TexasCTD

I have the Lazarsmith bushings in my track bar. They work great with my 2'' leveling kit.

I have heard nothing but great stuff about Thuren's products/adj. track bar. But I just didn't see the need to replace the whole track bar when LS off-set bushings will center it. The stock track bar is strong piece and doesn't need replacement in and of itself. The oem bushings are the weak link, imo.

I think the LS bushings can be purchased to take you from stock height up to 8'' in lift.........you just vary the off-set length of the bushing.

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megaboom

that is so awesome! i cant wait! im hoping to do my track bar as well, i barely read on your site today about replacing the whole track bar and getting it powder coated as well i wish i would have just done that.....that looks awesome

quadman20

XLR8R on your bushing if you replace the factory ones is a alian ment required. I did the Kore lvl kit and cant say I notice any bump steer heck I've always had the hit good bump and she'll steer a little differant even stock. I did a few measurements pre lvl kit and post and the axel only move 1/8" total maybe I got lucky who knows.

BossHogg

Ive got the KORE kit too XLR8!


Will this help with the truck pulling to the right? What all does it do for a stock truck with a leveling kit exactly?

...and whoever is on here bashing XLR8 about his plastic being $$high....go sell some more plastic, and make some of these bushings for us all since they are soo cheap!!

XLR8R

No alignment is required after installing our trackbar bushings, since they recenter the axle to factory spec.

Remember that the other function of our zero-deflection bushings is to eliminate death wobble caused or exaggerated by the soft rubber OEM bushings.

It can't hurt to have the truck aligned after installing a leveling kit, but 2" isn't enough for most folks to notice or bother with if they don't want to.

megaboom

with the service ive goten from XLR8R i would pay double the price of the bushings...he has been prompt and informative with all the questions i have had and the answers he has given me. when a company has great customer service i never question the price on their products, because i know if i have a problem it will get tended to.

Lary Ellis (Top)

Ok guys, I removed the arguments and banter, any one that wishes to continue this behavior is welcome to do it elsewhere, it is NOT welcome here.

yelloz28

Actually your bushings or an adjustable track bar or anything that corrects the shortness of the track bar after the leveling kit would create even more of a toe in condition than if you left the track bar alone. So an alignment would be even more necessary than if you had done nothing at all.

By extending the track bar you are also increasing the distance from the pitman arm to where the tie rod joins into the "drag link". Being as we don't have a true tie rod and drag link type steering setup this increased length creates more toe in.

XLR8R

While it's true that lifting the frame over the front axle also raises the drag link/pitman arm connection (which pulls the passenger side steering knuckle - and thus the driver side knuckle as well through the tie rod - toward the center of the road for more anti-crown tracking), the trackbar's sole function is to locate the axle laterally... and whether it accomplishes the correct centering through a drop-mount bracket, offset bushings or an adjustable bar is "invisible" to the alignment settings. Since the question posed was whether replacing trackbar bushings required re-alignment, I answered to that specificity.

Even though lifting the front end does change tracking as I described above - it's not as much as you'd expect, since (without trackbar effective length compensation) the axle is pulled towards the driver's side while the passenger steering knuckle (through the drag link) is also pulled towards the driver's side. Basically, both the trackbar's and drag link's effective lengths are too short with a lift.
Since they both are too short in the same direction - with a combined difference of .013" - the net effect on steering is insignificant.

Most folks wouldn't be able to measure or feel the difference that less than 1/64th of an inch would make on the palm of their hand, much less than on the driving behavior of a multi-ton truck.

I know the current FSM conventions call for adjusting the driver's side & passenger side steering knuckles' toe-in with the tie-rod & drag link respectively, but I learned alignment procedure decades ago, when toe-in was simply the front wheels angular relationship to each other, and after toe was set you adjusted for road crown, etc.
Maybe I'm just old-fashioned!

But seriously, there's a more important question - does having all these front/rear suspension & steering geometrical inter-relationships/values for our trucks on a spreadsheet make me a Nerdophile?

I know, I know - rhetorical question....

XLR8R

Oops!

Almost forgot - the alignment issues resulting from front end lifts increase geometrically beyond 2", so even a 4" lift would cause noticeable steering changes... guess that's why the 2" are so popular.

TexasCTD

Yes you are!

By the way....I love my new Lazarsmith Traction Bars. They definately seem to improve handling/cornering more than I was expecting.

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megaboom

pics or ban!

XLR8R

Here's a photo of Monster Bars in Platinum Silver going to a puller in PA:



That's a full-size entry door for comparison.

TexasCTD

Please don't Ban me! There has been enough of that going around lately, I don't want to join the club. Here is a link to some pics, so I don't hijack this thread anymore than I already have. Post number 34. https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=1#post2014553


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megaboom

those are some huge bars! nice and TexasCTD those are some nice lookin bars you got there also! i got my shipment in today XLR8R!