KDSS front sway bar off kilter

[drowzyGX]

So I think im gonna try and cut this nut off, but I’d like to avoid using a hack saw.

cheap rotary tool with a cutting wheel should work, yeah? Angle grinder and cutting wheel seems a little large for the small space.

either way figure the steps are

1. Cut the 4 welds holding the nut to LCA
2. Smooth out surface where welds were
3. Drill out hole to fit rivnut
4. Install rivnut
5. Business as usual when bolting in the sway bar bracket
   seem right? Would I get better hold strength with the riv nut as opposed to just a regular nut?

 

[rommelrommel]

Well, a properly installed rivnut has massive pull through strength, but a nut on the backside is also extremely strong. The rivnut just saves you putting a wrench on the back of the nut in this application I think. Whatever is easier for you would be fine, if you have the rivnut and tool I’d probably do it that way. I think a rotary tool and cutting disc would work fine.

 

[drowzyGX]

Well, a properly installed rivnut has massive pull through strength, but a nut on the backside is also extremely strong. The rivnut just saves you putting a wrench on the back of the nut in this application I think. Whatever is easier for you would be fine, if you have the rivnut and tool I’d probably do it that way. I think a rotary tool and cutting disc would work fine.

thanks!

the nut on the back works fine for now. Just a little tough to keep it from spinning while tightening to factory spec. will go with the rivnut option once I have a chance to pull the LCA.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

thanks!

the nut on the back works fine for now. Just a little tough to keep it from spinning while tightening to factory spec. will go with the rivnut option once I have a chance to pull the LCA.

I like the Rivnut plan, but don't feel in a rush. The backing nut will be plenty strong for now.

I'd personally try to grind/cut at the welds on the corners of that weld nut with something like a die grinder, Dremel, or even an angle grinder cutoff wheel. Then grab it with pliers and wiggle it until it pops off. And file/grind the surface smooth to be done.

 

[drowzyGX]

I like the Rivnut plan, but don't feel in a rush. The backing nut will be plenty strong for now.

I'd personally try to grind/cut at the welds on the corners of that weld nut with something like a die grinder, Dremel, or even an angle grinder cutoff wheel. Then grab it with pliers and wiggle it until it pops off. And file/grind the surface smooth to be done.

yeah, definitely not in a rush to pull the LCA and do all this. Dremel + cleanup is the plan. Just need to order the rivnut. I’ll try and snag a stainless steel one from McMaster Carr.

 

[drowzyGX]

Status update: problem appears to be resolved

~100 miles of highway and local driving, and the sway bar is level! Woo!

Been a while. Work has been crazy. Between the Dawgs and GCP, I have not had much weekend time. So the poor GX has been driving around with the front sway bar at a horrible angle.

Fixed it this weekend! I repaired the sway bar itself. The passenger side rubber bushing collar had come loose from the sway bar. This allowed a lot of extra play.

Pulled the rubber collar off, and sanded down that area. Also sanded down some other parts of the sway bar where the paint had been worn down (mostly where all the bushings rub. Used some amazing goop along with new stainless steel cable ties to re-attach the bushing collar. The cable ties came with a nice little hand tool to really tighten them down, and then cut the excess. The new cable tie looks to be the exact same size and type as the oem one on the other side.

Let this cure indoors for 72 hours, then touched up the bare steel with some flat black enamel, left over from spraying my sliders.

Went ahead and installed the treaty oak spacer kit front and rear. I’d been hesitant to do so because I knew it wouldn’t clear my factory skid plates.

Well, the combined fixes seem to have worked beautifully. Last time, without the spacers, the sway bar shifted off kilter immediately after driving - as in, I backed up 15 feet and it was off angle.

This time it seems to have solved everything. Drove 80 or so miles home to ATL and about 10 miles around the pothole riddled streets, and the bar is dead-on level. Figure if it hasn’t slipped by now, it won’t.

I did not crack the kdss shutter valves. Was nervous about messing with them and possibly creating a more expensive repair. Already had the front sway bar off for some tlc. Didn’t seem to make the install more difficult or less effective.

Huge thanks to everyone who offered input and advice in this thread!

Downsides to the spacers

This is super nit picky because they work absolutely as intended, but…
1) had to get new hardware to mount factory skid plates, and cut a bit with the angle grinder. This isn’t a knock on treaty oak at all - an annoyance of kdss. Just some extra time and expense to the install. Worried how they work with aftermarket skids.
2) spare tire seems to fit tighter in the back than it did before. Maybe because the swaybar sits a bit lower? Equally likely it fit this tightly before, and I’m just misremembering.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Do you have a copy of the FSM? Opening/closing the valve looks to be really easy...

 

[drowzyGX]

Do you have a copy of the FSM? Opening/closing the valve looks to be really easy...

Oh yeah, the opening part is quite easy. It’s more the fear of any of the oil leaking out. I’ve seen varying # of turns for each of the valves, and then the warnings of how screwed the kdss system is if any fluid leaks out. Just didn’t want to take any chances.

Probably overly cautious, but this kdss has given me so much trouble I didn’t want to chance it.

 

[rommelrommel]

The valves are easy unless they’ve corroded shut. If it’s fixed without them opening all is good. Glad this one worked out, and it does seem to indicate that those bushings being tightly strapped to the sway is important.

 

[drowzyGX]

So this fix did not last. The sway bar shifted to the driver side as usual, and the tip of the bar hits the driver side steering knuckle when turning right.

I measured the sway bar outer diameter with calipers and got ~1.73” and ~1.93” because the sway bar is an oval shape.

Should I grab collar clamps and Dremel to fit, get a machine shop to try and make a custom clamp?

At a loss here. This issue has been present since lifting the truck, and it won’t go away with spacers or any adjustments.

 

[drowzyGX]

Update: found a local machine shop. They’ve got the sway bar for a week, and said they should be able to make custom collars to fit the oblong shape of the 470’s KDSS sway bar.

If that doesn’t work, ACC garage said we could try welding outside “collars”, similar to how the inside collars are done from the factory.

This problem will be resolved, and this dang sway bar is gonna stay in place, lol

 

[blackice00]

Update: found a local machine shop. They’ve got the sway bar for a week, and said they should be able to make custom collars to fit the oblong shape of the 470’s KDSS sway bar.

If that doesn’t work, ACC garage said we could try welding outside “collars”, similar to how the inside collars are done from the factory.

This problem will be resolved, and this dang sway bar is gonna stay in place, lol

If the shop ends up figuring out custom collars I may be interested in picking some up too.
I ended up buying a brand new KDSS bar to fix the problem, but it is only a matter of time before the glue fails on the oem rubber clamps again.

 

[drowzyGX]

I’ll keep ya posted. Dom from Dr KDSS said he’s gonna look into 470 collars this year, too.

 

[blackice00]

I’ll keep ya posted. Dom from Dr KDSS said he’s gonna look into 470 collars this year, too.

I saw he is also looking at aftermarket ram setups. I wonder if the 470 has the same ram as the 5g 4R and 460...

 

[drowzyGX]

The machine shop option didn’t pan out. They got super busy, and it was gonna be a few weeks before they could start.

So…sway bar went to ACC Garage today to be welded.

They welded on quarter round where the rubber casket + metal zip tie used to go. They didn’t even charge me either, which I thought was incredibly generous.

Gonna touch up some of the paint on this thing, and get it re-installed. Have about 2 hours of highway driving tomorrow. Should be enough to settle the KDSS and see if this does the trick to stop the slippage.

 

[drowzyGX]

got an alignment and have racked up a nice chunk of highway and city miles. Driver side tire doesn’t rub the sway bar at full lock. The truck drives great. This seems like a fix.