Sway Away Torsion Bar Group Buy Thread (1 Viewer)

[LT]

For those of you interested in purchasing Sway Away torsion bars for your 100 series Land Cruiser I am offering up a group buy price. I will be discounting the torsion bars for a pair for $535 and they retail for $700. In order to receive this discount I will need 10 complete orders and at the 10th order I will release the torsion bars to those who placed their order. We will not bill until we are shipping the torsions bars out to you, and the website will only capture your order.

The coupon code will be SAW-LC100 and you will need to place the order online to receive the discount.

This group buy will expire on 02/28/2011. If I receive 10 orders before the group buy end date I will start shipping out the torsion bars right away, if not the orders will wait till the group buy ends.

Sway Away 100 Series Land Cruiser Torsion Bars

 

[DesertRun]

How do these compare with OEM and OME? Spring rate? Thanks

 

[TheFuzz]

Not sure on spring rate, but these widths were posted in the T-bar thread:

OEM - 29mm
OME - 30.5mm
Sway-A-Way - 31mm
Ironman - 32mm

So, a full 2mm thicker than OEM, and slightly thicker than OME. You'll need some weight up front to take advantage of them and get them to compress fully for max articulation (bumper+winch most likely). Shotts runs the SAW's and seems to like them well enough. I'll let him chime in if he so chooses.

 

[LT]

The torsion bars measures 31mm x 45.731" long. One thing to keep in mind Sway Away is about the only suspension company stateside that makes torsion bars for off road use. They have their own machine to make their own torsion bars and they are widely used in the VW, Toyota and Porsche scene. Both the owner and their main shock guy are mechanical engineers that decided on the 31mm diameter, based on their own calculations for the weight of the 100 series and longevity. Sway Away has been around since the 80's making suspension components so this torsion bar is not new to them.

As far as the claim to need to add a bunch of weight to get the torsion bars to flex, if you are trying to run 35" tires with maximum clearance then yes it will take a lot of weight to get the torsion bar to flex. The amount of twist on the torsion bar itself is going to create a lot of resistance due to the amount of preload one has to achieve to gain the desired ride height.

 

[TheFuzz]

The torsion bars measures 31mm x 45.731" long. One thing to keep in mind Sway Away is about the only suspension company stateside that makes torsion bars for off road use. They have their own machine to make their own torsion bars and they are widely used in the VW, Toyota and Porsche scene. Both the owner and their main shock guy are mechanical engineers that decided on the 31mm diameter, based on their own calculations for the weight of the 100 series and longevity. Sway Away has been around since the 80's making suspension components so this torsion bar is not new to them.

As far as the claim to need to add a bunch of weight to get the torsion bars to flex, if you are trying to run 35" tires with maximum clearance then yes it will take a lot of weight to get the torsion bar to flex. The amount of twist on the torsion bar itself is going to create a lot of resistance due to the amount of preload one has to achieve to gain the desired ride height.

Yes, Shott's rig running 35's is what I was referring to. Not trying to badmouth SAW at all, just posting observations from others who have used them. If I had the money, I'd more than likely get in on this since OME seems to be impossible to find right now - but it's not in the cards financially.

 

[farinvail]

Not to open this can of worms again, but the ride height or indexing of the t-bars does not affect spring rate. Torsion bars are a linear rate spring. Spring rate is determined by the diameter of the bar. Not by the amount of "preload". The size of the tire has nothing to do with anything. Weight of the vehicle does. I've heard nothing but good things about SAW products.

 

[Musky]

I know the guys who have 90-95 Pathfinders all use the SAW torsion bars. They said those were about 30% stiffer than stock. Most guys loved them. Some said they lost a little articulation but preferred the firmer ride. I never bought any so I can't say for sure.

 

[danny noonan]

Why such a large difference in price between these and the OME's? Also thanks Metal Tech for such a great offer.

 

[LT]

The difference in price being that the SAW torsion bars are US made so naturally they are going to be more expensive to produce than overseas.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Your $268 price is likely for a pair. Mine were about that as a pair from Cruiseroutfitters.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

Not to open this can of worms again, but the ride height or indexing of the t-bars does not affect spring rate. Torsion bars are a linear rate spring. Spring rate is determined by the diameter of the bar. Not by the amount of "preload". The size of the tire has nothing to do with anything. Weight of the vehicle does. I've heard nothing but good things about SAW products.

You miss the point. You're not alone.

*What you say above is true though you also have to consider this:

T-bars simply don't twist and twist and twist without resistance.

*When a T-bar is set/indexed for stock height the bar twists both directions and for a small twisting radius. This is because up vs down travel are about the same.

*In a "2.5" lift" situation where a T-bar is set/indexed to where droop is reduced to 1/4 of the travel and compression (lift) is increased to 3/4 of the travel, then that T-bar has to:

***Barely twist to reach full droop...very easy on the bar

***Well exceed/increase the degrees of twist to compress the wheel fully. Difficult on the bar. When T-bars are "forced" to exceed their degrees of twist they do "resist" in an almost "progressive-like" fashion. This is why total articulation/compression is more difficult to achieve.

This is why LT said what he did. This is why one couldn't give me the Ironman brand.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

if you are trying to run 35" tires with maximum clearance then yes it will take a lot of weight to get the torsion bar to flex. The amount of twist on the torsion bar itself is going to create a lot of resistance due to the amount of preload one has to achieve to gain the desired ride height.

COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT ANY BETTER! I wish I could get my thoughts out like you do!

 

[2000UZJ]

You miss the point. You're not alone.

*What you say above is true though you also have to consider this:

T-bars simply don't twist and twist and twist without resistance.

*When a T-bar is set/indexed for stock height the bar twists both directions and for a small twisting radius. This is because up vs down travel are about the same.

*In a "2.5" lift" situation where a T-bar is set/indexed to where droop is reduced to 1/4 of the travel and compression (lift) is increased to 3/4 of the travel, then that T-bar has to:

***Barely twist to reach full droop...very easy on the bar

***Well exceed/increase the degrees of twist to compress the wheel fully. Difficult on the bar. When T-bars are "forced" to exceed their degrees of twist they do "resist" in an almost "progressive-like" fashion. This is why total articulation/compression is more difficult to achieve.

This is why LT said what he did. This is why one couldn't give me the Ironman brand.

so your saying if I had SAW torsion bars and a 1" lift... it would be easier to compresss my front end onto the bump stops since the torsion bar doesn't have to twist so far? I'm following your logic, just want to double check I am following 100%

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

ABSOLUTELY! 1" lift would compress easier than 2-inch. And 2-inch easier than 2.75". They are limited in their "travel" or rotation. That's why you don't see front suspensions with 12-inches travel and T-bars. Can't do it.

So when we increase our lift height to leave 2" down-travel and 5" up-travel (or about a 2-inch lift say). That bar has to turn a LONG way to get to those bump stops. WAY longer than the T-bar's desgined for. The thicker the bar the worse it is until weight and/or force increases equally.

So while they are not a "progressive" spring the "setup" becomes progressive at some point because those bars resist excess rotation.