Rear Track Bar

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:42 am

Does anyone know if the rear track bar from the zr2's will fit onto our crews? I went for a drive on a wet clay dirt road yesterday and found that my rear axle is all over the place when hitting the ruts ( as much as 2 or 3 inches) side to side motion. This seems to be the problem I have had all along with the rear of the truck feeling squirrly. I had adjusted the outside mirrors to see the tires and with the 2.5in spacers the motion was very noticable. I do have longer shackles which is supposed to make this a bit worse but I was having this problem stock( BTW suspension was the only thing marked as being looked at in the carfax report the dealer gave me when I bought the truck) they said it was just looked at but I now get the feeling this may be why the first owners traded this truck in with only 6700mi on it. I plan on jacking it up this next weekend and checking the u-bolts to make sure they are tight since I did have to remove them to install the roadmaster suspension kit and shackles. Any other thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks guys

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:57 am

The ZR2 panard bar will not work. Our shock is in the way.
On the ZR2 the right rear shock is on the front side of the axle.
Removing the shackles will help. The only other thing I can think of that would be a "bolt-on" would be to change out the rubber bushings for a set of polyurethane ones.

If you are not worried about ground clearance you could add a track bar. This is mounted from the spring hanger to the opposite side front leaf spring eye bolt. These are used on ladder bar suspensions. It would be custom built as I am unaware of any production kits for our application.

Adding a ZR2 panard bar may require swapping differentials, moving the exhaust and adding the needed upper mount?

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:08 am

HenryJ wrote: The only other thing I can think of that would be a "bolt-on" would be to change out the rubber bushings for a set of polyurethane ones.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

Energy Suspension makes them for our trucks and you can get the complete set at Summit Racing for $38, part # ENS-3-2129G. The shackles are most likely your problem since they increase articulation and movement of the rear suspension.

Steve

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:00 pm

What about a rear sway bar? Since they mount to the frame and the axle tubes would they give me some help, I was going to pick a set of Hellwigs up to help stop body sway in the wind anyway and it would be great if one thing could help more than one problem. As for the shackles I did go with a set that had a solid center portion but I didn't get the poly bushings just used the factory rubber ones

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:31 pm

04crewvt, the urethane leaf spring bushings should locate the rear end better than just having a rear sway bar, especially since you're using shackles. The sway bar won't do much for side to side movement, but it will help keep the rear more level while cornering. Urethane front sway bar bushings & endlinks are another good way to get rid of swaying problems. The factory 33mm sway bar is more than enough for our trucks if you use the right durometer bushings.

Steve