to make. But then, your axle is always going to be off one way or another depending on how much you're loaded up or not. It's just the nature of the beast when it comes to track bars.
Wayalife Roger that thanks for the response bud
How did you learn so much about Jeeps? Do you work in a shop?
After getting sick and tired of paying people to work on my Jeep only to find out later that they screwed things up, I decided I could do at least that much myself and save a little money. Need I say, I taught myself. Back then, there was no internet and the only way you could really learn about any of this stuff was by readying a FSM or factory service manual.
@@wayalife very cool ! Hi from Sakhalin , I drive fj cruiser, it is 4 liters engine, but after subscribing on your chanel, I want to buy JL, but can't understand which engine is better,3.6 or 2 turbo. In Sakhalin island no rock climb on cars, more offroading in forests, mud, sometimes deep "road lakes "( don't know how it call in English language), but I think 3.6 engine has more real power and resurs. And gasoline in Russia has not so good quality then in Japan, USA. What you think ? Sorry for my English)) looking all your videos
@@ВладДом For your needs, I might recommend a 3.6L. The 2.0L turbo is nice but it does require a higher octane gasoline and needs more maintenance. The 3.6L has been around for a long time and is reliable. With the 8-speed automatic, it has a lot of power too.
Very informative. Great video, as always.
Glad to hear it, thank you :)
Man you make that look easy
LOL - glad to hear it :)
Great channel ! My wife and i have been watching you since you bought the JL. Can you do a video and go through your mods? Its seems you kept a combination of suspension parts for good reason. I would like to learn from your experience and try and do our JL suspension just once. Thank you.
You mean like a walk around? If so, sure, we can do something like that but we do have a few projects we need to get though first.
A walk around would be great. How much total lift does yours have now? We are ordering our first jeep and she wants to wheel in something smaller than my old pickup.
Thank You for another great video!!!
You bet! Glad you liked it :)
You said that you have 4-5 inch lift how is that possible when you have installed 3.5 inch lift kit ?
Because MOST kits tend to yield way more lift than is advertised. There are few exceptions but just a few. At least, that's been my experience over the last 20+ years.
I am surprised that you are not using an Rockjock Antirock sway bar on the rear.
LOL - I'm surprised that people still want to. And don't get me wrong, I love Currie products but from experience testing them out, the Antirock was too soft for my taste for daily driving and too stiff on the rocks. This resulted in the limitation in the amount of flex I could get compared to just being disconnected up front and running a factory rear sway bar.
Evo does it right ,, so as you Edie
Thank you :)
Nice idea have a great time
Another great video... and cool editing. But, what kind of weather patterns do you have in Nevada? Didn’t you just have a heavy snow fall?
LOL - we filmed this last fall. Just now got around to making a video out of it.
Hahaha, I was about to start packing up my tools and start moving!
Eddie what is the part # for the Rancho 3.5" lift that you currently have?
@@xzerbaluyot9994 I have this kit amzn.to/2Xfb4vQ
Hi Eddie! I may be jumping the gun on a future video but I’m worried I may have got lost and the ProRock 44 solved your front end geometry issues but left me in the dust lol. My question to you with the rancho 3.5 lift what kind of bracket system or systems should I be looking for to keep Oem geometry?
Up front, I'm hoping to eventually install a track bar relocation bracket and drag link flip.
Either this was recorded a while ago or all that snow and cold weather disappeared real quick!
LOL!! We filmed this back in October of last year. We actually have a lot of projects that we haven't gotten to yet but we're trying our hardest to catch up. Hoping you still find it to be useful even though it isn't as current :)
@@wayalife Yup still very hopeful. Keep up the wonderful work! Just looked like a beautiful day and I know it's not been so warm in your neck of the wood lately. Oh, BTW... there sure are a lot of really nice jeeps in the background that are just begging for some walk-around attention. *not so subtle hint* ;-)
LOL!! Hint taken. Got a few other projects in the cue that we need to finish up first.
Do those bolts need any loctite?
The nuts used are stovers or what some people refer to as pinch nuts. No loctite is needed with them unless you remove them in the future.
Ouch that was painful to hear that torque wrench hit the floor I would check calibration
You need to get an alignment done with a four-wheel alignment
No. That's only with vehicles with IFS/IRS. Wranglers have solid front and rear axles and really, you can ONLY have an alignment done IF you have adjustable components. From the factory, you will have none and the only thing a shop will do is charge you to recenter your steering wheel. This is something you can do yourself with a 15mm wrench and 2 min of your time.
Would this be good for a 2” Dynatrac lift? Just trying to get all the parts and do it one time
From my experience running a Dynatrac lift, I can tell you that once it settles out, you'll have just shy of 2" of actual lift and something like this bracket may in fact offer up too much correction.
So Eddie this track bar relocation bracket is only needed if you dont have an adjustable track bar. Is that right?
Negative. An adjustable track bar can ONLY help to recenter your axle. It CANNOT correct geometry and restore roll center the way a relocation bracket WILL.
Great video, thanks. Question: will re-centering help with the issue I have of popping my rear passenger fender off my JLUR, it only happens to my rear passenger fender from time to time. I'm running the EVO MFG JL 2.5" ENFORCER LIFT STAGE 3 WITH EVO SPEC KING 2.5" SHOCKS on 37"s. I'm going to check my measurements like you did in the beginning of the video, I bet I'm off and that's part of the problem.
With your lift, your rear axle will have shifted over to the passenger side of your JL. This is more than likely allowing your tire to make contact with the lip of the fender at a full flex as opposed to tucking up underneath it. Needless to say, yes, it is possible the shift you have is causing it.
@@wayalife Thanks Eddie!
Great video thank you!
Glad to hear you found it useful :)
Why didn't you just go with a adjustable rear track bar? Some of these brackets are going for more than a new better bar.
An adjustable track bar will ONLY recenter your axle. A relocation bracket will not only recenter your axle, it will also CORRECT the track bar geometry and restore your roll center in the rear. This will will help to improve handling. To me, this is more important.
Was that a spacer or a crush sleeve? If its not a spacer I didn't tighten mine enough.
You need to tighten it up.
Another great video.How’s the front track bar? My JK had all kinds of issues with a lowering bracket. I had to cut it all off (after it broke off a few times) and start from scratch with a customer bracket. Some of the JLs have had issue with the front track bar bracket , hows yours holding up ?
The JK lowering brackets like the kind that TeraFlex and Rough Country used were NEVER a good solution. The better solution on a JK was to install a front relocation bracket on the axle and run a drag link flip with it. So far, our track bar brackets on our JL are holding up just fine.
Wayalife cool beans . I ended up replacing everything and put in a hd adjustable track bars up front and in the rear.
@@wayalife Is the axle side bracket better because it moves the roll center up instead of down, or are there other reasons why the axle side brackets are better?
@@AnnDee4444 Yes. Also, axle side brackets always come with drag link flip and that keeps the two parallel and close to each other as they should be. Drops from the frame typically come with dropped pitman arms and I wouldn't recommend them.
Is there a reason why you went with Evo arms rather than Rancho's?
Yup, Rancho wasn't making arms when I installed my first lift last year.
Do you need to adjust front axle alignment since the rear was set?
No. Nothing up front will be affected by this install.
do you all still have Moby and Rubicat?
We sold Rubicat last year but we will never get rid of Moby. In fact, we just posted a video of his a couple of weeks ago.
@@wayalife Roger that. I did see that one, about your shifter rattling with the Atlas.
RS66123B 3.5" kit from Rancho. Eddie is this what you're currently using? (Minus the arms cause you're using Evo arms). I really want to do your exact setup but at some point you lost me. Help!
Yes, exactly. This kit amzn.to/2H0RhuM. We installed it back in October but haven't had a chance to make a video of it or at least, not yet. Should have it posted in the next couple of days though.
Will this cause vibration if the axle has shifted to one side?
No. Vibration is a condition of your drive shaft being out of balance and or running an aftermarket double cardan u-joint style shaft with too much caster or improper pinion angle. This is typically amplified by a higher gear ratio.
What is your opinion on the Factory Mopar 2” lift on the Rubicon with the updated part numbers to prevent the spring bowing with daily driver use and occasional use to beach, off road
It's a nice lift and one that I like. The springs will still bow a bit and you'll get more like 3" of lift out of it though. Just something you should be aware of.
Wayalife great thanks have been hearing mixed reviews on it and price tag is mostly on par with aftermarket stuff along with a warranty but also want and like the low center of gravity of 37s No Lift on a Rubicon so might have to look into a different option in that case
Not sure who you've been hearing from but they're probably more knowledgeable than me.
Wayalife didn’t mean to insult your knowledge was simply pointing out that for the price tag of it what your thought was compared to if it would simply make more sense to go with an aftermarket suspension such as EVO, METALCLOAK, or a Boost kit with adjustable arms, track bars and stuff to future proof the suspension in case it gets decided to upgrade build down the road? such as different axles or bigger tires. As far as it getting more lift than the 2” I was not aware of that and do appreciate your input on that definitely is something else to think about thanks
@@omarramirez2335 LOL - I think you've mistaken my sincere willingness to admit that I personally would never pretend to know more than the next guy on the internet, with me somehow being insulted. What I can tell you is that I've been doing this Jeep thing for well over 20 years. During that time, what I have come to learn is that just because something costs more, doesn't mean that it's better. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to just buy what you need and when you need it. This is something you learn with experience and that isn't something you can buy.
Duct tape in the wrench... I’m ashamed I never thought of that.
LOL!! When you've been doing this as long as I have, you find ways to make life easier :)
Would you put one in the front for the track bar to raise it ??
Once a front track bar relocation bracket AND drag link flip kit become available, yes, I would very much like to install both. It is CRITICAL that you do both up front as failure to do so WILL cause severe bump steer.
@Rob If they do, I wouldn't want to run it. This link will explain why wayalife.com/showthread.php/34385-STEER-SMARTS-has-been-Removed-from-WAYALIFE
@Rob LOL - Sorry, the details are there if you're interested but long story short, they're full of themselves and I don't care for them as a business.
So were can I find your gearing with those 40”ers on jet li ?
Sorry, we're still running 37's :)
Sweet
I have a 2018 Jk Unlimited Sport. I am installing a 3.5inch lift. Can I use an adjustable rear track bar along with a relocation bracket or is it just one or the other?
It really shouldn't be necessary to use both. The relocation bracket alone will not only recenter your axle, it will correct the geometry of it as well. The only time you may want to use both is if the amount of lift you install is ultimately NOT what is advertised. But, even then, the amount your axle will be off center is negligible and will always be different anyway, depending on how much weight you're carrying or not.
The kit only came with the relocation bracket, but I purchased a rear adjustable track bar since I'm replacing the front track bar, tire rod, and the drag link. Just figured replace them all but I heard somewhere that you can't use the adjustable rear track bar with a rear track bar relocation bracket.
I would never pretend to know as much as what you've heard somewhere but the only reason why you may not be able to use both at the same time is because a lot of times, adjustable track bars are made too long/longer than stock at their shortest setting.
Ok. Thank you for your time and I really enjoy your channel and love the way you explain things to your viewers. I'm a first time Jeep owner and this will be my first lift install. Keep up the good work and keep the info coming. It is really helpful. Great job by you.
I have same lift. Did you install the geometry correction brackets for Front?
Nope. Prefer running adjustable control arms being that we play on the rocks and the drop brackets just become rock targets. There's no front track bar/drag link kit yet.
Is that the reason you did not measure if your front axle shifted?Because no kit available yet?@@wayalife
@@brad6200 Actually, we're running an adjustable front track bar right now. I would prefer to run a track bar relocation bracket and drag link flip up front but there isn't one that I want as of yet.
Thanks for the reply I am getting ready to install the Mopar Lift and 35" Cooper Discover ST Max.Now I know an easy way to check to see if my axle shifted Appreciate That :)@@wayalife
@@brad6200 Awesome! Always glad when we can help others help themselves :)
Why the hell do manufacturers send us standard size hardware for a metric vehicle? I don't even carry fraction size wrenches in my Jeep anymore and then this...
Good looking bracket though.
If I could guess, it's a cost issue. Metric bolts and nuts cost a LOT more than SAE and I'm sure they're wanting to keep the cost of their product down.
Too bad most people dont have the tools, a garage, or a place to work on their vehicles.
Funny, I've always found quite the opposite. That or most people have friends that do.
@@wayalife must be nice