Track bars....

[jaaron]

And before anyone directs me to the search function i have already read through every thread on the topic i could find.

I am looking at building a set of track bars for my truck and i found some pipe at my house that has a O.D. of 1.3in and a sidewall of .20in. I was wondering first off if this would be strong enough to hold.

If so, where do i go from here?
I am moving to a single piece drive shaft so the bars will attach to the frame about even with the back of the T-case and i am going to use a factory set of shock mounts to attach them to the axle.
What do i need to do to reduce the pipe to the size of the heim joints and where can i get heim joints?

Thanks,
John

[nicho]

That's pretty thick wall, it should hold. I would recommend building one and torture testing it before building the other two. Don't want them failing on the road.

[NotStock]

I would go with a larger pipe for a couple reasons. First, if you are going to make them the same length as your driveshaft (which you should) and you are going to single piece driveshaft, that would mean they are gonna be pretty long. I would go with 1 3/4" .250 wall DOM at the smallest.

[icedevil]

if you go ahead with this please post pics when youre done. A few things to keep in mind as i have looked into building my own as well. I have read that using heim joints can cause a little more harsh of a ride where as bushings will dampen some of the slight vibration and make your ride a little more comfortable. I use dunebuggy.com for bushings and heims, however there are many fabrication sites out there that have the same products. good luck!

[jaaron]

Aight... thank you guys.

I will be looking for some different pipe now.

[bigwhite7.3stroker]

I would checkout Ebay for the Heim joints I was looking at some the other day and under the same search found the weldable ends for tubing they have them in all diff sizes and are threaded just find them for your size tubing and thread size weld them in and your set

I am making a set myself using the factory shock mounts as well but instead of heims I'm using Category 1 Tractor Top Links that will use 3/4 inch Grade 8 bolts to attach at each end by using these I can cut the link in half and weld the threaded sleeve of the link into each end of the tubing (1 1/2 or 1 3/4 inch DOM tubing) whatever it takes to fit the link in it and by using these they are extremely strong and adjustable if needed

the Top Links can be found at Tractor Supply it will take 2 to do it and there about $22 bucks a piece

[jaaron]

Thats a great idea... I didnt even think about that.

Plus the have to be strong. I know how much hell we put ours through and the still hold up.

[bigwhite7.3stroker]

Originally Posted by jaaron

Plus the have to be strong. I know how much hell we put ours through and the still hold up.

Exactly theres quite a few guys that have done them this way and they have worked great