[aclundwall]

Hi,

I bought a used 2012 Titan 2WD a month or so back. It runs pretty good, and it isn't in bad shape. Like a lot of guys, I had a lot of axle wrap, and could hear and feel the clunk every time I stopped or started. So I purchased and installed a set of Rough Country traction bars. I've had them on about a week, and they cured my axle wrap problems 100%. I'm really glad...cause that clunk was driving me nuts!

But last night it dawned on me that the traction bars probably blocked the access to the rear jack points on the frame rails. So I went out and checked, and sure enough, they do!

Well, if I'm at home in the garage, no problem...I just put the jack under the differential and lift, then support it with jack stands! But what to do if I'm out somewhere and get a flat rear tire? I notice that the factory jack will fit between the shock mount and the saddle for the leaf springs, and the indentation on the factory jack (that's meant to fit the notch in the frame rail) makes the jack sort of match the radius of the axle. Any problem with using the stock jack in this location? Obviously, this would put the jack a lot further under the truck, but with the handle extensions I am pretty certain you could still operate the jack and not be under the truck while doing it.

I'm also a little curious about what will happen when I take it in to have tires rotated. Anyone have problems with having service like that done (as in, do the traction bars prevent them from using the lift at the tire place, or can they just move their lift arm to right in front of the forward TB mount)?

Thanks

 

[LaxDfns15]

You can jack it up at any point on the frame, the shop will just adjust their lift arms. If you value your truck (and body parts), I'd say toss that OEM jack in the garbage and get a bottle jack. It'll fit in the same spot behind the seat and you'll know that it won't fail and have the truck roll off of it while there's no wheel on.

 

[LSturbointeg]

i just used 4x4 blocks on top of the jack which pretty much flushed with my traction bars when i jack the truck up

 

[aclundwall]

Thanks. And I do have a bottle jack. But what I didn't know was if the frame had extra meat in the area where the jack points were (besides the piece that fits in the notch of the jack) that made using some other point a bad idea.

It's probably been 15 years since I had to remove a tire alongside the road somewhere, so I wasn't even thinking along those lines when I installed the traction bars.