{"id":5295,"date":"2019-12-23T21:06:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T02:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/?p=5295"},"modified":"2019-12-23T21:16:15","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T02:16:15","slug":"jeep-cherokee-xj-track-bar-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/jeep-cherokee-xj-track-bar-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeep Cherokee XJ Track Bar Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Installing a JKS track bar to correct my loose steering.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On my last trip to Windrock, I noticed quite a bit of play in my steering.\u00a0 Driving in dirt and rock was fine but paved roads like P1 were kinda scary. Highway 116 was downright terrifying.\u00a0<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/34RH9g2\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/jkstrackbar-1024x594.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5297\" width=\"512\" height=\"297\" srcset=\"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/jkstrackbar-1024x594.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/jkstrackbar-300x174.jpg 300w, http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/jkstrackbar-768x446.jpg 768w, http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/jkstrackbar.jpg 1225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>When I got home I checked out the steering.&nbsp; I found the track bar was really loose. It had play on both ends. Since this one did not have that many miles on it, I decided to upgrade to the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/34RH9g2\">JKS track bar.<\/a><br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"293\" height=\"220\" src=\"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/worntrackbar.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5296\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When I removed the old track bar, I found not only was the bushing on the axle end worn, but the hole in the frame end was slightly oval-shaped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily the JKS track bar uses a larger mounting bolt at the frame end and needs to have the hole drilled out anyway.&nbsp; They also include a tapered spacer to make it a tight fit.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had to drop the tie rod on the driver\u2019s side to make room to drill the hole.&nbsp; It takes a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2EO48hC\">9\/16 drill bit.<\/a><br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the hole opened up, I slipped the bolt through the track bar, added the cone and put the bolt through the bracket. I put the washer and nut on top. I left the assemble loose while I adjusted the axle end.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To set the track bar you have to turn the end in the threaded part of the bar.&nbsp; This means one end must be loose. I was able to get enough droop on the flex joint to spin the coupler until I could line up the track bar with the hole in the axle.&nbsp; I made some rough measurements to try to center the axle.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I then installed the original bolt and flag nut on the axle end.&nbsp; I then tightened the frame end bolt down tight. Then I reconnected the tie rod end I had removed to make room for the drill.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A quick test drive shows that the steering is much much better. The steering wheel is off and measurements at the fenders show the axle is not quite centered.&nbsp; I will adjust the track bar length to center the axle first and then address the steering wheel.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The JKS bar looks like it will hold up well to off-road abuse.&nbsp; I pumped it full of grease at the easy to get to fitting so it should be easy to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/tracbarjks.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5298\" width=\"293\" height=\"220\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Installing a JKS track bar to correct my loose steering. On my last trip to Windrock, I noticed quite a bit of play in my steering.\u00a0 Driving in dirt and rock was fine but paved roads like P1 were kinda scary. Highway 116 was downright terrifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[210,6,231],"tags":[588],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5295"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5300,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295\/revisions\/5300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}