Well it "finally" happened today. My Rustys HD track bar frame end mount broke. By that I mean the end that screws into the TB, not the frame mount itself. Thanks god it was only in a parking lot! I WAS going to drive it from Indy to Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. I was close to home, and nursed it back home at least. I just heard/felt a loud pop, and was suddenly headed for the curb.
Question I have is, who makes the heaviest duty "unbreakable" TB out there? Obviously not one with a TRE on the frame end. I'm NOT wanting to go thru this crap again, ESPECIALLY not if it was to happen on the highway! I'm running a 4" lift, and the Jeep is 99% a DD.
After searching, how about the RE extreme duty TB and mount? TB #1660, and mount # 1665?
Ok Adam, let 'er rip!
-- Edited by firehawk on Thursday 31st of December 2009 05:40:18 PM
-- Edited by firehawk on Friday 1st of January 2010 02:02:11 PM
I don't think I even have to say anything do I? Oh man what a smile this brings to my face that you finally saw first hand a Rusty's part failure. But with that being said I'm really happy you were only in a parking lot and nobody was hurt.
There are only 2 trackbars on the market that I'd recommend to you. The RE Heavy Duty and the Rock Krawler Bomb-Proof. I run them both and am very happy with both of them. I think the RK is a bit "beefier" for the simple fact that it's made from 1.25" SOLID STOCK. Plus it has no welded bungs; aka they thread the solid stock itself. Both convert it to double sheer which is needed in my opinion on a TB on a lifted Jeep. The RK one is quite a bit cheaper and has a lifetime warranty (that they actually back up unlike other manufactures).
RE w/mount we retail for $266 RK w/mount we retail for $199 (but it's on sale currently for $179).
I think the best "bang for the buck" is the RK one in my opinion. The last few TB's I've bought for my own Jeeps have been RK.
I can have the RK one made to your exact height at no extra charge, so it'll give you room to go higher if you ever want to. It's only about a 4 day turnaround.
Here's a pic of the end that broke. Notice the shiney line thru the broken end? Apparently the end had almost broken in two LONG before it finally did snap. The pic shows that there was only about 1/8" left before it broke, since most of the end is rusty.
This IMO explains why the Jeep has felt like it was wandering at times lately. The end was flexing at the break. I also had experienced the right front tire rubbing on the flare a couple of times lately when backing out of a driveway with a curb with the wheel turned all the way to the right. That had never happened before either. Apparently the flexing was allowing the body to shift over.
Like I said, I WAS going to drive the Jeep to Columbus, OH tomorrow to work over there. Man am I glad it broke when/where it did.
I'm happy with my JKS trackbar, but I'm running stock mounts. I've heard lots of bad stuff on rusty's rust but this is the first actually documented (with pictures) case I've seen.
__________________
My Fleet 1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods. I hate pegleg rear axles! 1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project. 2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD