JKS adj trackbar hitting DANA 30 diff cover !

jeep2008 · 02-21-2009, 03:08 AM

I have the jks OGS126 which is for 1-3.5'' lift and an OME 2.5 lift.Well when i hit certain potholes in the street i can hear loud metallic noises coming from the front and finally when i took the jeep to the mechanic today he saw that the front diff skid was really hit obviously by the trackbar!So the question is what can i do about it?I haven't got any bumpstops in the front only the rear but the hitting happens in small potholes and not in big flexing situations .Can i trim the diff cover a little bit,is this safe?Please advise!!

**mudb8** · 02-21-2009, 03:33 AM

If you have the OME shocks to go along with the 2.5" lift, it should have 2" bumpstops to keep the shocks from bottoming out. I'd trim the diff skid... not the cover it'self.

if the jks bar gets dented It'll be very weak.

jeep2008 · 02-21-2009, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudb8

If you have the OME shocks to go along with the 2.5" lift, it should have 2" bumpstops to keep the shocks from bottoming out. I'd trim the diff skid... not the cover it'self.

if the jks bar gets dented It'll be very weak.

No i only have the OME springs with skyjacker shocks so no bumpstops in the front.Are these good for me http://www.rubiconexpress.com/Jeep/TJ/Product.aspx?part=RE1395 ?What do you mean by trimming the diff skid not the cover,i have the oem diff skid cover not an aftermarket one!

jeep2008 · 02-21-2009, 05:32 AM

this is from another forum
''I just got off the phone with Jim from JKS. He told me they have never had any luck with the OME lifts, HD or smaller working with the 1-3.5 front ATB. He said I would need to go bigger and BL's don't count. So what are people doing to make OME HD springs and shocks work with this TB and lift. Is their another front ATB I could use with this small lift and Crane diff covers? I have an ARB Bull bar and 9.5 up front and Jeeperman swing-out on the back holding a 285 spare. Also a hardtop in the winter. I already have the other four 285's to go on but didn't want to go bigger than 3" so I could keep my powertrain warrenty. Stealerships in my part of VA aren't very offroad friendly when it comes to warrenty work. I would realy like to hear from some of the many people running the OME JKS setup I have heard so many good things about ''

**Unlimited04** · 02-21-2009, 06:13 AM

well this sucks. I just ordered that track bar and have a 2.5" OME ready to install. my stock track bar rubs the diff cover already....

**95BadBoy** · 02-21-2009, 08:04 AM

This was posted about a fair amount back a couple years. I luckily had no problem with the OME lift and JKS front. It functions fairly close on mine, but no rubbing. If there was an aftermarket diff cover on mine - there would def be an issue. Did run OME shocks on my 05 but swapped in Trailgunner coils for the OME at the time of ordering, & do run 2" bumpstops. With all TJ's being slightly differant because of manufacturing quality not being so extra special - could account for some having issues and some not.

I remember calling JKS back a couple of years ago before installing the front trackbar, but don't recall what they said.

**mudb8** · 02-21-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeep2008

No i only have the OME springs with skyjacker shocks so no bumpstops in the front.Are these good for me http://www.rubiconexpress.com/Jeep/TJ/Product.aspx?part=RE1395 ?What do you mean by trimming the diff skid not the cover,i have the oem diff skid cover not an aftermarket one!

those bumpstop won't work up front.... when the suspension droops they'll get knocked out of the bell from rubbing the springs. they need to be on the axle spring pads.

you mentioned a skid. I wasn't sure if you had one or not tho..

in your next post, they couldn't convince me it has anything to do with OME springs.. what a cop out... less than 3.5" makes no sense to me cause over 3.5" they send you different bar? maybe it's rotated a little along with slightly longer.... 4" lifts with adjustable arms end up with the arms adjusted a little longer which would really make it hit, every 4" lift I"ve seen uses the same 2" bumpstops as the 2.5" lift does.
going bigger just means longer bumpstops not more clearance for the track bar.

**rubidriver** · 02-21-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudb8

in your next post, they couldn't convince me it has anything to do with OME springs.. what a cop out... less than 3.5" makes no sense to me cause over 3.5" they send you different bar? maybe it's rotated a little along with slightly longer.... 4" lifts with adjustable arms end up with the arms adjusted a little longer which would really make it hit, every 4" lift I"ve seen uses the same 2" bumpstops as the 2.5" lift does.
going bigger just means longer bumpstops not more clearance for the track bar.

Precisely, this is exactly right. OP, This has nothing to do with maker of spring. It has to do with overall set up. These springs could be JKS, Nth, Skyjacker, Rancho, RE, Tera....anything and as long as they are the same height (2.5" ) they are going to do the same thing, thats just how it is.

Now whether JKS is the idiots or not for designing the track bar this way... thats another story. What your going to have to do is either add more bumpstop, or more height to your suspension. Or you can pull that axle back with upper and lower adj control arms, losing all of your wheelbase, which I wouldnt recomend.

tangofox007 · 02-21-2009, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeep2008

this is from another forum
''I just got off the phone with Jim from JKS. He told me they have never had any luck with the OME lifts, HD or smaller working with the 1-3.5 front ATB. He said I would need to go bigger and BL's don't count.

I had similar problem with a D44 front axle and OME springs. JKS told me that front bumpstops would solve the problem. As far as I can tell, 2" bump stop extensions did the trick.

In all fairness to JKS, the installation instructions did call attention to a possible interference problem on Rubicon models. However, they should make the same warning in their advertising material.

**mudb8** · 02-21-2009, 09:24 AM

more lift won't help the situation when they send a different bar for 1-3.5 and 3.5-6"

2" bumpstops is about all ya wanna put in there with a 2.5" lift, longer stops interfere with the amount of uptravel. one of the biggest advantages of the lift is more than stock uptravel, which makes them more pleasureable to drive on a rough or pot hole filled road.

rubidriver... how close is yours to the d44 with the 2+" stops? I don't think we checked it... I remember talking about it tho.

tangofox007 · 02-21-2009, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudb8

more lift won't help the situation when they send a different bar for 1-3.5 and 3.5-6"

Actually, it will. And it has nothing to do with the differnece in the two bars.

**mudb8** · 02-21-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangofox007

Actually, it will. And it has nothing to do with the differnece in the two bars.

no... it won't solve the problem, the suspension will still compress to the same height the bar hits with the smaller lift. + if you use adjustable arms to compensate for the wheelbase at ride height, you now have a bigger problem because of the lengthened arms and/or corrected caster.

**mudb8** · 02-21-2009, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangofox007

Actually, it will. And it has nothing to do with the differnece in the two bars.

also on that note... just stuffing in a 1" BB will only take a bigger bump to hit it..

if the jks bars get dented, they are junk.

**rubidriver** · 02-21-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudb8

more lift won't help the situation when they send a different bar for 1-3.5 and 3.5-6"

2" bumpstops is about all ya wanna put in there with a 2.5" lift, longer stops interfere with the amount of uptravel. one of the biggest advantages of the lift is more than stock uptravel, which makes them more pleasureable to drive on a rough or pot hole filled road.

rubidriver... how close is yours to the d44 with the 2+" stops? I don't think we checked it... I remember talking about it tho.

It will help. It will increase the space between the differential and the bar. JKS will even tell you more lift or more bump stop. More lift means more bumpstop, so if you do a spacer up there you will need some bumpstop.

Mine is a few inches. I thought for sure that I was going to get some rub out of it, being a D44 and all. But I dont have any rub. Its a few inches forward too, helping it out some.

tangofox007 · 02-21-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudb8

no... it won't solve the problem, the suspension will still compress to the same height the bar hits with the smaller lift.

I didn't realize that a tall spring could compress the same as a short one. For some reason, I always figured that those extra turns in the coil might get in the way!!! Thanks for the enlightenment.