Why did these bend?

[45Kevin]

I noticed that after I got home from Cruise Moab last spring, that these "bars" that connect the anti-sway bar to the axle housing were bent.

Now my truck did a lot of articulating climbing over some of the ledges etc., but should this have happened? And what problems will it cause?

 

[Awl_TEQ]

The only thing I see that could cause that would be severe articulation. Both ends of the axle must have been stuffed at one point with the other end slack. If the sway bar is too stiff it could then collapse the link on the stuffed end?? As for future problems... if the links are weaker than the sway bar they would bend and straighten as the axle articulates - eventually breaking the link perhaps??

 

[45Kevin]

That's what I figured, but I can't be the only one to stuff my wheels up like that. AS you can see, the passenger side has the rubber piece out of place. there should have been no restriction at all on that side.

 

[flaminbandit]

wow thats impressive nfi how ya managed that
also noticed the top left(in pic) bush has came outta its home

 

[dr_claw]

I was thinking axle wrap?

 

[45Kevin]

I was thinking axle wrap?

Hmmmm...that would explain the symmetrical nature of the bends. What other evidence would I look for to confirm axle wrap.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

I could very well be wrong but to bend those due to axle wrap the sway bar would have to hit the underside of the bed. To do that the axle would nearly have to be on the stops and then wrap

EDIT: - if not the bed then the sway bar would hit the round frame cross member

 

[nuclearlemon]

You're bushing on the bar's out of place too.

 

[45Kevin]

Yeah, that bushing has had a habit of sliding out of the clamp for years now. The clamp nut is siezed. I'm sure that has nothing to do with this.

 

[merbesfield]

if the bump stops are gone and you stuff the axle would that not result in bent links?

 

[JohnnyC]

not to be a wise A%$# (a non sway bar owner) but is this a good reason people go with swaybar disconects when wheeling?

 

[Kief]

no bump stops, extended shackles (slightly different geometry?) means too much travel, and is one of your shocks bent too? Get some paint on that baby!

 

[MOTOV8R]

Maybe your bushings aren't allowing the sway bar to twist. Maybe also the reason the bushing keeps working it's way out of the bushing clamp. If it's rusted and the rubber is aged it might be locking your sway bar in place or at least severly limiting it's motion.

 

[wesintl]

moab is hard on sway bars. On my 70 I ripped the bushing out of the front drivers side front and disconnected and removed the whole thing at camp. Never put it back on, It does help on the highway though.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

My money is on extreme stuffing of the tires. While one is up, the other is pulling the sway bar down hard, and your 40 +/- year old sway bar rods bent. My sway bar is sitting in the back yard, but it's rods are broke, so that won't help you... I say remove it unless you drive it on the street a lot, no, scratch that, just take it out!

 

[65swb45]

Kevin, is it just my monitor, or is your left rear shock bent as well...perhaps from the swaybar articulating...backwards?

I think I wheel my 45 pretty hard, but I've not encountered this. Then again, as soon as I lifted the truck [which was shortly after I got it] I cut the swaybar links and extended them to prevent possible hyper-extension. Hth

Best

Mark A.

 

[45Kevin]

Thanks for chiming in Mark. I don't know if the shock is bent. I saw that in the photo and will go and take another look at the real thing.

A bent shock wouldn't cause the links to bend though. Would it?

 

[65swb45]

Thanks for chiming in Mark. I don't know if the shock is bent. I saw that in the photo and will go and take another look at the real thing.

A bent shock wouldn't cause the links to bend though. Would it?

No Kevin, my theory is that the swaybar folded over backwards, bending the links and the shocks, then folded back again.

 

[orangefj45]

if the sway bar had inverted, then it would have pinched the brake line on the passenger side of the rear axle. if the driver side shock as damaged due to that happening, then it would be logical to assume that the passenger shock would have suffered the same fate.
also, in order for it to invert, the suspension would have to "drop out" of the chassis completely on both sides. to do so, you'd have to either jump the vehicle of have it suspended in such a fashion that the axle was not carrying any weight. either way, the shocks would hit their travel limit long before the sway bar was able to come close to inversion.......

so i'd say that the links bent because you put too much stress on them, possibly due to the extra axle articulation and the links hitting the bottom of the bed. hard to tell from the pics. i say replace them with something a little sturdier and run some bump stops to prevent this from happening again.

hth
georg

 

[65swb45]

if the sway bar had inverted, then it would have pinched the brake line on the passenger side of the rear axle. if the driver side shock as damaged due to that happening, then it would be logical to assume that the passenger shock would have suffered the same fate.
[snip]

hth
georg

Perhaps. Then again, the passenger side is the one that blew out the upper sway bar bushing as well, giving the parts more ability to move without pushing into the shock.

Best

Mark A.