Sway Bar Thoughts on a 40? (1 Viewer)

[srgould41]

My last trail run included lots of off camber against trees and the sides of dug out trails. My pet peve is hitting my soft top since I just finished about 12 hours of sewing on patches to repair rips from earlier this year. The areas above the side windows are covered in mud to show how hard I scraped them this last trip. I really don't want to do that again.

The guy in line behind me builds rigs for a living. Watching me from behind he said my rig leans into the obstacles causing the damage. He recommended a sway bar (Currie Anti Rock?) for the rear. He suggested it might help even out the front and rear suspension travel and help me from leaning into crap like that.

Any experience here with a before and after to solve this issue?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[White Stripe]

Yes a sway bar can help counter lean. I would probably use one of the jeep set ups since they are probably just a little bit lighter than a cruiser.

 

[77TLCFJ40]

What about a bolt-on rub rail/slider to protect the top?

A sway bar is going to negatively impact your 40's ability to flex and keep the tires on the ground and moving forward. That's why you hear of people using sway bar disconnects when off-road.

I don't run a top or windshield when off-road. No way to damage them!

 

[srgould41]

I agree with the travel limitation issue. I never considered a sway bar for that reason. A rub rail of some sort is actually on my to-do list. My tires stick out too far and one of these days I expect to get pulled over. I thought of fabbing fender flares out of tubular steel and have it also act as a rub rail. Maybe also in combination with a rail along the top of the tub. The sides of my cage are bare from rubbing the paint off. It doesn't matter in the summer since the top is off and I run half doors. Although a couple trips ago I nailed a stump against the back side of the driver side tub door frame. It didn't look bad or bother the half door so I ignored it. When I hung my full door it would not close. Turns out the upper rail was pushed an inch or more inward. Not sure how much a rub rail would help something like that. Maybe a spacer off the side of the B pillar would help with that.

What about a bolt-on rub rail/slider to protect the top?

A sway bar is going to negatively impact your 40's ability to flex and keep the tires on the ground and moving forward. That's why you hear of people using sway bar disconnects when off-road.

I don't run a top or windshield when off-road. No way to damage them!

 

[Mace]

One of the Torsion bar styles of Sway bars would work better than a rigid bar, however, G2 axle just came out with a pneumatically engaged sway bar. It's kinda cool and turns on and off with a switch..



G2 AXLE & GEAR | HOME

 

[srgould41]

I bet that would require a second mortgage to pay for

One of the Torsion bar styles of Sway bars would work better than a rigid bar, however, G2 axle just came out with a pneumatically engaged sway bar. It's kinda cool and turns on and off with a switch..



G2 AXLE & GEAR | HOME

 

[Mace]

Not as bad as you might think.. G2 are the axle version of Smitibilt.

 

[Delancy]

Think you'd find the off the shelf Currie bars to be undersized for a 40s GVW, if only using on one axle.

I ran the anti rock on the rear of a reasonably well tuned IFS rig and was disappointed, even after calculating it to be 20% stiffer than the OE that didn't work.

Ruff Stuff, PAC, Speedway can turn down to whatever diameter you need. Speedway has a calculator to determine effective rates, and could compare to a Pig or 7Xs OE bar to establish a baseline.

As far as disconnects or disadvantages of sways while wheeling, it's my opinion that predictable body sway trumps whatever nominal gain can perceived the "flexiness" of an axle. Wheel travel is irrelevant if there's no actual downward force on the drooping wheel/axle, and almost counterproductive entirely if banging into everything, as the body rocks.

On or off road, they have their place, as long as (like any shock/leaf/coil/bump) they're properly calculated and implemented, which is why they're on just about every race rig.

One could butt dyno with the 55 rear bar and 70 front, to get a feel for sizing, then go from there on actually ordering the effective rate necessary.

Running a front and rear halves a single bars rigidity, so 1/2 the impact (actual or perceived) on the axles ability to articulate, plus benefits of predictable stability might prove disconnects unnecessary.