A little tip with cotter pins, dip them in grease before you put them in. Then they won't get stuck in the hole!

 

That phone typing makes for non-interesting reading! I'll forward the note to whomever put that trackbar on 10+ years ago...

I couldn't get a tool on that nut, too rusted. Took a side off the nut with my cutoff wheel, thought I was backing it off with the chisel - but the nut is still fused to the joint threaded rod. What a pain! Had to take a break, rebuild my patience. Removed the sway bar links, and I'm about to take off the front wheel to increase my access.

I'm dying to get the bracket in there to see if it really positions the bar properly!

 

Use your cutoff wheel to just shave the stud. Not like you want to re-use it.

 

Fixed it but I do the trick with the grease it works!

 

Track bar is out. Did not want to cut it flush and have nothing to pound on - and as soon as I got the nut off, I smacked it twice and it fell out...

Unfortunately got dark, and I really want to see everything I'm doing - so will continue at first light. Ball in the trackbar was a little lose, it needed to be replaced.

Taking the wheel off helped alot with using the cutoff wheel, didn't really want to disturb where the suspension was sitting, but didn't have a choice. I think the axle moved a bit to the driver side when I pushed the joint end out, so I don't think I'll be able to tell, from a static stand piont, where it should be with the standard setup and bar. I guess I'll just get the new gear on there and eyeball it tomorrow.

That had to be the hardest joint I've ever tried to remove, castle nut was so deformed from rust and fused tight.

 

Measure the distance from the center of the tire, to the edge of the fender. Do the same, at the same spots on the other side of the truck. Measurements should be pretty close to each other.

 

I should have marked two points on the frame and axle and stuck a tape measure diagonally across it - hind sight is 20/20

 

Strike one... manufacturer made a mistake on bolts, they shipped two 1/2 bolts when they should have shipped one 5/8 and one 1/2. Grade 8, 2.5" long, fine thread. Its the bolt that goes thorough the factory eye for the joint - its gotta be tight. Not to mention they want that bolt torqued to 215 ft/lbs. So I'm going to have to go see what I can find in grade 8 at the local stores

They also don't have a listing of hardware included, you kinda have to interpret from the instructions.

 

Please post pictures when it's done and your thoughts. I thought about doing this and if so I would save for the bracket as I have a 3rd gen pan hard bar. Looking forward to seeing it done! The worst ever bolt I had to mess with was the axle side of the track bar. The tin "antispin" on the nut rusted and you couldn't get a wrench on the nut because of it. My welder fixed that problem.

 

A couple problems, the damning one first. The track bar fits cocked in the bracket ears, so much so I will not be able to put the bolt through it. Second problem, the through bolt that goes in the cross member (middle bolt on the bracket) isn't even close to being lined up. I put a call into the number they have on the directions, and left a message.

The video of the SSI bracket that someone posted showed better hole alignment. And he was using an adjustable track bar, but he didn't show much of how the bushings fit in there for him. Pretty sure that the cocked position would wear out the bushing in short order and would probably restrict some normal and desired movement.

I could probably fabricate my way around the middle bolt by just welding the bracket on at that position. However the ears being the wrong angle with the track bar, pretty much has me convinced this bracket is going to be returned.

I am going to buy a MOOG 2nd gen factory replacement and get the truck back on the road for now. Seems the MOOG is lifetime guaranteed at AdvanceAutoparts, so that is a plus. The other plus is I will have the MOOG installed in about 8 minutes.
Perhaps someone at SSI had a bad day when they made this one, they obviously got crossed up on the bolts. It sure did give me a bad morning.
So pictures. First up is how the bracket doesn't match up with the hole in the frame gusset.
Second is how cocked the factory bar is in the bracket ears.
Third picture is another view of how cocked it is, looking at the back ear when the bushing sleeve is aligned with the front ear. Disappointing!

Anyone want a nicely painted 3rd gen bar with brand new MOOG bushings already installed? Probably should put that on the 3rd gen forum..