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Post by dblanco on Dec 4, 2005 10:48:21 GMT -5
OK, I'm probably going to ask the dumbest question, but here it goes.
What are sway bars, and why do I want to disconnect them? I'm really new at all of of this, and I'm trying to get a better understanding of it all. Do I need anything special to disconnect them?
Sorry if this is basic stuff.
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Post by RubiRedLJ on Dec 4, 2005 12:13:47 GMT -5
OK, I'm probably going to ask the dumbest question, but here it goes. What are sway bars, and why do I want to disconnect them? I'm really new at all of of this, and I'm trying to get a better understanding of it all. Do I need anything special to disconnect them? Sorry if this is basic stuff. Not basic at all. Especially if this is new to you! There are two sway bars on Wranglers. A front & a rear. The sway bar you'd want to disconnect is up front. Look underneath the front of your Jeep, and on each side there is a vertical piece of metal or link, (with bushings on both ends, and torx bolts hold it on...) that connects to a mount on the axle, and a the top of hte link is connected to a thw swaybar, ( that runs from left side of the frame to right side of the frame and then is bent back parallel to the frame). This allows very little "sway" or body roll when turning, etc. In this pic, you can see the swaybar, (top horizontal piece of metal running parallel with the frame and, the piece of metal underneath that one, is the replacement link or new swaybar disconnects). www.pavementsucks.com/showcase/tuffcountrytj_17.jpgDisconnecting the sway bar up front allows for much greater articulation of the axle. Or "flex". Really the only time you want to be disconnected is on the trails. Alot of guys buy aftermarket "disconnects", (alot easier than trying to disconnect your stock links whenever you hit the trails...), or a replacement sway bar system like Currie AntiRock or the Sway lock system. (these are a whole different discussion) I don't recomment driving disconnected on the streets. Any abrupt or evasive manuevers on the street when the swaybar is disconnected could cause anything from just a major scare to an accident. If anyone has a pic of the swaybar could you help me out and post it. Pictures are truly worth a thousand words. (or at least the number of words I typed!) Hope that helps a little... ryan  |
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Post by salyers890 on Dec 4, 2005 16:14:35 GMT -5
a swaybar essentially stiffens the suspension, and integrates each side with the other (especially effective with independant front suspension). since we have solid axles, all you will notice with the swaybar is that your wheels will have less independant travel up and down. technically they serve other purposes. when you take a turn, relative to the sharpness and speed of it, the outside weight gets pushed to the outside of the vehile. If severe enough of a turn, the outside suspension will compress from the weight and the inside wheels could raise from the ground, impacting stability and steering - and possible causing an accident or rollover as previously mentioned by rubiredLJ.
what the sway bar (aka anti-sway bar, anti-roll bar, stabilizer bar) does is connects the two suspensions with a rod that in turn is connected to the frame (by bushings allowing it to rotate). What this does is simple but effective. It's a straight bar connected in front of the wheels (behind the bumper under the plastic "jeep" cover), then it angles towards the rear of the car and stops right above the hub where a connector goes straight down to connect to the axle. when taking a corner, the outside suspension is compressed, the angled portion of the bar is pushed upwards on the ouside, forcing the inside portion of the bar to push upwards as well, in turn compressing the inside wheel's suspension. It keeps the car "flat" while taking corners.
sounds complicated, but once you look at it, it's really one of those "I should have invented this" type things. go to "howstuffworks.com" and click automotive. do a search for sway bars and click on it, or any of it's pseudonyms and you'll have a more in depth explination of it.
now for the anti-explination. . . . The reason people disconnect when offroading is to allow more wheel travel, that's a dead giveaway. In actuallity, what happens is the downward force applied by the springs can act independant on each side. This is the function of disco'ing, and more wheel travel (aka flex) is just the much appreciated biproduct. hope that helps.
x2 on the pic request
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Post by RubiRedLJ on Dec 4, 2005 16:28:24 GMT -5
Wow! Good reply salyers. That makes mine seem like "Swaybars for Dummies".  Thanks for the technical reply. Good info. Should be stickied in the tech forum for future reference. ryan |
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Post by salyers890 on Dec 4, 2005 17:57:00 GMT -5
yea, my antique MG didn't have on from the factory, but the subsequent years got them (new technology back then lol). I did a lot of research on whether or not to add one. I made the decision to add one, but the car's been under construction on other vital parts which take precident (engine, full suspension rebuild, interior). I knew this knowledge would come in handy somewhere else. thanks for the kudos though
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Post by 04unlimited on Dec 5, 2005 1:12:30 GMT -5
Consider it stickied.
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Post by dblanco on Dec 5, 2005 12:57:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the explanation. I'll take a look at it the next chance I get.
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Post by dblanco on Dec 5, 2005 21:40:24 GMT -5
One more thing. How hard are they to disconnect, and reconnect?
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Post by 04unlimited on Dec 6, 2005 2:03:14 GMT -5
Not too hard if you have the right size Torx key. Also if you find that spending 5 minutes disconnectiong them is just too much time to spend, you can put on a set of quick disconnects (discos) and cut that down to about a minute to disconnect both sides.
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Post by RubiRedLJ on Dec 6, 2005 12:56:51 GMT -5
Not too hard if you have the right size Torx key. Also if you find that spending 5 minutes disconnectiong them is just too much time to spend, you can put on a set of quick disconnects (discos) and cut that down to about a minute to disconnect both sides. If you do go with disconnects, try JKS, or RE GenII discos. They are the best IMO. I'm currently running JKS on my LJ and before I went to Anti-Rock on my old TJ, I ran JKS also. RE's genI were so hard to mess with because you disconnected both ends of the link, and then had to try and line them back up, while making sure the Jeep was level, etc. Pain in the arse. (these were my first set of discos on my old TJ and they were quickly replaced with JKS.) Ease of use is worth the extra $$$. ryan |
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Post by wv4x4 on Dec 15, 2005 10:20:37 GMT -5
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Post by wv4x4 on Dec 15, 2005 10:23:13 GMT -5
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Post by RubiRedLJ on Dec 15, 2005 13:04:13 GMT -5
I've only ran the Anti-Rock which worked out very nicely. Toward the end of owning the Jeep though, the wife was driving it alot more and didn't like the extra "roll" that the Anti-Rock allowed. For the build-up of my LJ I was looking into Teraflex's S/T swaybar system. How do you like it? Does it lock/unlock with ease? Can and have you had any experience with it developing slop in the locking mechanism? Do you ever wish, that you had gotten an anti-rock or discos? sorry for all the questions BUT, for me and maybe some others, your insights might provide some good info for us potential buyers. ryan |
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Post by wv4x4 on Dec 16, 2005 13:54:09 GMT -5
I've only ran the Anti-Rock which worked out very nicely. Toward the end of owning the Jeep though, the wife was driving it alot more and didn't like the extra "roll" that the Anti-Rock allowed. For the build-up of my LJ I was looking into Teraflex's S/T swaybar system. How do you like it? Does it lock/unlock with ease? Can and have you had any experience with it developing slop in the locking mechanism? Do you ever wish, that you had gotten an anti-rock or discos? sorry for all the questions BUT, for me and maybe some others, your insights might provide some good info for us potential buyers. ryan Its hard for me to compare it to curries set-up cause I never had it! i can tell you I am very happy with it! it hasn't developed any slop and is very very easy! just turn the knob and your disconnected! I actually had discos before this and i like the tera sys way better! |
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Post by dblanco on Dec 21, 2005 16:05:05 GMT -5
When I disconnect the stock sway bars, do I have to remove it altogether, or just disconnect the top or bottom?
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