antirock sway bar on an 80? (1 Viewer)

[Nay]

They may not be specifically talking about road use, but they do help on the road as well.

Check out this 4Runner build. He's got F/R coilovers and is running F/R AR sway bars. His experience is that he could take corners on the road ~20 MPH faster than before he had the AR Swaybars. Granted the 80 is a bit heavier, but the sway bar tension is adjustable.

Sure - it's a swaybar, so if it is designed correctly it is going to have a primary road use function no matter what it does offroad.

I love to see some proven thinking/design starting to be applied to the 80. It wasn't long ago that it was practically heresy if you didn't worship OME and people are finally realizing that there is nothing magic about the 80 in terms of applying solid axle suspension designs.

The only real magic is that it is big, heavy, low hanging, and destined for the classifieds once you've finished proving my point

 

[motorsargeT]

I've been thinking about this for the rear. I'm afraid to remove the sway bar completely. And the factory location sucks. I've bent that thing numerous times, and one time it popped the diff cover into the ring gear. It looks like mounting the bar on the frame behind the axle and the links outboard of the frame and behind the axle would work, but without measuring and having the parts in hand it is only speculation. I already have a housing i relocated all the suspension mounts on, and the antirock was to be the next project this winter. However my engine had other ideas.

 

[Walking Eagle]

It's a good approach to bring these tried and true designs from the Jeep world over to your 80 - I'd definitely be looking into it if I had your design goals. Keep us posted.

Or from the dirt track racing world - that's where the torsion bar style swaybar comes from.

you do know some of us just replace the lower bolts with removable pins right? I think someone even sells extended bump stop mounts with provisions to attach your sway bar ends when disconnected.

I think he's talking about the rear, which is problematic w/ the links going up to the body.

But if I were going to do it, I would look at sourcing the electric disconnectable units from a dodge powerwagon. For the weight of a cruiser compared to a jeep, especially if I was planning to disconnect it before taking it offroad I would think a thicker/stiffer torsion bar would be much better for pavement driving.

Unfortunately don't see alot of powerwagons in the pick-n-pull

They offer different sizes so one should be able to size it properly. That plus tweaking mounts and arm length. The multiple mounting pins means you could put it in one location for on road and a seperate possition (less resistance but still resistance) for off road. Plus you could fully disconnect the rear like you do in the front alot easier with this kind of set-up.

For the poor boys, you can use toyota IFS torsion bars and make your own ends.

The only real magic is that it is big, heavy, low hanging, and destined for the classifieds once you've finished proving my point

That was boring the first 50 times you posted that same thing Nay, now it's just anowing.

 

[on the rocks]

The 80's stearing box is outside the frame. I dont see this working. Maybe if it was mounted from the rear, but good luck making this work.

Originally Posted by cody c
But if I were going to do it, I would look at sourcing the electric disconnectable units from a dodge powerwagon. For the weight of a cruiser compared to a jeep, especially if I was planning to disconnect it before taking it offroad I would think a thicker/stiffer torsion bar would be much better for pavement driving.


Unfortunately don't see alot of powerwagons in the pick-n-pull

They offer different sizes so one should be able to size it properly. That plus tweaking mounts and arm length. The multiple mounting pins means you could put it in one location for on road and a seperate possition (less resistance but still resistance) for off road. Plus you could fully disconnect the rear like you do in the front alot easier with this kind of set-up.

For the poor boys, you can use toyota IFS torsion bars and make your own ends.

I have one

but I think it will work better on the rear suspension. Eventually I would like to convert the release and locking gear to air control and sell the motor and electronics to a Jeep guy. I hear they break a lot. I have a heafty OBA coming eventually and think it will tie in well and help with towing.

 

[lt1fire]

Did you ever get around to this?

 

[Delancy]

Did you ever get around to this?

Curious, as well.

Incorporated on the rear of an FJC and does the job better than OEM, without limiting flex.

Not sure what size bar would be in order for a heavier vehicle, but appears it'll mount the same, with enough space between the wheel and frame rail, at full stuff.

Regardless, curious how this turned out before cobbling mine.

 

[js93cruiser]

Don't need too anymore working on getting the coilovers on in the next few weeks with air bumps in the rear to add stability with a load

 

[Delancy]

Interested to see how the COs work out.

A few dumb questions, since I went straight to building and haven't wheeled the 80.

Does the OE sway encounter as many obstacles as it appears it would?

Do link extensions, for lifted conditions, mitigate body roll with the OE bar?

I see little hope in an easy bar for the front, and have no clue if it'll be manageable, on road, without, but the rear wouldn't be difficult to incorporate, if necessary.

 

[js93cruiser]

The rear away bar sucks wheeling wise and just hangs up on rocks I put mine back on, it limits flex and the first time out I bent it, it hits my rear shocks too

 

[kidglove13]

I to had issues with the rear sway getting banged up and bending things
Mine also hit the shocks even with the proper extensions

I would like to do an anti rock bar but they are so expensive

I can think of better things to spend my money on at the moment

If you do put one in the 80 please document it

I think it would be cool and work well

 

[Delancy]

The only real obstacle, from an install standpoint for the rear, is cutting the link mount around the brake line and sensor on the axle tube, and the panhard mount might need attention, to alleviate contorting an arm.

The frame narrows on the front, and there's a lot of movement I'm unfamiliar with, but it looks to be a lot of work, maybe unnecessary. Found a rear only was a dramatic improvement on the FJC (butt dyno). I know I can't run a front on the 80, so hoping to compensate for with a rear, to some degree.

They're more economical ways to do it than a Currie kit, especially after doing one. The bar itself can be sourced much cheaper, the housing and Delron bushings can be found cheaper, and the links themselves, which are a huge chunk of change, can be tailored to the vehicle, for less money.










It doesn't limit flex, to any degree, and is a dramatic improvement over the OEM rear, or none at all.

 

[xjaz]

I owned, modified, and wheeled Jeeps for 10 years before getting into Cruisers because I couldn't fit all my kids in a Jeep anymore. The big thing in Jeeps for a long time was to just disconnect the sway bar and get more flex. This works well in Cherokees because the leaf springs in the rear still keep the vehicle stable even when the front can move very freely, but it didn't work as well with the Wrangler TJ because it has coils at all four corners and when you disconnected the front sway bar it had too much flex overall and not enough stability when off-road. Currie introduced the anti-rock to fix this problem. It is simply a swaybar with a lower spring rate than a factory sway bar, and the rate can be altered slightly by changing which hole on the arms you put the connecting links in (the amount of leverage the axle has on the sway bar). There is no disconnect feature, you just end up with a little less roll resistance on the street, and more flex off-road, but still enough roll-resistance to make it work well.

 

[Delancy]

When planning the existing, I communicated with many of the other sway bar offerings, all for the Jeeps, and there were a couple of products I tried to incorporate into the FJC rear, and long travel front, but not enough interest to actually motivate designing.

One of the more interesting was a dual rate assembly, essentially a solid bar inside a hollow, the latter providing far reduced anti roll resistance, but tuned to maintain some body roll resistance, off road. (think it was Sway Lock).

In communications, via email and phone, the designer explained that a true disconnect has many detraction, but that some control on off camber/sideways sloped runs minimized the tippiness of no sway, and the system was easy to engage the primary, manually of pneumatically.

Makes sense, but the confines of the IFS front (front is really the only place I could see benefitting. Have ran with none, and anything would be an improvement on road.) and the mechanisms involved to function wouldn't fit.

Similar issues would prove true on the front of the 80, where a real benefit would be felt, because of the narrow frame rails and close confines.

OE rear sway on current was a tremendous articulation limiter, unsure about the 80, but it hangs too low, so planning to do the rear, at least.

 

[Delancy]

Since I landed here, will add.

The OE rear sway with drops hits the housing ~1 1/2" before the links bind.

 

[jtwopark]

Subd

 

[jcardona1]

Subd

I got excited and thought somebody figured out an easy solution.

 

[jtwopark]

Sorry! Just wanted some info before I head down to Currie enterprises in search of some insight

 

[Delancy]

Sorry! Just wanted some info before I head down to Currie enterprises in search of some insight

The Currie anti-rock is far from a solution for an 80 rear bar. The effective rate in any combination of arms is less than OE, with front remaining.

I'm sure they may be able to produce anything necessary, or are several companies offering custom bars with Ruff Stuff topping the list with the most economical solution, ONCE the bar is properly sized.

There are sway bar calculators online and numbers posted on one of the arduously verbose threads I've participated, so it's not rocket science, BUT......

It's not the problem, nor can the problem be rectified with just sway bar or just shock implementation. Roll center has to be addressed and the ONLY way to do so is get out the plasma, cut all the link mounts off, and raise them to an elevation on front and rear axles that returns ALL links to the same angle as they left Japan.....FLAT.

Sway bars, like coils, shocks, links, ends, everything else suspension and steering related are part of a system and there's balance that has to be attained for all to function accordingly. Can't fix deficiencies in one aspect, without further screwing up another.

 

[Mieser]

They are using this style sway bar on Jeep JK/JKU's, Those are not lightweights. I think they could give 80-series a run for the money on weight. It is not uncommon to see them 7-8Klbs build and loaded.

In the end, it is a sway-bar that typically has a lower rate than the stock application. On most Jeep products, the stock unit is too stiff, and disconnected doesn't have enough roll resistance for most people. Typically, most of those issues come from lift height, spring design, and generally building the vehicle too high with too much junk high and back on the chassis.

From what I have seen, the 80-series chassis doesn't have a ton of room for an anti-rock unit on either end. If you mount the front unit outside the frame and forward you will likely give up a bit of turning radius. Clearing the steering box and pitman would also be an issue. In the rear, well good luck. There isn't much room at all between the frame and the tire because of the wide splayed frame.

 

[jcardona1]

Well it's about time somebody tried this. Just placed the order with RuffStuff while they have their 20% sale going. Started by ordering just the swaybar. I will be getting the truck weighed and will drive to their shop to get the final specs worked out in person (these are built to order and custom-tuned individually). This will be a rear application like the FJC pics @Delancy posted above. With the 3 link in front I can see no easy way to fit a swaybar up there so I'm going to try to improve the rear setup as the stock bar is bent to s***, limits flex and feels like it doesn't help on the freeway.

This is no doubt extreme overkill with a price to match. Even Dan says these aren't intended for the average weekend wheeler but I need something better and there are no off-the-shelf solutions which will work for me.

As you can see, NO room here:

Even less after hydro assist

Plenty of room back here. I could either run the bar in front of the axle (inside the upper link crossmember) or behind where there's even more room: