Track bar and front end upgrades

[Seanjj]

My track bar just separated at the balljoint near the differential. Which is the best upgrade and why? I read on a few sites that the newer dodge pickups will match up front end components.?  I also can turn the steering wheel about 3” to 4” before I get response for steering. What should I do to correct this steering and get it back to new steering. I have 285/75R 16 tires and stock 16” wheels. No other mods accept for a Darin’s steering stabilizer. The truck is a 2002 HO Cummins 2500 Sport

Edited July 24, 2018 by Seanjj
Wrong info

[dripley]

These trucks like to eat cheap track bars. I am on my second MOOG with a larger ball joint. Maybe 140k on the first one and about 40k on the second and counting. I would suggest replacing and then with a helper have them turn the wheel back and forth and start looking at all the moving parts and see what else is worn out.  Ball joints are another part you should check out. Jack a wheel off the ground and put a pry bar under the tire. Pry up and you should have little to no up and down movement. If they are moving up down and clunking they are shot to. All of the above can and will contribute to steering wheel play.

 When my last track bar went out I could sit in the truck and turn the wheel and watch the hood of my truck move side to side as the steering took up the slack before the wheels would turn. 

 You can take it somewhere and get the work done. I took mine in for an alignment many years ago and they found they would have to replace just a portion of what I mentioned above and only wanted $900 to do it. So I got to looking and replaced everything on the front end and bought some tools to do it with for around $800. The work is not difficult but can be a bit labor intensive depending upon how stuck some of the parts are. They are bolt on bolt off parts.

 Now if you replace the track bar and everything else is tight there is an adjusting screw on top of the steering gear box that will take the slack out of it. But if your other parts are worn out the benefit would be minimal.

[Dieselfuture]

I would get an adjustable track bar kit that fits on 2nd gen it does use third gen track bar but the bracket is custom to work on 2nd gen. It uses bushings on both ends versus a ball joint, and it's important to adjust it so the axle is centered over the frame, because with time front springs will sag, constantly putting tension on that track bar and wearing out ball joint prematurely. Jmo. On tightening up gear box they say you don't want to go over 1/2 a turn, if that's not enough of adjustment then it needs other adjustment and possibly a rebuilt.

@Mopar1973Man do you think you were over half a turn over the life of your gearbox on adjusting it. Just curious how far a guy can go before running into issues. I did 1/2 on mine but there's still a clunk somewhere, I believe it's a lose bearing inside a gearbox.

[Seanjj]

I like to do my own work to to save money and learn more and to know it’s done right.  Have you heard of Spohn track bars? SKU # D94-02-TB-DS. . They have one for the truck but I haven’t heard of it before.  

[dripley]

I don't know anything about Spohn myself either way. When I did mine I went with a standard one. I am not knocking the adjustable at all. They are a bit pricier than than the standard one.

[Seanjj]

The OEM one did last 308000 kms and 16 years... well steering did get sloppy a few years back but that’s not bad on OEM design I guess. 

[KATOOM]

I have the Solid Steel track bar adjustable version.  I went round and round with them about fitment issues because I couldnt get the bar to fit without forcing things together.  Very in depth conversation with them and they were eager to help too.  Even sent me a revised version with a new bend to hopefully solve the problem.  But unfortunately it still doesn't fit as good as it should.  But that said, they also sent my enough rubber bushings to change them out a couple times if they wear uneven.  All I care about is it works...

[Dieselfuture]

2 hours ago, KATOOM said:

I have the Solid Steel track bar adjustable version.  I went round and round with them about fitment issues because I couldnt get the bar to fit without forcing things together.  Very in depth conversation with them and they were eager to help too.  Even sent me a revised version with a new bend to hopefully solve the problem.  But unfortunately it still doesn't fit as good as it should.  But that said, they also sent my enough rubber bushings to change them out a couple times if they wear uneven.  All I care about is it works...

I basically took my original wore out bar, cut the ball off and welded a dom piece of tube 1/4" thick with some extra support and the hole size to match lower bushing, went to part store and got a life time poly bushing for 10$ then made a bracket and welded it to frame where ball used to be. Then I got a 1 1/4" fine thread bolt about 4" long and 3 nuts, cut out a 4" section out of track bat in the middle and welded bolt to one end and nuts to the other. Took about half a day and 40-50$ to do it. 

There are some details I left out but that's the idea, been like that for some time now. I was cheap at that time.

[dripley]

3 hours ago, Seanjj said:

The OEM one did last 308000 kms and 16 years... well steering did get sloppy a few years back but that’s not bad on OEM design I guess. 

If all your front end parts are that old I have to think you would need a complete rebuild including ball joints. Just my opinion.

[KATOOM]

1 hour ago, Dieselfuture said:

I basically took my original wore out bar, cut the ball off and welded a dom piece of tube 1/4" thick with some extra support and the hole size to match lower bushing, went to part store and got a life time poly bushing for 10$ then made a bracket and welded it to frame where ball used to be. Then I got a 1 1/4" fine thread bolt about 4" long and 3 nuts, cut out a 4" section out of track bat in the middle and welded bolt to one end and nuts to the other. Took about half a day and 40-50$ to do it. 

There are some details I left out but that's the idea, been like that for some time now. I was cheap at that time.

 

Pictures...?

[Dieselfuture]

7 hours ago, KATOOM said:

Pictures

 

Not the best pictures just had these saved here already. It's the red color bar that's partly painted black. There is a piece of angle bracket to support the bar up top. Kind of looks like chicken weld, but I promise @dripley had nothing to do with it. 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

All I can say is I can get typically 150k miles on a trackbar. My last cheap Autozone bar barely lasted like 7k miles and the bushing failed not the ball. Larger your tires the shorter the lifespan. Like tie rod ends lasted 340k miles. Ball joint (AC Delco) are almost 200k miles and still going tight. Stock OEM gear box was still going at about 320k miles when the imput shaft seal failed. The guts were prefect still.

 

Way more bonuses to 235's than any larger sized tire period. Larger tires look cool but, they break more stuff quicker.

[KATOOM]

Also, dont turn the steering wheel while the trucks not rolling and make sure the alignment is good.  The amount of stress that places on steering/suspension components is huge.....

[dave110]

21 hours ago, dripley said:

These trucks like to eat cheap track bars. I am on my second MOOG with a larger ball joint. Maybe 140k on the first one and about 40k on the second and counting. I would suggest replacing and then with a helper have them turn the wheel back and forth and start looking at all the moving parts and see what else is worn out.  Ball joints are another part you should check out. Jack a wheel off the ground and put a pry bar under the tire. Pry up and you should have little to no up and down movement. If they are moving up down and clunking they are shot to. All of the above can and will contribute to steering wheel play.

 When my last track bar went out I could sit in the truck and turn the wheel and watch the hood of my truck move side to side as the steering took up the slack before the wheels would turn. 

 You can take it somewhere and get the work done. I took mine in for an alignment many years ago and they found they would have to replace just a portion of what I mentioned above and only wanted $900 to do it. So I got to looking and replaced everything on the front end and bought some tools to do it with for around $800. The work is not difficult but can be a bit labor intensive depending upon how stuck some of the parts are. They are bolt on bolt off parts.

 Now if you replace the track bar and everything else is tight there is an adjusting screw on top of the steering gear box that will take the slack out of it. But if your other parts are worn out the benefit would be minimal.

Question. Everyone says jack it up and turn the wheel to look for parts that are worn and loose. Jack stands under the axle, or under the frame so that the axle hangs loose with no weight? I have done and see pluses and minuses to both ways. What the general feeling on it? 

[Mopar1973Man]

32 minutes ago, dave110 said:

Jack stands under the axle, or under the frame so that the axle hangs loose with no weight?

 

Under the axle. The suspension has to remain like it sits on the ground.

[Dieselfuture]

I just started my truck and had my kid wiggle the steering wheel it was enough for me to see wore out tire rods. And ball joints you do need to have jack stands or a jack under the axle, have tire few inches off the ground and put long pry bar under a tire as you wiggle it up and down. I have a slight movement up and down on mine, I'm calling at good for now. They say lower ball joint should not move up down left right,  and upper is allowed to move up and down a little bit. But obviously if a lower ball joint is good you will not be able to see the upper move up and down.

[dripley]

I just leave mine on the ground for the tie rod ends and track bar. Jack one wheel at time for ball joints and bearings.

[Seanjj]

On 7/24/2018 at 9:10 PM, dripley said:

If all your front end parts are that old I have to think you would need a complete rebuild including ball joints. Just my opinion.

I think I will just use the Moog problem solver trackbar - DS1413. It cheap and has the lifetime warranty. I’m going to go through the front end afterwards to. I’m getting sick of the wondering . Thanks for all the help and replies. 

Is an alignment required after replacing the track bar?

[dripley]

No. Not for intslling a track bar. 

[Dieselfuture]

7 hours ago, Seanjj said:

Is an alignment required after replacing the track bar?

Your steering wheel may slightly be off but it should not affect how your tires are on the road. It's very simple to adjust too.