Tj sway bar disconnects

[Rubicon Josh]

Hey just thought I would pass on a bit of information for all those Tj owners. Actually now that I think about it, I don't see why this wouldn't work on many different 4x4's.

I was going to buy some aftermarket sway bar disconnects, but after looking at the stock ones and comparing them to others such as Rubicon Express, BDS, Warrior and a few others I decided not to. Instead, I removed the lower bolts, and drilled a hole through them so that a spring clip, hitch pin, or lynch pin would sit flush against the washer. Now the bolts can easily be removed. After removing the pins and bolts, the sway bar is rotated up into the fender and a zip tie fastens the bottom of the sway bar connector off to the side and cleanly out of the way of both tire and suspention travel. I wasn't sure if this set up would even hold against the stresses of the sway bar, but believe me, I abused the crap out of my jeep for about an hour and the 1/8" hitch pins I used aren't even bent a little bit. There are no signs of wear, or tension on the pins.

I'll post in the future and let people who are interested in doing this very simple modification themselves know how mine are doing. As a side note, I filed the threads that I drilled through so that the factory nut could be re-installed if the pins don't hold. I'll take some pics and post them tomorrow.

Josh

[cablesmurf]

Glad you "discovered" this on your own, but this is old news.

http://www.4x4xplor.com/homediscos.html
http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/susp/ZJ_swaybar_Qdisco/
http://www.off-road.com/jeep/cherokee/98/08_aug/disconnect/disconnect.html
http://www.rockcrawler.com/techreports/budgetdisconnects/

Shall I stop now?


The biggest problem with the factory swaybar links (TJ) is that the ball joints will eventually pop out of the links. They are poo, as you will soon "discover" as well... :wink:


Drop the money on the JKS disco's...you'll be happy you did. They are wayyyy beefier, and they are adjustable in height, so that when you lift your Jeep (and you know you will), you can still use them.

http://www.4x4xplor.com/jks-qd.html



Smurf

[Rubicon Josh]

Thanks for the feed back. You are absolutely right about the ball joints pulling apart. I had this problem to begin with, and was in search of beefier parts. I do like the JKS disconnects and will buy them if and when my factory parts fail again, however after looking at many of the other sway bar disconnects I have noticed that many of them utalize a ball joint as well. Although this is a very weak link in the whole set-up, it is only under strain while front end articulation is occuring. Durring normal city and highway driving flex usually isn't substantial enough to cause the ball joints to fail. While off road though it doesn't take much to put strain on these parts. I think that if I disconnect my sway bar before hitting the trails I should see fairly long lived connectors. I guess time will tell.

If any one has tried this route with some success please post your feed back as well. For now, things look good, and I still have $200 in my pocket to spend towards other upgrades.

Josh

[Bnine]

Keep the 200 and put it towards an antirock eventually and ditch disco'n altogether  Till then , just keep pounding them stock junkers.