Pics of your rear track bars.(F53)

[Tlmr4784]

Looking for some ideas for rear track bar.
Post your pics here.

[tderonne]

DIY track bars

[Waiter21]

I have a Dana S135 differential. I believe this is probably the easiest rear end to make a track bar for because there are no weird bends required. Below is a link to the trak bar I made for my 1999 Southwind.

F53 – Homemade rear track bar – 1999 Southwind 35S


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[macnut]

Here’s my track bar on my 2017 F53 chassis.



It’s made by SuperSteer in Grants Pass Oregon.

The photo was taken during installation.

Al

[blueridge-fl]

People should specify the weight of their chassis when responding. The commercial track bars vary with weight.

[Waiter21]

I have a 1999 F53, 20k chassis with Dana S135 differential. There's a lot of photos on my blog site.

F53 – Homemade rear track bar – 1999 Southwind 35S


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[givemeaboost]

This is on a 18,000 # chassis.

[RDG]

2001 F53 20500# chassis.

[House Husband]

Most DIYers do no use isolator bushings on their rod ends. This allows for road noise and additional stress on the frame.
If you look at professionally made panhard bars you will see isolator bushings on both ends of the cross link. This takes some of the stress off the components and frame. And reduces some transfer of road noise.
Think about it, why does the professional builders spend the extra $$ for the bushings, if their not necessary.

Richard

[bruce91]

2008 F53 chassis, 22k

[SuperDad]

installed mine yesterday

[TeJay]

Post #9 above brings up a decent point. If a TB is supposed to limit some lateral movement adding bushings would insert or allow some movement.

I can't honestly say we hear any more road noise than before the TB. That however is subject to each persons personal opinion. If there is more road noise maybe for some the improved ride & handling is worth it?

Most DIY TB makers use what is called a TOP LINK (TL) found at every Tractor Supply store around. They are under $30 and to my knowledge nobody has had any issues with using them.

Farmers use them to attach auxilary equipment (mowers, plows, PTO's etc) to their tractors. They are very tough and will last a long time. Early in the DIY building of the TB one poster said he grew up on a farm and attested to how rugged they were.

[woodbender]

Please pardon the dumb questions that have probably been answered 100 times:

How does lateral movement occur between frame and differential??

Are the leaf springs twisting or torqueing enough to effect handling?

Has anyone measured the lateral movement before installing a track bar? -- Then again after??

To the extent lateral movement occurs, isn't it mostly due to tires as opposed to suspension?

[jharrell]

Originally Posted by woodbender

Please pardon the dumb questions that have probably been answered 100 times:

How does lateral movement occur between frame and differential??

Are the leaf springs twisting or torqueing enough to effect handling?

Has anyone measured the lateral movement before installing a track bar? -- Then again after??

To the extent lateral movement occurs, isn't it mostly due to tires as opposed to suspension?

Leafs deflect laterally how much is open for debate. Ford installs a trackbar from the factory up front on all 18k and up chassis, so they seem to think the front leafs can deflect enough to make a difference I would hope they did some testing there before adding expense and complication to the suspension.

The rear leafs are much thicker and stiffer than the front so I would assume they deflect less laterally under the same force, however the lateral forces in the rear could also be much higher than the front especially with a toad.

Jeep also put trackbars on leaf sprung YJ's so there is precedent for leaf sprung suspension using panhards from multiple oems and they wouldn't do it unless it had a tangible benefit.

I know in my MH the rear trackbar made a noticeable difference but I have no measurements of lateral deflection, wish I had the time and money to do that and get to the bottom of a lot of this stuff.

Yes I would say its also true the tire sidewall flex also contributes and running higher pressures reduces this while trading for a harsher ride. I have experimented with this some and tend to prefer higher than minimum recommended pressure at around 100 psi seems to be a good trade off for control and comfort vs the 82 psi recommended by Winnebago and the 120 psi max on the tire. However its not a large difference as it was with adding the track bar or other mods such as CHF and toe adjustment.

I would also add the a trackbar mounted higher than the axle as is done here on F53's also raises roll center which will reduce sway, this also could be part of the improvement that seems to be universally felt when adding one.