I just spoke to someone from the dealership, and they told me I need to weld something on the rear axle if I do a lift because it will snap?

Not sure what he was talking about but.....

I had a 3" Tera kit on my 08, and a guyy down the street bought it. As far as I know he's had no problems. I see it driving around almost everyday.


Is there really something I should be worried about? The only thingI can think of is the T bar bracket, or a relocation bracket snapping.

 

Trust no one at the dealer regarding lifts. With most kits today, nothing should need to be welded unless it's a custom lift or non-bolt on long arm system.

 

The track bar mount on the rear and front axle can be ripped out. There are modification kits that can be welded on. So if you put on a lift and a track bar extension on the rear axle you should deal with it. So yes your dealer is correct.

Some dealers know a lot more than we give them credit for.

There are several mfg's who make the beef up kits for the mount. I just cant remember who.

 

He shouldn't need to weld anything to install a lift. Of course things can get ripped out but the dealer is saying he needs to weld stuff to install a lift. Not true.

 

Do a search on broken track bar brackets and you will find that this is a weak link on jeeps. There are weld on kits and some bolt on kits but if you put on a lift and use a track bar extension you will break the welds on the rear axle. You are changing the moment arm on the rear axle mount which increases the force which in turns increases the stress on the structure which in turn starts a fatigue crack. This in turn grows until your axle track bar is no longer connected to the axle tube.

So yes in some instances you need to modify the existing parts on the jeep to make up for the new loads imposed by lifts.

 

This was true with some of the very early models of Skyjacker lift kits among others. Almost every lift kit on the market now makes either a sufficiently stout bolt-on or weld-on bracket that is either attached to the frame or the axle. If the kit doesn't bring it, it's very likely you won't need it and nothing will happen.

 

Yup, sounds like they are talking about the trackbar mount. Depending on the lift and driving conditions you may or may no need a weld on bracket.

 

Even if the track bar mount is a weak point and may require reinforcement, according to the poster, the dealer made it sound like he needed to "weld something if he was to install a lift". The bolt-on kits available today do not require welding so I was just saying, there's no need to weld anything to install a lift. Now you may need to weld to fix or reinforce after the fact if need be after dragging the lift over rocks, then I agree.

 

My understanding is that if you have a trackbar relo bracket that attaches at the axle side you may have problems but if you have it attached to the frame side you are fine.

 

Not exactly. With a relocation bracket, you can have problems. The best thing is to buy an adj. trac bar, because you won't have to install a relocation bracket.