Trac Bar Thuren Fabrication

[WTBurke]

Guys,

We all know about the track-bar situation in 2nd Gen trucks. Lifted and at 127k miles it was time for me to correct the front end. I did the DSS thing a month ago. Wow... nice improvement but, the track bar was next.



I contacted Don Thuren at his shop in Santa Barbara as I had a business trip to attened in Simi Valley and I was down in the area. Don invited me to his shop to do a special custom Trac-Bar because the SkyJacker lift used a special frame drop attachment.

I sent Don photos of my situation. He took the time to adjust his design to match my special needs the week before I arrived.



Not only did Don customize the design, he did the install Friday on my return trip to northern Cal after my business trip!



The results are fantastic! Yes, the lift is high, the 37's and 20's are a challenge and once Don put his personal touch on this rig it made drive-ability a plessure again! My Dana 60 is now dead centered! There is "NO" movement of the axle side to side! My test drive home was 600 miles... and the Thuren Trac-bar set up corrected all the slop! The material is first class and bad azzz!!!



My wife snapped photos of Don doing his magic... . his dog Trigger and I watched very closely as the Master did his art work!



William

 

[THUREN]

Hey Billy!!!!



Nice to meet you and your wife. Glad you could make it by, it was a pleasure. .



Anyway, got your msg today and if you see this before I call you tomorrow, here's how you straighten the wheel...



Put the steering wheel where it is when the truck is currently going straight down the road. Look at the steering gearbox and locate the adjustable collar coming right off the gearbox. It will be about 8" away from the gearbox. This collar has two clamps going around it which you will need to loosen. Loosen the two clamps around the collar. Grab some channel-locks, and a leather glove. Turn the ignition key to the ON position so the wheel can turn freely, use the leather glove to wrap under the teeth of the channel locks so you don't scratch up the collar, and twist the collar so that the wheel goes straight. The collar has right an left hand threads to effectively lengthen/shorten the dragink to center the wheel. .



Any questions we'll talk about it soon...



Don

 

[WTBurke]

TTT

This Trac Bar is truly awsome... I've driven another couple hundred miles and I can't believe I acclimated to so much slop before I got this new one. It's like better than new!



William

 

[Oil Burner]

I've had his trac bar on both of my trucks. I haven't worn one out yet and am always pleased with the quality of his stuff.



Don is first class and always goes out of his way to answer questions. Don has always answered my emails very quickly and honestly. Nothing but good to say about him or his products.



Jason in PA

 

[WTBurke]

Jason, I couldn't agree more Don has a solid grasp of what these trucks are all about.

Not to cause trouble for Don but, I'm really waiting for his new control arm hangers. He went over the placement and design with me while I was there at the shop.

I will be doing the entire Thuren steering set up along with the hangers and new control arms. By the time all of this is done my 'Betty Boop' should be handeling like a Porche dune-buggy. Just kidding guys:-laf



William

 

[Oil Burner]

William,



Please post about the crossover steering when you install it. I have been eyeing that up for a while.



Jason

 

[THenningsen]

what do you mean by control arm hangers? What will they do?

 

[WTBurke]

Control arms are what connect and hold the front axel forward and rear on 4x4 rigs. The hangers are what connect to the frame and in normal referral makes reference to the lower control arm set. By changing the location rearward allows for an added articulation ratio which can be of additional help to lifted suspension systems in this particular design.



William

 

[THenningsen]

will these be bolt on or weld on hangers?

 

[WTBurke]

They would be welded.