Anyone have issues when installing a aftermarket track bar drop bracket? I got my leveling kit in today but that is the only thing left to finish. I plan to do it soon so I'm not driving the truck around without the one that came with my kit and screw up my alignment or tires.

I read online that the bolt holding the track bar to the bracket on drivers side is 30mm or 33mm I believe or I could be wrong. I didn't have metric size so I couldn't remove mine just yet. Those sons of bitches I know are on super tight since they need to be torqued down to 369lbs of torque. Damn what a bitch that is but any ideas on making that come off easy? Was temping to just remove bracket with track bar attached and install a adjustable one anyhow with new bracket. Thought maybe this would make things easier but of course just more money out of the bank.

Instructions in the kit are vague so I wanted to ask you all, if you installed this before, and what were your dos and don'ts???

 

When i did mine on my 2004 i used a 1/2" breaker bar and a poece of 1" black iron pipe, pipe was a little over three feet long. I loosened the bolts first on the ground and them used my 1/2" impact to remove them all the way, when I reinstalled the two bolts i used the impact first and then laid under the truck and bench pressed the bar to tighten the bolts. They moved a good half turn maybe 3/4 turn and then stopped and i started to lift the truck as i was pushing up. This was around five or six years ago and when i checked them this summer they are still SUOER tight.

 

it's 30mm on the srw trucks I dont think they're on different on duallys but don't quote me on that used an impact to get mine off and then used the impact again then a cheater pipe on a breaker bar to tighten it up didn't torque it just got it tight as f**k

 

Okay the larger bolt is the 30mm, got it thanks and I noticed HF has a metric set for $19.99 so I will pick that up as I need metric air sockets anyhow.


As for the three up into the cross member area I think it is, what was your approach on getting those loose? The other two small ones attached to frame won't be hard but those three are up in there and a bit hard to get to. Does help with axle lowered though giving more room for the hands to get up there. Were they easy to remove for you guy's giving your trucks didn't have rust on them? My truck is clean but plan on spraying them down and letting them soak anyhow.

 

Yea they all came out easy i used the impact pretty sure they all have captive speed nuts just start out slow so when the captive part of the nut rotates it doesn't slam into the frame and bend of break then you have to use a wrench my truck was completely rust free also depending on the bracket your using some of them have you cut the track bar bolt so it wont hit the pitman arm if you have the directions it should tell you if you need to cut it or not.

 

Mine didn't appear to be anywhere near my pitman arm. I have the procomp drop bracket that comes with their 2.5" leveling kit. There is three bolts that are up above everything that attach to the frame/cross member. I can get my hands up there just didn't think I had the room to get my impact gun in there. I'll give it a try next week when I'm free to see what I can do. Found a place local that will do the alignment so once I'm done I'll drive over there and have them do it.

Instructions with my kit don't mention anything about cutting.

Plan on getting 35" tires soon but will be a few weeks should I just wait on the alignment for the tires or just do it now and see how things go? I just don't want to wear out my existing tires due to premature wear due to altering ride height.

Then I wouldn't want to align it now and then put new tires on and those go bad.

 

Are you talking track bar bracket or pitman arm? 369 ft/lbs on that small shaft seems like alot. The pitman arm on the other hand makes sense. When I did my early 99 back in 2003, the highest torque requirement mentioned was the pitman arm at 129 ft/lbs. I would reread the instructions, or call Ford to find out the proper torque setting for that specific bolt before I went and tried to throw that much torque on it.

 

I'm referring to the 30mm bolt that holds the track bar to the track bar bracket. Let me check the torque settings based on instructions and what I have found online to show you. I could have been wrong and if so thanks for the information. I have not removed mine yet so it will be good to know beforehand but I also don't know if I will toque it seems like everyone has been good with muscling as hard as they can after the impact wrench and have not seen it come loose. If I take it to a shop to remove and install then I'm sure they will torque it per specs.

 

I'm not doubting it, but the only place I could confirm that specific torque setting was from riff-raff performance (?). All other diagrams have shown the 369 or 406 tq setting for the pitman arm. I'm at my girlfriend's house for the weekend, but I can check my engineers handbook on Monday to find the max torque setting for that bolt and thread. Just know the socket size has little or nothing to do with the torque tolerance. It is determined by the shank size and threads.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...s-updated.html


Not exactly the same setup as my truck but here you will see they even mention 400lbs of torque.

 

Not arguing that, I was just pointing out that it is the bolt that is 30mm in size not the size that makes it be torqued that high. Thanks for getting that information for me if I don't end up finding something sooner!

 

http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/files/FT22150i.pdf


This is also not my kit this is for a 4" kit but on page 6 #12 instruction you will see where fabtech tells you to install track bar bolt and torque to 400lbs of torque. Shoot the smaller bolts holding the track bar bracket to the frame are even torqued at 110 lbs.

 

My next question is do you need to install a adjustable track bar with only a 2.5" leveling kit? My theory would be that it is best to do it no matter what in the event your axle is shifted but if you just install a drop bracket to compensate for the shorter track bar (OEM) it should bring axle back to correct alignment? My kit only recommends installing the drop bracket which is from Procomp but I also don't want to spend several hundred dollars on adjustable track bar if it is not necessary for only the lift I have. Guess the real answer would be to find out if my axle is off centered after the drop bracket and if so then perhaps I need one.

 

Wow, they must have upgraded the bolts to 1" plus, which is a good thing! As far as an adjustable track bar, I think that is up to the user. My 99 with a 4" worked fine with a drop bracket, my 04 with a 6" was fine too. I'm only about 1,500 miles into a 2.5" on my 15, but it seems to work just fine.

 

Nice I like my kit so far and I know a 4" kit or even 6" kit would look real nice but just didn't suit my needs with 4 kids and my wife with back problems.