Broken Front Sway Bar Mount (2 Viewers)

[alia176]

If your truck has any rust I can’t recommend enough beefing up (witts end are great) or taking off the sway bar for wheeling - aggressive overlanding. The three times I have EVER been broken down in the 80 were all results of sway bars and/or muffler brackets breaking and taking brake lines with them... Three times...

I'll go so far as to say that beefing up both sway bar mounts is a must if you do ANY sort of wheeling or have a lift. That weld isn't all that beefy from the factory and you can either replace the entire mounts or melt some more metal at the very least. These are ticking time bombs in the 80.

 

[alia176]

Questions for you who have welded on the axle housing (and are comfortable doing it) -
What do you need to do to prepare for applying all that heat?
To keep gear oil from catching fire?
To avoid warping it out of alignment?
Anything else to be concerned about?

Gear oil doesn't catch on fire nor does anything warp as the axle tube is a large piece of heat sink. You're applying very little amount of weld and for a very short time. I simply wet couple of towels and placed them over brake hoses and any other meltable items in the vicinity then I went to town with the Witt's End replacement mounts. I think I might have removed the lower axle nuts so that I can droop the axle down as much as possible to allow for maximum head room. Be sure to keep an eye on where your grinding sparks are headed!

 

[Stylo07]

Does anyone know if there’s a vendor that produces heavy duty front sway bar mounts for the 80? Wits’ End used to produce and sell them, but they apparently no longer do. Mine are boogered, and I’m not optimistic that a shop near me will fabricate something in time for my wheeling trip. As always, any help is much appreciated.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

Front Axle Sway Bar Tabs

These are heavy duty replacement tabs for the front axle. Factory tabs can be torn off which typically ends with a severed brake line. A repair not easily made while out on the trail.

landtankproducts.com

 

[Stylo07]

Front Axle Sway Bar Tabs

These are heavy duty replacement tabs for the front axle. Factory tabs can be torn off which typically ends with a severed brake line. A repair not easily made while out on the trail.

landtankproducts.com

Thank you so much. I don’t know how I missed that—I’d just checked his page. Ordered…

 

[Stylo07]

@landtank Are your brackets meant to be welded in or bolted in?

 

[COYS]

@landtank Are your brackets meant to be welded in or bolted in?

Welded.

I’m debating whether I install these. I have a ‘97 and didn’t know it got beefier sway bar brackets and I never plan to wheel my 80 on boulders.