Front Trac Bar removal and replacement?

[Carl Boger]

I am looking for any insights on how to change out the bushings and how to remove the front trac bar on my 98 Patriot.

The bushings are shot and the bar will rotate easily by hand as well as move up and down slightly on the passengers  side.  The bushings seem to be around a ball type of insert that fits in about a one inch bolt.

To complicate things even more the propane tank is in the way of removing the bolt on the drivers side.  The bolt on the passengers side is located up against the compartment that holds the hurricane heater, but it has a hole cut in that compartment so that bolt can be removed.

I believe that the drivers side bolt could be cut off with a grinder and then removed.  A new bolt could be put back in from the opposite direction, but it would have to be cut short enough not to hit the propane tank.

I will also need to put 2 bottle jacks on the lower frame to raise the upper frame enough to allow the 2 bolts to clear.

Does anyone know what type of bushings or inserts are inside the track bar?  Size?   Bolt size?  A source to buy them?

Does anyone else have a better method to remove the bar?  I am not looking forward to this one and would like to have all the pieces available when I start.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Carl
The track bars both front and rear of the front H frame are spherical ball type rods there are no bushings the bars where drop forged and the ball ends where hydraulically  swaged in place the same as a the four link bars / torque rods on the sides of the H frame.
I have not changed out that one on my coach as I have an aquahot which would have to be removed to get the passenger end bolt out
But looking at mine I believe there are two bolts at either end above the propane tank side by side which hold the tank in place and If you remove the forward bolt from both ends of the tank I believe the tank can be swung towards the rear of the coach just far enough to get the drivers side track bar bolt out.
As for the track bar replacement check out the common problems section in coach assist and you will find an article I wrote on the repair and replacement of the torque rods as well as part numbers and links to suppliers for both the front and rear bars

Hope this helps
Eric

[Carl Boger]

Thank You again Eric!

I somehow missed your article when I tried to research this.  I ordered the 3 piece torque rod so it looks like I have some welding to do as well as some crawling around under the Motorhome.  I have to think that this will help with the handling as it recently seems to have loosened up a little. 

[Zeb Severson]

Thank You again Eric!

I somehow missed your article when I tried to research this.  I ordered the 3 piece torque rod so it looks like I have some welding to do as well as some crawling around under the Motorhome.  I have to think that this will help with the handling as it recently seems to have loosened up a little.

Carl, how did the replacement go?

[Carl Boger]

I ended up putting bottle jacks between the two frames and raising or lowering the MH until I had good access to the bolts.  One would unscrew, but the passenger side one wouldn't release so I used a grinder and cut it off.  Then it was just a matter of making sure the new bar was the same length, tacking it together, verifying it was the same length, and then burning it in.

When I put it back together I put new bolts in from the front to the back, opposite of the way they came out and still had to raise and lower the MH with the bottle jacks to get everything to line up.

It is not a terrible job, but not really fun either.  I am not great at crawling under a MH and working in cramped spaces.  If you happen to have a pit or a way to raise the MH the job just got that much easier.

[Zeb Severson]

I'm glad it worked out for you. Some things are easier to work on than others it turns out.