Right?
Builds Evolution of a Land Cruiser: My 80's build thread (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter jcardona1
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richardlillard1
SILVER Star
In my experience, the factory sway bar never limited flex. But any sway bar will limit axle movement.
So I don't completely understand how something that serves to limit movement is going to prevent your axle from moving if it's connected to that?
So I don't completely understand how something that serves to limit movement is going to prevent your axle from moving if it's connected to that?
I didnt say they invented it, but i do not recall anyone one else mass producing and marketing them towards crawlers like Currie did back in the early 2000s.
- Thread starter
- #2,364
No pictures just now but I'll grab some for the next update. For now the bar is just tacked in place. I will be further securing it using 2" wrap-around link brackets and some other bits of square tubing. I almost went through the frame but was trying to make this easier for the future in case I change the whole rear suspension around and need to relocate the sway bar.
I think my rear sway bar is so bent to the point it doesn't really limit flex nor does it control body sway. It's in really bad shape. With a front 3-link and no front sway bar the body roll is more than I would like it to be. As I've said before, the truck drives great and tracks nice and straight but I'm sitting fairly tall. No front sway bar is a little past my comfort zone as I usually drive 2+ hours to the trails on twisty roads. A front sway bar is out of scope for now until I can figure out how to make one fit. So for my scenario, I wanted a more stout rear sway bar that would help tame overall body sway due to the 3 link up front with no sway bar.
I suppose I could have tried a Whiteline sway bar, but I hear those hang down even lower and can limit flex. The idea with these sway bars is that the arms can move independent from each other during articulation. Independent from each other to an extent obviously as they are connected to a shaft that is essentially a torsion spring. This is why getting a shaft machined to your rig is so important. The Antirock sway bars built for a small Jeep are not stiff enough for a heavy Land Cruiser. Too narrow of a shaft and it won't do much to control body roll. Too thick and it can limit your flex substantially. RuffStuff will work with you to tune the bar afterwards if it ends up being to stiff. I think they tend to err on the side of caution and make the bars a bit thicker so you have room to tune afterwards.
I am okay with having a stiff rear sway bar and suspension that doesn't flex as much as it could provided it gives good road manners. It's a trade off I'm willing to make because I have plenty of travel from the front suspension. Guess I'll have to wait and see how this thing does on the highway!
What about reducing ride height too?
maxamillion2345
Franken-80
Neiko 40464A Cordless LED Work Light, 350 Lumens, 5 Hours Run Time, 4, 000 mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Battery, Multi Purpose - - Amazon.com
I love these. I have the big long underhood version too. Then I have some LED work lights, like the snap on one from costco.
I love these. I have the big long underhood version too. Then I have some LED work lights, like the snap on one from costco.
- Thread starter
- #2,367
Should be easy to adjust in its current position I imagine. I can always change the length of the links and/or reposition the arms by a few splines.
Here is a photo showing how the bar housing is attached to the frame. There will be another piece towards the rear but my jackstands are currently in the way.
I also built a small channel notch into the frame. The more I welded things up the more I started to notice the tip of the arm would get really close to the frame to the point the bolt would get caught underneath the frame. Now the arm has plenty of room with no worries of getting caught. Lesson here is to have them make the shaft about an inch longer overall (they base it on frame width and account for thickness of the arms).
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Nice dude. I was suggesting lowering ride height to get stabilityShould be easy to adjust in its current position I imagine. I can always change the length of the links and/or reposition the arms by a few splines.
Here is a photo showing how the bar housing is attached to the frame. There will be another piece towards the rear but my jackstands are currently in the way.
I also built a small channel notch into the frame. The more I welded things up the more I started to notice the tip of the arm would get really close to the frame to the point the bolt would get caught underneath the frame. Now the arm has plenty of room with no worries of getting caught. Lesson hear to have them make the shaft about an inch longer overall (they base it on frame width and account for thickness of the arms).
- Thread starter
- #2,369
Ah yes. I would like to lower ride height a bit, but finding coils that give me the right height is a challenge. I'm on my second set of coils which are stiffer and taller than I would like (OME 5" Comp). If I get something else I know they will be too low. And I always have a lean, driver's side always tend to sit lower even with a 1/2" spacer. So I'm kinda done messing around with coils for now. I'm still debating going with coilovers in the rear when I redo the rear suspension which would make adjusting ride height easy. That would mean going through the floor for sure though. And now with the new sway bar my coilover placement options are limited. It has to be in front or on top of the axle housing.
Which coils do you have out back?
TJM 5". But I have different coil bucket height due to different axle, my 4x4labs bumper, etc. I just havent bothered changing them to anything else
- Thread starter
- #2,371
Home stretch. Paint and reassembly.
- Thread starter
- #2,372
SWAY BAR
Sway bar project is complete! Still have a few things to button up like adjust panhard, weld one more bracket behind sway bar housing and finish painting, but at least it's driveable. First impressions, this thing is great. My rear bushings are original and in really bad shape. I can feel the axle 'rear steer' a bit and feels a bit loose in the back. I have a new set of poly bushings I'll be installing shortly. Even with the bad bushings this sway bar made a big improvement in road manners. I still get body roll obviously because I don't have a sway bar up front, but the difference was immediately noticeable. The body movement is a very firm, controlled sway and feels controllable while jerking the wheel back and forth at about 40mph. I'm sure that with a splined sway bar up front this thing would drive really really well.
I then found a drainage ditch to see what it did to suspension travel. As I had hoped, this thing doesn't appear to limit flex too much which is good news. One side is free to droop down as much as the shocks allow.
Here you can see how one arm points down while the other points up, twisting the shaft like a torsion spring.
Not much up travel here due to how stiff my rear coils are. I have never really managed to stuff the rear tires much more than this.
Then found a deep section of the ditch and really put it to work. This is basically full down travel, coil un-seated at this point. This really highlights how I need more down-travel. As much as the front would be ideal. A pair of 14" coilovers may be in the works for when I redo the rear links. That will involve going through the floor most likely though.
Again, not much up-travel on this side even though the shocks have plenty of room to go. These coils are really stiff. Notice the front is almost at full droop.
Rear tire well off the ground at this point
Sway bar project is complete! Still have a few things to button up like adjust panhard, weld one more bracket behind sway bar housing and finish painting, but at least it's driveable. First impressions, this thing is great. My rear bushings are original and in really bad shape. I can feel the axle 'rear steer' a bit and feels a bit loose in the back. I have a new set of poly bushings I'll be installing shortly. Even with the bad bushings this sway bar made a big improvement in road manners. I still get body roll obviously because I don't have a sway bar up front, but the difference was immediately noticeable. The body movement is a very firm, controlled sway and feels controllable while jerking the wheel back and forth at about 40mph. I'm sure that with a splined sway bar up front this thing would drive really really well.
I then found a drainage ditch to see what it did to suspension travel. As I had hoped, this thing doesn't appear to limit flex too much which is good news. One side is free to droop down as much as the shocks allow.
Here you can see how one arm points down while the other points up, twisting the shaft like a torsion spring.
Not much up travel here due to how stiff my rear coils are. I have never really managed to stuff the rear tires much more than this.
Then found a deep section of the ditch and really put it to work. This is basically full down travel, coil un-seated at this point. This really highlights how I need more down-travel. As much as the front would be ideal. A pair of 14" coilovers may be in the works for when I redo the rear links. That will involve going through the floor most likely though.
Again, not much up-travel on this side even though the shocks have plenty of room to go. These coils are really stiff. Notice the front is almost at full droop.
Rear tire well off the ground at this point
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How wide of a wheel spacer are you running?
- Thread starter
- #2,374
1.5". Probably wouldn't have room for the sway bar with anything less.
Just for posterity - and as you know but for anyone stealing this idea for themselves - you're also running wider wheels with less backspacing. For a lot of people, this could be considered equivalent to a 2.25 or 2.5" wheel spacer on oem wheels. Something to consider as far as packaging goes
- Thread starter
- #2,378
Sorry I don't remember, it's been way too long.
- Thread starter
- #2,379
REAR BUSHINGS
As mentioned in my last post, my rear bushings were in really bad shape. I've been holding out on changing them because I knew it would only be a temporary fix until I redo the rear suspension. I didn't want to spend $200+ on OEM bushings only to cut it all out. I found a reasonably priced set of poly bushings on Amazon so I gave it a shot. I know everybody prefers OEM rubber but anything is better than what I currently had. The bushings I purchased are made by Nolathane, an Australian company. After some quick searching on various forums I came to the conclusion that Nolathane is well regarded and comparable quality to Whiteline.
Got to work on the uppers yesterday using my Horror Fright 20 ton press. When folks say it sounds like a gunshot going off, they weren't kidding. The sound made when these 21yr-old bushings let go was LOUD, no joke.
So far I only did the rear uppers. I need to find something to press out the lowers, couldn't find anything the right size laying around the garage. This is how bad my OEM bushings were.
New bushings went in like butter with no fuss.
As mentioned in my last post, my rear bushings were in really bad shape. I've been holding out on changing them because I knew it would only be a temporary fix until I redo the rear suspension. I didn't want to spend $200+ on OEM bushings only to cut it all out. I found a reasonably priced set of poly bushings on Amazon so I gave it a shot. I know everybody prefers OEM rubber but anything is better than what I currently had. The bushings I purchased are made by Nolathane, an Australian company. After some quick searching on various forums I came to the conclusion that Nolathane is well regarded and comparable quality to Whiteline.
Got to work on the uppers yesterday using my Horror Fright 20 ton press. When folks say it sounds like a gunshot going off, they weren't kidding. The sound made when these 21yr-old bushings let go was LOUD, no joke.
So far I only did the rear uppers. I need to find something to press out the lowers, couldn't find anything the right size laying around the garage. This is how bad my OEM bushings were.
New bushings went in like butter with no fuss.
- Thread starter
- #2,380
WHEELING - RUBICON
Had a pretty awesome trip on the Con this past weekend. I was expecting it to be a lot more crowded given it was 4th of July weekend. It was packed, but not as much traffic on the trail as one would expect. We went Friday to Sunday. Got a late start Friday and left Loon Lake at about 3pm. Made it Buck Island by 7pm.
There was a lot of carnage. Our group's welder was used almost a dozen times by ourselves and others. I try to take it easy on the skinny pedal so I had no issues. Still dragged ass all over the Rubicon even with the high clearance rear bumper. The little side wings took lots of impact so glad I had those. Sway bar worked great both on and off-road. Truck felt very stable and never felt like I was missing a lot of flex in the back.
Start off with a few cell phone pictures. First night in, one of our guys destroyed his driveshaft on a rock.
The next morning we salvaged some tubing off another truck and made a driveshaft which held up great! Even drove it off the freeway for a few hours.
Then another guy in the group snapped and split his D60 outer shaft. Luckily he was able to 'borrow' from someone else on the trail.
Next up was these guys with the worst breakage and best trail repair I've ever witnessed. These guys broke down the week prior and left the rig on the trail. They then came back this weekend with a generator and welder to fix the damage (broken link truss in the rear). After they got it fixed, it failed again within a few hundred feet right behind our camp. This time the damage was really bad. When the upper link truss failed it rotated the axle backwards, snapping the driveshaft and both coilovers. It was BAD. They had an extra coilover luckily and managed to 'build' another one using an old shock with springs over it. Several hours later and lots of ingenuity, these guys were finally back on the trail. Saw them on Sunday loading the thing on a trailer which meant the fixes held up. If this happened to me I'd probably set the rig on fire right there and find a new hobby.
Onto the regular pics. Don't have many pics of my rig aside from what others took with their cell phones so...
Had a pretty awesome trip on the Con this past weekend. I was expecting it to be a lot more crowded given it was 4th of July weekend. It was packed, but not as much traffic on the trail as one would expect. We went Friday to Sunday. Got a late start Friday and left Loon Lake at about 3pm. Made it Buck Island by 7pm.
There was a lot of carnage. Our group's welder was used almost a dozen times by ourselves and others. I try to take it easy on the skinny pedal so I had no issues. Still dragged ass all over the Rubicon even with the high clearance rear bumper. The little side wings took lots of impact so glad I had those. Sway bar worked great both on and off-road. Truck felt very stable and never felt like I was missing a lot of flex in the back.
Start off with a few cell phone pictures. First night in, one of our guys destroyed his driveshaft on a rock.
The next morning we salvaged some tubing off another truck and made a driveshaft which held up great! Even drove it off the freeway for a few hours.
Then another guy in the group snapped and split his D60 outer shaft. Luckily he was able to 'borrow' from someone else on the trail.
Next up was these guys with the worst breakage and best trail repair I've ever witnessed. These guys broke down the week prior and left the rig on the trail. They then came back this weekend with a generator and welder to fix the damage (broken link truss in the rear). After they got it fixed, it failed again within a few hundred feet right behind our camp. This time the damage was really bad. When the upper link truss failed it rotated the axle backwards, snapping the driveshaft and both coilovers. It was BAD. They had an extra coilover luckily and managed to 'build' another one using an old shock with springs over it. Several hours later and lots of ingenuity, these guys were finally back on the trail. Saw them on Sunday loading the thing on a trailer which meant the fixes held up. If this happened to me I'd probably set the rig on fire right there and find a new hobby.
Onto the regular pics. Don't have many pics of my rig aside from what others took with their cell phones so...
