Hello I recently purchased a JKS adjustable track bar for my 2008 jk. The jeep is on a four inch lift, however the lift kit is rough country. Yes I know its not the best and maybe the worst according to some of you. However my idea was just to get the jeep lifted and continue to upgrade it with better and beefier things throughout time.The lift did not come with a new track bar, it came with a track bar bracket. My question is, can I remove that bracket and place the new track bar to the original placement on the axle? Can I get the correct measurement from hole to hole, on how spread out the TB needs to be for a 4'' on 35's? Or does it differ from jeep to jeep?

 

If it's an axle side bracket, leave it. If it's a frame side then get rid of it and go with the axle side bracket. As far as measurement, it'll vary vehicle to vehicle, but it shouldn't take you long to get it right.

 

Are you refering to front or rear?

Rear- at 4", you want a raised trackbar bracket since it helps with roll center, but no problems at all adding an adjustable trackbar also to further center the axle. As noted, a bracket raised from the axle is considered better than dropped from the frame.

Front - the bracket came as part of a steering correction kit which includes a drop pitman and the bracket. If you remove the bracket, you MUST remove the drop pitman and go back to the stock pitman. (ok, so the 'must' isn't actually true. You can remove the bracket and leave the drop pitman, but be prepared for some very interesting handling...) It is not uncommon for people to remove the bracket/drop pitman and replace with an actual draglink flip/high steer. These will include their own brackets, but instead of dropping the draglink from the frame side, it is raised to the top of the knucle on the axle side. More expensive, but considered to be a much better way to do it.

Actual measured lift height will vary from jeep to jeep, so trackbar measurement to perfectly center the axle will also vary from jeep to jeep. Not a huge amount, but different. So any number you get - use as a starting point, then look and measure for yourself.

 

Unfortunately with the JKS this is going to be some trial and error of installing, uninstall one end, re-adjust the length, re-install, rinse, wipe repeat until the axle is centered. This is a downside of the JKS TB. You have to remove one side of it to adjust. This is one of the major reasons I went with the Teraflex instead. It has the same rubber maintenance free joints on the end as the JKS but the TF can be adjusted while it's installed.

 

With luxuries like that, need to be adjusting it back and forth weekly to get your money's worth!

 

The JKS was $200, I got the TF on sale from Morris 4x4 for $250. The ease of adjustment for a 1st time installer was well worth $50. The larger gerth of the TF helped sway my decision also. . It did come down to the JKS and TF for what I preferred....ie maintenance free.