Homemade cheap front swaybar disconnects
| The front swaybar links attach to a bracket on your front axle on the bottom side, and to a sway bar on the top side. The sway bar goes from one side of the axle, up and on top of the frame where it is attached, and back down to the other side. This system only allows a certain amount of flex from your front axle, allowing for better manners than a fully disconnected system. When you drive your jeep offroad, having your front swaybar disconnected will allow you to gain the maximum flex out of the front axle. This means keeping your tires on the ground longer, which we all know is a good thing. The trouble is most companies charge $100-$200 for a set of quick disconnects. If you’re in a position like me and plan on buying a lift eventually, it may not be worth spending that money, only having to spend it all over again when you get a lift on longer disconnects. In comes this very easy mod. With about $5 in parts you can disconnect on the trail without having to use tools. |
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Once you’ve got everything done you’re ready to hit the trails! When you’re ready to disconnect you simply pull the cotter pin out, pull the clevis pin out, and swing the rod up onto your spring perch. This is done by grabbing a hold of the sway bar (the bar that goes from the link on one side, up towards your bumper, under the plastic part that says “JEEP”, and over to the other sway link) and swinging it inwards and upwards as far as it will go. Once in this position you should be able to rest the sway links up on top of your spring perches. It may take some effort to do this. My driver’s side was tough, but I was able to do it by hand. Once up there they should stay put, but it’s always a good idea to tie them up with a bungee cord or zip tie.
Having issues getting your clevis pins in and out? This is usually caused by a winch and or bumper on the front of your jeep. A quick lift on the bumper by a friend should do the trick, since you probably don’t want to get out a jack on the trail every time you want to disconnect/reconnect. Note: This modification was done on my 2003 TJ. All model years older than 2003 may not use metric fasteners so your tools and bolts may vary slightly. Please do not follow my instructions blindly without checking stuff like bolt sizes out first. I’d like to give a shout out to 4x4xplor.com here. I first saw this idea on his site, and since I did the mod myself I wanted to add it to the articles listed here. All the writing and photos in this article are my own, I have only done a write-up on the same mod. Please leave a comment if you used this article for your Jeep. Leave a comment with any findings you discovered that I did not talk about as well. I would love to hear from you, good or bad! |
-Davin (Raskull)
November 14th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I just finished installing 2″ coil spacers and I disconnected and connected the sway bar a few times in the process. That got to thinking there’s got to be a better way than the expensive disconnects sold seemingly everywhere.
My concern with your solution is that the aluminum pin is not as strong as the bolt that comes stock on the vehicle. The stock bolt is steel and petty hefty. I’d hate to have to swerve on the freeway and have the aluminum pin break. I’ll have to do more thinking about this.
Thanks for the inspiration!
March 29th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Well, you make a good point, it might not be as strong as the bolt.. however the pin is steel, not aluminum..
It’s plenty strong, I have been using mine for close to a year now with no issues at all.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Where did you by the Clevis Pin?
September 17th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
From the local bolt supply shop. Any bolt shop should have them.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Just FYI, Home Depot and lowes both have a nice assortment of clevis and cotter pins. I picked up 2 sets, one for my YJ and the other for my JK for $10 total if I can remember correctly.
October 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Davin, I think your on to something here. This really adds a great deal of capability to ones jeep for under ten bucks! I followed your detailed instructions and see just a couple of things that could be addressed. There is a size issue regarding the clevis pen to bolt and washer. The factory washer is too sloppy to be used without a tighter backing washer. The clevis pen at 7/16” is also a little undersized. I’m wondering if there is a way to order the proper metric size. I’m going to look into that.
Also, you have an 03 TJ, mine is an 06 Rubi. Not sure if in makes any difference, but I couldn’t get the sway bar on top of the spring perch. I would have to zip tie it to the lower perch as some other have done.
No problem getting the pins or bolts out. The alignment was a little off because the my driveway isn’t quite level, but just pushed up on the bumper while inserting the pens, and it went in like a charm.
Some pics: http://www.pbase.com/brettwp/rubicon
Thanks, Brett
October 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Yeah it is a little sloppy. It makes noise on the road but it has been in there for nearly 2 years now without problems.
The 16 and the 13 are identical, but every jeep is a little different so it may be tough to get the sway bar to swing up that high. On mine, one side is pretty easy to get up, and the other side I have to force it up there by hand.
The pics look good, always good to see my articles helping out a fellow jeeper! Thanks for the comments!
October 28th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Just drill a grade bolt and put a lock pin if you are worried about strenght of the Pin
January 19th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I have a 6″ procomp suspension lift on my jeep. I have 35×14.5 Thornbird tires and my sway bar arms have practically cut my from in half on both sides due to the sway bar sliding left to right and allowing the arms to get into the frame. Does anyone have a fix for this?
February 1st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
i just did this install and one of my pins allows the pin to go 3 holes and one side only allows the pin to barely get into the first hole. is this normal?
February 1st, 2009 at 9:01 pm
You can put a collar on the swaybar tubing against the bushings that are allowing it to slide from side to side. Check your local hardware store for the proper sized collar.
February 1st, 2009 at 9:03 pm
That may change depending on how warped or warm out the bushings are. Just set it as tight as you can and it should be fine. If you’re worried about it you can get some used bushings from a local forum or the junkyard and replace them.
March 18th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Im going to try this tommorrow…..sounds great….i got the idea from a friend but this just satisfied my need…i have an 07 wrangler x with a 3″ rubicon express lift….hope it works!!!
March 19th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Finished the project today….took maby an hour and a half tops to go to lowes and get everything set up! Oh yah and it only cost me 8$ for everything! Great job and love how it works!!!!
March 24th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Good to see it helped. Happy trails. :P
May 28th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Great write up for an easy build job. I bought the parts for 8 dollars @ Lowes and installed them in less than 5 minutes total.
I have a 04 TJ with 2 inch lift and this was a real money saver.
I look forward to the FLEX!
PS I added an extra washer to create a tighter fit for the cotter pin – less movement.
Thanks again!
July 13th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I tried to remove my links at the upper end of the sway bar due to the angle they sit at on the bushings. On both sides the sway bar is sitting at an approx. 35*-40* angle to the bushing. The sway bar is at an upwards angle to the top of the link and therefore creating most of the force on the front of the bushing. I wanted to disconnect the links from the sway bar and try to move the sway bar and links to a better alignment so that they are sitting as close to flush on the bushing as possible. No luck. I can get the nut off the top of the links, but no more movement anywhere. Not from the sway bar, from the links, nothing. I tried lubing everything I could with a silicone lube, but still nata.
I have an 03 TJ Sport and figured you may be able to shed some light on this problem.
P.S. – Once I CAN get them detached, I’m all for this DIY you’ve posted! Thanks in advance!
July 13th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
P.S. – I’m running stock lift (for now – RC 4″ soon I hope), 31.5×10.5′s and do see rubbing on the inside of the tire where it’s hitting each side of the sway bar under each front fender. I don’t know if that makes a difference, but I figured it’s better to post that info. earlier than later while having to answer it from a question.
July 13th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
You likely just need to jack up the jeep a tad to take some of the weight off the links, and it should come out no problem. If it’s still stiff you can use some penetrating lube (PB Blaster works well) on there and leave it for a couple days to loosen up and try again. If all else fails, remove the plastic piece on the top of the front bumper (says JEEP on it). and unbolt the entire swaybar.
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:35 am
Thanks for the tip, just completed this mod on my 04 unlimited, along with the complete removal of the rear sway bar this thing really flexes. Now I just need a cheap alternative to the 2″ BB. any ideas. best 6 dollars I’ve spent in a long time.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Did this to my 03 tj. There is some slop with the clevis pins. I am going to file down some 1/2″ clevis pins for a snug fit. Also, I had to persuade(read hammer) my fenders to allow the sway bar to swing up enough for the arms to sit in the spring cups. All things considered, great mod. I will caution that if you plan on towing a trailer, I would use the original bolts.
March 27th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
There is a daystar 2″ BB that is just the spacers, and not the shocks.. I bought mine for around $100 CDN.
March 27th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Yeah there is definitely some slop, but it has not caused any issues for the time I have been running it.
February 25th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
RC Has a 2.5 inch ss lift for 299.00 comes with shocks to if ya call them you might get it a bit cheaper not sure tho