Sway bar disconnect
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 09:30
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Ti Trol
Now I have seen the fancy front sway bar disconnects that are marketed by all the major players, and I like the idea of being able to disconnect the front sway bar when going through uneven country. But why can I not just pull the connecting bolt out of one end of the sway bar, and leave the other end still connected? It seems that it would stay clear of the body and chassis even in extreme articulation situations. Or am I missing something? Anybody tried this to see what happens? This is a GQ by the way.
Cheers
Graeme
Reply By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 13:06
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 13:06
Make sure the brake lines are not being stretched to breaking point.
.
AnswerID:
307706
Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 15:08
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 15:08
I've thought the same thing when I had my quick disconnects. I guess the thing is that on the side that you don't disconnect, the trailing arm won't be able to flex quite as much as the opposite side, because it is still tethered to the sway-bar drop-arm. However, it would still articulate more than it would before the disconnect was done.
The 2 reasons I got rid of my disconnects were that they clanked around whenever I went around a corner (when they were connected up for on-road driving and (the main reason) is that, whilst they are quick to DISCONNECT, they are definitely anything but quick to RE-CONNECT!!!!!! hahaha
The re-connect (if done on your own.....without an assistant) is very time consuming. In a lot of cases I had to end up getting the jack out to help me do the job!!!
The reason for this is that you will have the 2 disconnected ends dangling down. You work on say the driver's side, lift up the sway bar and guide the short end into the hole in the top portion. Now, if you put the pin in and then go to the passenger's side, you now have to try to twist the sway bar so you can get that one back into position (not easy!!!). If you just leave the first one sort of "sitting" in place without the pin, then you run the risk of it falling out again when you either leave it to go to the other side of the vehicle, or when you start trying to fit the other side.
Even if you decide to leave one of the sides in place while you're off-road, when it comes to refitting the one you took out you're still gunna be doing it tough (same as previous paragraph.
Now, don't just think that because you have your mate or SWMBO there to help you, that it's gunna be real easy either. Unless the vehicle is sitting at just the exact correct angle, you may find that even though the 2 of you have managed to guide the 2 short ends into their respective holes in the upper arm section, you have to have the cross holes lined up just perfectly to be able to get the 2 pins in.....this is where I had to resort to using the jack to lift up the sway bar just a couple of mm to be able to get the 2nd pin back in.
It was all too bloody hard and I gave up in the end. For the type of driving I do, I figured I didn't really need the disconnects anyway....
Roachie
AnswerID:
307719
Reply By: Ti Trol - Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 16:23
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 16:23
Doug, Roachie,
Thanks for the
feedback. Sounds like it may be more trouble than it is worth! But I may give it a go just once so I can see if it makes any significant difference, and to see how how much of a PITA it is.
Cheers
Graeme
AnswerID:
307731
Reply By: kiwicol - Thursday, Jun 05, 2008 at 19:07
Thursday, Jun 05, 2008 at 19:07
i have the 92 GQ and it has a factory fitted disconnect sway bar on the rear, maybe you could fit this unit to the front. Its easy to use its like a handbrke lever under the dash, pull it to disconnect push it in to connect. Col
AnswerID:
307946