2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Best Adjustable Track Bar

[KVaughn]

Installed the KORE levelling kit and now need to install adjustable track bar to re-center the axle (shifted to drivers side about 3/4"). Wish I would have known about this additional cost up front, but not much I can do about it now except put a longer or adjustable track bar on the truck. I have seen the DT Trac Bar for $360 (ouch!) and it looks like a pain in the arse to install (drilling required, some tools that I don't have). Thuren Fabrication makes one for $269; however it requires welding (I don't own a welder and wouldn't try it if I did). I also have seen the Solid Steel Industries track bar which looks easiest to install. Not sure about price because it's Sunday and everybody is closed. I also know that most lift kit companies make adjustable track bars for their kits (Skyjacker etc. ). Anybody else go through this headache? Any other options out there that I haven't listed?

 

[Hohn]

I Have the DT bar. It's been great, and the install isn't that hard, really. I was able to drill the crossmember with a Milwaukee 1/2", which is FAR from compact, so a smaller drill would have no problems drilling it, either.



The Theuren bar welds to the frame because early DT bars had problems with the bracket being too weak. My bar is a later model which is plenty beefy, and I've checked by bracket for play and signs of weakness; there are none.



IMHO, the DT bar is worth the money. .



Justin

 

[JPittinger]

Did Kent recommend you recenter the axle?

JJ

 

[KVaughn]

Yes. With the axle being pulled to the left, it puts a lot of stress on the sway brace and swing arm bushings. I think KORE should provide an adjustable track bar with the kit. I would think you could cut an OE track bar in half and thread the ends and add a coupler like the one on the drag link and you would be in business.

 

[JPittinger]

When the suspension compresses, it will put more stress on those same parts in the opposite direction. Relocate the axle too much and you will miss the bumper pad and start to destroy things. Except the sway bar, cause it will slide a little in the rubber bushings and relocate itself. The axle moves side to side constantly as you use the suspension.



I'm surprised you're saying KORE recommends that it be adjusted, since I'm almost sure Kent has described the problem above. May be I'll do a search and see if I can find it...

 

[KVaughn]

You would think that the axle should be centered while it its 'natural' position (while the truck sits in the driveway). That will decrease the amount of stress when the axle is extended. Another problem that I see is that the brake line on the passenger side is stretched tight when the axle is drooped (while the truck is up on the lift supported by only the frame).

 

[pwerwagn]

No, usually Kent Does NOT reccomend to center the axle in static position. As your suspension works up and down the axle moves side to side (as you well know). If you move it over, then when it is compressed it can potentially miss the bumpstops doing some damage, depending on how you use it. I too, would be surprised if Kent reccomended that you re-center the axle.

 

[kentkroeker]

Gents,



In the past, for the reasons mentioned above, KORE has recommended against "recentering" the axle housing.



Bad things can happen if you use an adjustable track bar to "recenter" and your bump stops no longer land exactly where they should.



Since I wrote about this a couple of years ago, we've discovered four things.



1. Because of their shape and material composition, the OE bump stops don't work well on certain kinds of bumps. During hard off-road use, whenever the axle takes a hit on only one side, the odd angles imposed can cause metal to metal contact of the upper control arm mounting flanges with the aft spring bucket on 3rd Gen. trucks and an ancillary "L" shaped frame bracket on 2nd Gen. trucks. During "normal" use you will never, ever see this problem -- but we don't engineer our products for normal use.



2. The OE bump stops don't work as well as poly bump stops. After compression, rubber stores energy and bounces back. Polyurethane compresses, but doesn't "recoil" like rubber, making for a much smoother bottom out.



3. Due to their design, KORE poly bump stops stay in place better than rubber bump stops. The OE rubber bump stops on 3rd Gen. trucks have a pointed end, ostensibly designed to gradually increase resistance as more material is exposed to pressure from the the axle housing while it bottoms out. In theory this is a good design, and it would probably work as advertised if the axle housing always bottomed out evenly on both sides. The problem is that the Real World isn't a test track in Detroit. The Real World has bumps that occur randomly and do all kind of crazy things to a truck. When the passenger-side bottoms out independently of the driver-side, the housing bottom-out pad hits only one side of the OE "progressive" bump stop and pushes it right out of the cup! Even though we had glued our rubber bump stops in place, this phenomenon caused us to lose the OE passenger-side bump stop while racing in the 2004 Baja 500. Hundreds of miles of clanking and metal to metal thrashing caused me permanent neural damage and inspired the creation of a better bump stop. Since 2nd Gen trucks have short, flat bump stops, this problem doesn't apply to them.



4. Even though it falls within the OE suspension geometry, some owners find a slight driver-side axle shift to be untenable. Because of the ride quality KORE provides, they want to use KORE suspension instead of a lift kit, but they don't want the track change.



These discoveries inspired the creation of KORE's new bump stops that are somewhat longer than stock - about an inch longer than stock 3rd Gen. bump stops and a couple inches longer than stock 2nd Gen. bump stops. KORE includes a pair of new bump stops with all suspension systems.



In order to prevent metal to metal contact, at full compression, they limit upstroke by about an inch on most trucks - some a little more, some a little less. Overall wheel travel remains the same because, over the last two years KORE shocks have changed dimension slightly - to provide more "droop" travel and better high-speed off road performance.



This also enables people to use an adjustable track bar to shift their axle back to the passenger side without any negative consequences. With our new, slightly longer bump stops, a "recentered" axle will bottom out correctly.





We get so many calls about track bars we're now making them. They'll be a nice OE replacement that will provide tighter steering and better control. Expect to see KORE's new adjustable track bars on the market this summer - for both 2nd and 3rd Gen trucks. These will be direct bolt-on units requiring no cutting, drilling or welding. These track bars have replaceable spherical bearings at each end, so like all our products, they're fully rebuildable and guaranteed for life.



Issue two: brake lines. On 3rd Gen. Rams with KORE systems, brake line length is not a factor. 2003 - 2005 Rams will top out on their control arms before they can put any tension on their brake lines. This is also true on most 2nd Gen Rams. However, at full droop there are some 2nd Gen Rams that can still put a bit of tension on brake lines. Not all model years are affected, so you've got to test it to make sure. "Revision 2" of all KORE installation instruction manuals reflect this change. The cure is either to adjust (depending on the design of the braketry) or purchase extended brake lines that will permit more wheel travel.



Cheers,



Kent Kroeker

 

[NVR FNSH]

Kent,

Just curious why you're using spherical bearings on a track bar but retain the stock control arms/bushings (AFAIK). I would think the NVH issues associated with spherical bearings would be an issue.



Brian

 

[MJBurns]

Off topic...

The problem is that the Real World isn't a test track in Detroit. The Real World has bumps that occur randomly and do all kind of crazy things to a truck.

Have you seen the potholes we have here in Detroit & it's suburbs?

They'll jar your fillings out & shake ya like a paint mixer. Trust me I drive a 2001. 5 3500 4x4.



(Sorry my first post has to be one off topic, but I was laughing so hard I had to do it. No offense intended Kent. )

 

[kentkroeker]

MJ,



-no offense taken



I have driven in Detroit - and you're right - the normal roads are gnarly. You would think the vehicles born there would suck it up better, right?







Brian,



Good question. NVH is a huge issue on suspension components directly linked to the chassis. That's why we don't use them on our control arms.



From our testing NVH isn't an issue with the track bar because it's perpendicular to the direction of impacts generated by suspension components. The track bar is more like a steering component than a suspension component.



When new, stock control arms are really good for isolating the chassis from noise, vibration and harshness, but they have their problems as well.



To address NVH, KORE control arms have a rubber bushing on the chassis end and a hybrid spherical bearing on the axle housing end.



They work really well by offering the steering precision of rod-ends with the buffering of rubber bushings. Poly proved to be terrible in this application, no matter how large we made the OD relative to the sleeve diameter. It just couldn't provide supple enough lateral flex - or cushion, for that matter.



The track bar just needs to be tight and precise, so we use Aurora spherical bearings with CNC 17-4 stainless misalignment spacers - like those found in our UHP shocks.



Kent