4-inch lifted KK's: JBA adjustable track bar noisy?

carlosburitica · **Joined:** Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:07 pm **Posts:** 309

lfhoward wrote:

I'm going to get to this project sometime in the next week. Just wanted you all to know I haven't forgotten about it! :wink:

my track bar does not make noise, but i am finding out that it transfer the road noise to the cabin more than my original track bar, i have mud terrains and they are very noisy. i will be replacing one of the ends of my track bar with a rubber rod end to see if it lowers the noise.

some aftermarket track bars come this way, the hem joint ats flexibility and that rubber joint adds road isolation

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2014 11:43 pm

I will be interested to see how that goes. Where can you order the rod end with the bushing?

lfhoward · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2014 4:14 pm

The saga continues. Today I climbed under my KK and took a closer look at the JBA track bar attachment points. Here is what I saw, after I wiped away some grease.

Drivers side, body end:

Passengers side, axle end:

The clanking noise is NOT that the heim joints are larger than the bolts. There was no end to end play in that connection.

The clanking noise happens when the track bar is rotated along its axis, and the rod ends come into contact with the spacers on either side. (I have a cell phone video of that, but don't know how to post it.) My spacers do not appear to be cone spacers. Carlos, do you think using cone spacers on either sides of the joints will solve the noise, or just allow the bar to rotate more?

carlosburitica · **Joined:** Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:07 pm **Posts:** 309

using heim jounts the trak bar can rotate, it is nomal and you can align it with you hands. i suggest to change to rubber joints at least one like i am doing now.

or use johnny joints. been talkng with some people and they say that is the way to go with a track bar design like the kk, you ca use one side and the other one heim.

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestor ... oints.aspx

lfhoward · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2014 4:51 pm

Sounds like that would work, with the bushing on the drivers side (body) end to reduce rotation and cushion the noise. My JBA track bar ends are female, but the end you showed above is male. Does your supplier make female bushing ends that might fit on the JBA track bar?

Edit: they do, but I don't know if the threads would match:
http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/product.aspx?id=3925

JeepMonkey190 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:08 pm

carlosburitica wrote:

lfhoward wrote:

carlosburitica wrote:

i made my track bar and have 0 noise. better than jba IMO and costed me 120 to my door.
had to open the mounting bracket to accommodate the hi misalignment spacers.

the only part where you guys can get noise is from the spacers
now my kk came with 9/16 bolts but my friends ave 1/2 bolts so if you are using a 9/16 misaligment or cone spacer with a 1/2" bold you are going to get a clucking noise in there.

when i built mine i got 3/4 heims and 5/8" misalignment spacers, and ordered 1/2 and 9/16 spacers just in case.

the track bar end pieces that jba sell are not the best you can get them for less than $10 in other places.. you can get way better for less...

Bmxer, I put that fourth option there just for you! :-)r

Carlos, thanks for your input on how the ends work. If I understand you right, if the bolt on the KK is smaller in diameter than the heim joint, you need a spacer to fill the slack. If the spacer is too narrow, there is still room for movement in the joint, and hence the clunking sound. Am I correct? Do you have a pic to illustrate this for us? Also, where did you buy your spacers and heims for your homebrew track bar? It sounds like I might be able to fix mine by getting the right combo of new heims and/or spacers to go on the bar that are a better match for my bolt size. BTW, the JBA bar is beefy and good construction, but mine is just noisy. It may be that my bolt size is different from OEM because of being rear-ended and the subsequent body shop repair (which included a new rear axle).

this site is your friend: http://www.qscomponents.com/
order:
1. Kit With 3/4 Cone Spacers (you need to tell the to send you 1/2 cones), Weld-In Bungs .250 & Jam Nuts (you can choose a bung for thinner wall, i tried .120 on the beginning and changed it .25 wall. that is basically bullet proof. http://www.qscomponents.com/KitW34Cone250Bung.html $68.30
2. need 3' of 1 1/2 dom tube. http://www.qscomponents.com/3Tube250.html $31.50
3. need a spacer reducers from 3/4 to 9/16
since they don't make those you need 3/4 to 5/8 and get reducer 5/8 th 9\16 http://www.qscomponents.com/34to12.html two of them $3

they can cut the dom tube ad TIG weld the bungs for $5 each side.

you need to tell them to make it 37" total length (center eye to eye) on the minimum adjustment that is the size of your stock bar.
total: with shipping +- $120 depeding on shipping.

you can choose solid rod ends or the economy ones and a thinner dome if you want and make it for lot less.

i will post a pic of my track bar tomorrow.

I see 37" eye center to eye center, and I have the economy lift but I'm pretty sure we have the same rear set up though since they are JBA springs, can someone confirm that for me?

Because I'm still on the stock track bar which after reading this page I now know where the noise could be coming from when I go over bumps

and I think it's also making my driver rear sag down even though I have an extra spacer on that side, and sorry if this seems to be dragging on lol

carlosburitica · **Joined:** Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:07 pm **Posts:** 309

37" is the stock bar my axle is centered at 37 3/4 more or less at 4" lift

JeepMonkey190 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:56 pm

carlosburitica wrote:

37" is the stock bar my axle is centered at 37 3/4 more or less at 4" lift

Oh I guess it helps if I read the sentence all the way through

Thanks

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jan 16, 2015 8:28 pm

For anyone who has read through this whole thread, there is now a good solution to the noise issue with JBA's track bars.

Today I picked up a pair of new JBA rear track bar ends that have bushings instead of heim joints. These bar ends should completely eliminate the click-clunk-clunk from the rear track bar that happens on dirt roads or bumps on the highway. This is a new product for KK's using JBA's adjustable rear track bar designed for the JBA 4 inch lift kit.

On JBA's website, the KK rear track bar now comes with a choice of ends: heims or flanges with bushings.
http://jeepinbyal.com/liberty-2008-2012-kk/rear-shocks-and-coil-springs/rear-track-bar-for-4-and-up-lift-kit.html

As I understand it, the advantages of heim joints are strength and maneuverability for anything off-road that you can throw at it, including rock climbing, but the trade-off is they transmit noise directly to the unibody. These new flanges with bushings are probably strong enough for anything offroad that I would be doing (I'm not interested in rock climbing, but I get pretty far off the beaten path), but they will be much quieter for my KK's role as my family's daily driver.

Thanks for making these available, Marlin! :JEEPIN:

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:17 pm

lfhoward wrote:

For anyone who has read through this whole thread, there is now a good solution to the noise issue with JBA's track bars.

Today I picked up a pair of new JBA rear track bar ends that have bushings instead of heim joints. These bar ends should completely eliminate the click-clunk-clunk from the rear track bar that happens on dirt roads or bumps on the highway. This is a new product for KK's using JBA's adjustable rear track bar designed for the JBA 4 inch lift kit.

On JBA's website, the KK rear track bar now comes with a choice of ends: heims or flanges with bushings.
http://jeepinbyal.com/liberty-2008-2012-kk/rear-shocks-and-coil-springs/rear-track-bar-for-4-and-up-lift-kit.html

As I understand it, the advantages of heim joints are strength and maneuverability for anything off-road that you can throw at it, including rock climbing, but the trade-off is they transmit noise directly to the unibody. These new flanges with bushings are probably strong enough for anything offroad that I would be doing (I'm not interested in rock climbing, but I get pretty far off the beaten path), but they will be much quieter for my KK's role as my family's daily driver.

Thanks for making these available, Marlin! :JEEPIN:

Glad to see you got first one :wink:

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:47 am

Thanks, Tom! For me, this just perfected what has always been a dang awesome lift kit. Now the next big thing is the regear. Just need to save up enough money and not have something expensive break in the meantime! :-)r

I'll be removing the track bar and installing those new bar ends maybe next weekend. Got any tips for getting the old heims off the track bar? I think they have jam nuts just like tie rod ends, but I hope they don't give too much trouble... They've been on there maybe two years. I'll soak them with Pb Blaster this week to try and loosen things up.

toy4everyseason · **Posted:** Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:38 am

Anyone know the dimensions, most importantly the width, of the stock track bar bushings or JBA joints?

lfhoward · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:11 pm

To report back:

I got the track bar ends with bushings installed today. WOW. The rear end is now totally silent. Way to go, JBA!!

I had a shop do the work because the old heim ends were seized to the track bar and required a torch to loosen them up. To answer the previous poster, JBA's new track bar ends are slightly narrower than the stock track bar ends, so Marlin provided two washers to go with each. The washers go on either side of the bushing and fill the void. I don't have the measurements.

Anyway, I thought you all should know I am completely blow away by how quiet the JBA 4 inch lift kit is now. There are no noises aside from the occasional engagement of the ESC system when turning sharp bumpy corners at slow speed. Certainly no mechanical noises anyway. Now the lift kit is the way I always wanted it. If you have the adjustable track bar from JBA, and the clicking noises from the heims bothers you, then the new bushing ends will solve the problem completely.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:30 pm

Thanks for reporting back, Lauren! Guess we'll have to meet up again!
Glad you got it figured out, cuz that noise was bad in my opinion and the slightest change is elevation at low speeds caused it.
Did the shop say it was easy to install?

lfhoward · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:19 pm

Gageraid wrote:

Thanks for reporting back, Lauren! Guess we'll have to meet up again!
Glad you got it figured out, cuz that noise was bad in my opinion and the slightest change is elevation at low speeds caused it.
Did the shop say it was easy to install?

In my case, not easy to install. It took the tech guy 2 hours, and he is their lifted vehicle specialist. The old ends were seized on. They could have been put on with locktite, or it could have been 3 salty winters that rusted them on. He ended up heating the ends with a torch to get the ends off. I'm glad I didn't attempt to swap the ends myself.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:34 pm

Probably just seized. Maybe would have been easier if you sprayed them a little with something for a few weeks before hand.
Really happy for ya. Now you can enjoy the Jeep much more!

lfhoward · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:55 pm

Yeah, PB Blaster for a couple of weeks might have made a big difference! :-)r

Thanks! I'm really happy with the suspension now. It has always ridden very well, but now it is silent to match. Is this what it means to "ride like a Mercedes-Benz?" :BANANA:

Gixxa · **Joined:** Fri May 01, 2015 12:44 am **Posts:** 96

Great post on the custom built bar ... I spent over an hour on there website and after a few measurements I'll order the parts Tommorow .... Now are we sure 37 inches eye to eye center is okay for stock height

4-inch lifted KK's: JBA adjustable track bar noisy?

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