JKS has a
definite reputation among the XJ community for building great sway
bar disconnects that allow great articulation off-road, but many do
not know they they also make an adjustable tracbar and a VERY heavy duty
tie rod replacement for the XJ's too. We got a hold of these to products
and we are VERY happy with the quality, fit and massive strength of these
parts. The install is very straight forward and easy. It took about 1.5hrs.
total to install both. Check out below for our install.
(click
on any of the pictures below for a larger image)
The JKS tie
rod is designed to take '92 or newer tie rod ends. So those of us with XJ's
older than '92 you'll have to pick up a new pair to go with your new tie
rod. Now's probably a good time to replace them anyway, they tend to wear
out pretty often with the abuse our rigs take.
Here you can
see the difference in the size of the neck of the rod ends. The blue arrow
points to the older style and the yellow to the '92 or newer rod end. They
look stronger, let's hope they are.
The JKS tie
rod also comes unpainted, so I shot it with some gray primer and then with
some metallic aluminum colored paint I had laying around. This photo is
after the paint job. Don't feel you need to be too neat because most likely
the paint is going to get dinged up first time out on the trail.
Here's an
end shot of the tie rod. This is some serious metal. I better not bend this
thing, or I have done something seriously wrong.
Thread the
corresponding jam nut onto the rod end. The rod ends are threaded opposite
and so are the jam nuts included with the tie rod.
Thread the
rod end into the tie rod. It will only thread into one end properly.
Here's the
tie rod with both rod ends in it. Now out to the truck.
If you have
been the unfortunate one to bend your tie rod into the shape of a taco
on the trail like I had then you may also have a handy (ugly) trail fix
that includes some reinforcement welding to keep it from happening again.
While this one on my truck was and is still functional I didn't want to
press my luck again on the trail.
In order
to replace the tracbar you'll need to remove the tie rod anyway so doing
both of these at one time saves time.
Yellow-
tracbar frame mount Blue- tracbar axle mount Green- tie rod mount @ draglink
It'll be
easiest to do this work if you remove the driver's side tire. Always set
the emergency brake and use a wheel chock when jacking the vehicle.
The JKS tracbar
is just massive. The size is deceptive in this photo but it is constructed
of 1.25" x .156 DOM tubing which is HUGE. With a "Johnny Joint"
on the frame end it will allow more unrestricted movement of the tracbar
when articulating. Not to mention that the joint is rebuildable if it were
to ever wear out.
Remove the
cotter pins and nuts holding the tie rod ends in place.
If you're
not reusing the rod ends, loosen the nut so that the top of the rod end
is no longer sticking above it and then use a hammer to pound it out.
It shouldn't take too much effort. If you're reusing the rod ends you
currently have in the tie rod then you should either use a pickle fork/tie
rod separator or you can often get them loose by hammering on the side
of the knuckle (green arrow)
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