Track Bar issues
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Track Bar issues
Hey all, first time posting here. I have a 2017 f350 XL 6.2 4WD , i had some death wobble problems at about 42K miles and swapped to a new steering dampener /stabilizer and that subdued it for a while, at 82K now. Knowing it is only a band-aid i recently heard a clanking sound when hitting a bump or turning and noticed while sawing the steering wheel back and forth there is a decent amount of play in the track bar ball joint. So i went to Napa and got a bar and ball joint. Today i was going to go change it and noticed on my truck the ball joint is pressed into the track bar and not the axle mount. The bar that they gave me, and that all the other stores carry has the ball joint sold separate to press into the axle bracket and not the track bar itself.
Looking online shows that the only bars that have the ball joint pressed into the track bar are for vehicles that have a lift. I bought this truck new and i don't believe there is a lift kit installed from the dealer. I have also searched different years, both up and down but all of them are the same part. What am i missing here? any insight would help,
Looking online shows that the only bars that have the ball joint pressed into the track bar are for vehicles that have a lift. I bought this truck new and i don't believe there is a lift kit installed from the dealer. I have also searched different years, both up and down but all of them are the same part. What am i missing here? any insight would help,
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The ball joint is pressed into the track bar on the 17-22 Super Duty. The 11-16(and maybe earlier) had the ball joint pressed into a mount on the axle. If you have the correct track bar the hole should be large enough to accept the ball joint.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 309
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From: Dallas, TX
Seconded on the ball joint being pressed into the track bar. I learned the hard way and spent several hours grinding and cutting trying to replace just the ball joint.
I believe the Ford house sells the track bar + ball joint assembly. I just leveled my truck with a track bar drop bracket and the track bar is still a bit short, so I'm buying an adjustable bar with the ball joint pressed in. Not messing with that ever again.
I believe the Ford house sells the track bar + ball joint assembly. I just leveled my truck with a track bar drop bracket and the track bar is still a bit short, so I'm buying an adjustable bar with the ball joint pressed in. Not messing with that ever again.
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So i can see that the ball joint is pressed into the track bar. But all the auto stores (napa, autozone, advanced, o'rileys) Sell the track bar with the smaller hole in the ball joint end to accept the threaded portion. I ended up just buying the MOOG track bar bushing and ball joint and i will just press the new bushing into my existing track bar. I probably should have went to the dealer, but if this works it will save me some money. I just don't understand why all of these auto parts stores carry the wrong part.
Lead Driver
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That is strange. For the hell of it I went to Napa online. They show 2 track bars for my truck, different part #'s and both saying guaranteed to fit my truck. But when I click on either one to see more details they both say "Does not fit your....". The photo they have of the ball joint end looks wrong for 17+ also.
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So just an update, was able to take the bar off today and i ended up using the MOOG K200640 bushing and the MOOG K500262 ball joint. The ball joint is a bitch to press out. I ended up having to cut the rim off the existing ball joint because they only give you about 1/16" for the ball joint press cup to sit on and it kept slipping off. Like everyone else has noted in other posts that the upper bolt at the frame is also pretty hard to remove. I ended up putting a 30mm wrench on the bolt end and put a jack under it while using 2 extensions and the impact on the nut side and it barely moved. At the end of the day, it took about an hour longer and i saved a couple hundred dollars on parts so not too bad.
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Randy_270
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Sep 22, 2017 09:55 PM