CJ 7 Track Bar Problem Help !

[chazgin]

:mad: After many seasons of 4 wheeling I noticed that my CJ had a vicious front end shake. I got underneath and saw that the bracket (passenger side) where the track bar mounts to the frame was loose. Closer inspection showed that all three bolts (two from the bottom and one from the side) had loosened enough to let the bracket drop 3/8" or so from the frame. How do you tighten this up? There seems no way to get a wrench in to hold the nut on the inside of the frame while you tighten the bolt ! Am I
missing something here or is there another way to do this?

[CJBrian]

Track Bar on a CJ-7??? I have a CJ-7 no track bar, Maybe you mean pitman arm ,drag link, tie rod, steering box brace? What year is It?

[chazgin]

Yup

Bought this new from the dealer in 1985. Let's see:
1) Pittman arm is a short little thing that goes from the power steering to the drag link. Not it
2) Drag link connects to the driver side knuckle and makes the wheelturn. Not it
3)Tie rod connects the other side. Not it
4)Steering box brace connects steering box to frame. Not it

Long piece of steel from one side to the other side attached to the knuckles and attached to the steering damper on the passenger side. This bar is attached to the frame through bushed clamp to a bracket which is attached to the frame (item in question).

Sounds like a track bar (name straight from shop manual)

[chazgin]

Ignore the previous reply, please

The book calls it a stabilizer bar or sway bar. The steering stabilzer shock is attached to the tie rod not this bar. I suspect this bracket has captured nuts on the inside. There seems no way to get to them

[blkTJ]

sounds like you need to cut off the old bolts, drill out the holes and weld new nuts to the frame.

I've heard of this needing to be done with belly skid bolts if the nut breaks free from the inside of the frame.

[chazgin]

Sounds Right

but how to weld the nuts? They are on the inside. Is there any other way short of cutting a hole in the frame?

[Matt Pascoe]

I'm not really up on CJ's, but I didnt think they ever came from the factory with swaybars. Dealer installed option maybe? If so, there must be some way to get a wrench in to hold the nuts, they had to install it.

If not, I did what BlkTJ refered to (added a 4th frame nut for the belly skid). You drill a hole the size of the nut, slip it in place, and weld it to the frame. I hope you dont have to go there And if you do, dont use nyloc nuts, as you weld them the nylon melts and drips on your face... just something I read somewhere

[CJBrian]

Weld in new nuts. Yeah Drill, cut, hammer, or whatever to get the nuts out. Then use a file, die grinder, or dremel and grind the holes that you just removed the bad nuts from into the shape of a diamond in 2 oppsite corners tac weld the nut to the frame with a mig welder. Use a magnet to insert the nuts in the opening on side of the frame and use longer bolts to hold them while welding. If all else fails weld the bracket to the frame. good luck

[Davisrats]

I have a 1980 CJ with the sway bar removed, I have no problem driving without it. What kind of shake?

[rick]

Actually, I think all widetrack CJs came with a swaybar. Something about the frequent rollovers that led them to the widetrack version...

Davisrats is on the right track - I have never felt any shake or shimmy any different with the swaybar off versus on. The swaybar just controls lateral roll, so it should not have anything to do with any vibration or shake issues. Start by taking the swaybar off (remove the lower nuts/bolts that hold the bushing clamps in place, not the nuts on the upper part of the bracket that are broken). See how it drives, if it still shimmys or shakes, then you have another problem.

[CJBrian]

I noticed a big difference when i didnt have a sway bar on my CJ. Maybe its because i dont have a shackle reversal and i take it on socal freeways. So now run the stock sway bar with homemade disconnects.