It also looks like I've never really discussed all the track bar & bracket shenangians that I've gone through over the years. This will be a bit of a wordy post, but I think this might be valuable info to put out there for anyone/someone else.
Keep in mind this could all be easily mitigated by keeping the springs as the "industry standard for soft" Thuren diesel coils, or keeping things at a minimum of 3"+ of front level, or control arms at a maximum of +1/2" to +3/4" longer than stock. Since I have a problem, I of course had to try and push the envelope for fit+function while maintaining a low lift/level ride height.
So here's the entire history/details here. The blue text in each version's parts list is the
change since last setup:
Version 1:
- Dodge Off Road track bar + bracket
- Thuren 2” 3rd gen diesel coils (+2.75” front lift in real life on a stock 2nd gen)
- Extreme Articulation +3/4” controls arms
- Factory Dana60 stamped diff cover
- Caster adjustment in center
The stamped diff cover would just barely kiss the DOR straight track bar (couldn’t feel or hear.. only could see scratched diff cover paint), at the absolute hardest of compressions with factory bump stops and the soft-ish (but still decently firm) Thuren coils. Once I put in the Thuren Boogie Bumpstops in the front, they slowed the hit down early enough that I stopped seeing any track bar scratches on the factory diff cover.
Version 2:
- Dodge Off Road track bracket + custom z-bent track bar
- Custom super-soft coil springs (initially +2.0” front lift)
- Extreme Articulation +3/4” controls arms
- Factory Dana60 stamped diff cover
- Caster adjustment in center
Once I ordered up custom super soft long coil springs and installed those, smaller bumps/hits would compress the front end deeper into the Boogie Bumps, and I started to notice the track bar hitting the factory Dana60 diff cover again.. this time it was an audible tap and annoying enough that I got Thuren to bend up a custom Z-shaped track bar only, which I bolted into the original DOR track bar bracket. I gained back ~1/2” clearance from the track bar to the diff cover and all noise when away.
Version 3:
- Dodge Off Road track bracket + custom z-bent track bar
- Custom soft-soft coils (sagged to +1.5” level in real life)
- Homemade +1.25” controls arms
- Yukon cast iron diff cover
- Caster adjustment in center
This is the very first test drive of the +1.25” homemade arms on the new diff build with the Yukon hardcore cast cover, and it
did not last long. The reason for the +1.25” arms was to see if I could have
absolutely zero fender pinch weld rubbing while keeping the inner fender liner and zero pinch weld metal trimming, with 37’s on relatively aggressive offset aftermarket alloy wheels. Immediately during the 1st test drive, I was absolutely smashing diff cover into track bar over every bump, so I knew I had to replace the DOR track bar
bracket with a Thuren
bracket-only in hopes to move my custom z-shaped track bar far enough forward to clear.
Version 4:
- Thuren unmodified track bar bracket + custom z-bent track bar
- Custom soft-soft coils (sagged to +1.5” level in real life)
- Homemade +1.25” controls arms
- Yukon cast iron diff cover
- Caster adjustment in center, and then minimum-caster adjustment
Installing the Thuren track bar bracket certainly helped, but I noticed coming down off some large rock ledges/flexes, or hitting a cross-ditch with any speed, I would still hear a clunk in the front end. After investigating, the track bar was still just tapping the front-top of the hard edges on the Yukon cast cover. I attempted to adjust the caster shims to the minimum-caster position to rock the axle back from the track bar bracket, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the tapping.
Version 5:
- Thuren modification #1 track bar bracket + custom z-bent track bar
- Custom soft-soft coils (sagged to +1.5” level in real life)
- Homemade +1.25” controls arms
- Yukon cast iron diff cover
- Minimum-caster adjustment
I retained the rear track bar mounting plate of the double-shear Thuren bracket, and cut off the front moutning plate and moved it forward something like 1.0”, and used a longer track bar mounting bolt with lots of washers to offset the bar full forward (this is technically not that bad.. but full disclaimer:
do not do this). This moved the frame-side end of the track bar forward enough to clear the Yukon diff cover.
Version 6:
- Thuren modification #1 track bar bracket + custom z-bent track bar
- Custom soft-soft coils + 1” Daystar coils spacers (+2.0” combined total front lift)
- Homemade +1.25” controls arms
- Yukon cast iron diff cover
- Minimum-caster adjustment
I was still tapping something in the front end with the custom coil springs which now had sagged out over time to be only around +1.25” front lift over stock with OEM diesel springs. It looked like the top ear of the Yukon cover was now contacting the mounting plate for the Thuren bracket where it is double-shear at the factory track bar mounting ear on the frame rail. I removed the factory rubber coil spring isolators, installed Daystar +1” poly coil spacers, and ground a bit of the Yukon cover ear to get a bit more clearance, however it still contacted the Thuren plate over hard hits.
Version 7 (success, finally):
- Thuren modification #2 track bar bracket + custom z-bent track bar
- Custom soft-soft coils + 1” Daystar coils spacers (+2.0” combined total front lift)
- Homemade +1.25” controls arms
- Yukon cast iron diff cover
- Minimum-caster adjustment
The ultimate fix was to remove not only the feature for securing the Thuren bracket to the factory track bar mounting ear, but also remove the factory mount on the frame rail in its entirety. There was no going back from this.. I would have to commit to full trimming and then weld the heavily-modified Thuren track bar bracket onto the frame to ensure safety and longevity.
