Currie Anti-rock Swaybar Install

[vetteboy]

I finally decided to pull the trigger on a Currie Anti-rock kit. I had a few situations last time I was out wheelin where it would have helped, the rear springs are noticeably softer than the front, and the body roll on the road is pretty bad. So I ordered up the 44" universal kit w/17" arms to install in the rear.

First thing was to come up with a way to mount the main tube to the frame. I used some 2x4 rectangle tube and a 1.75" hole saw to accomplish this.

Weld it up and throw the bar in.

Weld on axle tabs, cut the links to the proper length, paint & install.

This was probably the most straightforward project I've done in a while. Everything went perfectly start to finish, and I had the whole thing installed in less than 5 hours. Currie included all the nuts and bolts you need to hook everything up, and the only thing I had to actually fabricate were the frame mounts for the tube.

I took it out for a brief test drive on the road up to around 55 MPH; the difference is amazing. Body roll is easily half what it was and I don't have nearly as much torque lean as it used to. At this point I'm totally happy with it, and I figure once I get to try it wheeling, if I don't like it, I just unbolt it and I'm no worse off. Right now it's on the setting for the least roll resistance, so I can tweak it to be stiffer pretty easily just by moving the links further back on the arms.

Definitely a great product, and I think it'll do everything I was looking for. Updates to come after the weekend of Nov. 9 (next trip).

 

[Weasel]

Seems like it would be a contact point dropping off stuff?? Anyways looks good. Did you ever take time to figure out roll moments when you did your suspension?

 

[vetteboy]

Seems like it would be a contact point dropping off stuff?? Anyways looks good. Did you ever take time to figure out roll moments when you did your suspension?

It's inside the line that follows my departure angle, so it should be OK. I imagine there may be a few isolated situations where it gets hung on stuff, but I'll take that tradeoff for better stability on off-camber things.

Without taking any specific measurements, the best I can figure is that my CG is about 6" above the rear roll center, and about 6.5" above the front. From my experience with the rig it doesn't take a whole lot to make the body roll. Even on the softest setting, the antirock has helped a ton with body roll in cornering and also with torque lean (I noticed it a lot when shifting gears from 1st to 2nd on the road, etc). I figure I'll try it like this on the trail and see if I notice a difference, and I'll try the other holes (stiffer settings) through the same obstacles and see how it feels.

 

[JeepFreak21]

I never have fully wrapped my brain around how those work...

Does the splined bar twist and the resistance of the twisting is what provides the 'stability'?

Billy

 

[Weasel]

I never have fully wrapped my brain around how those work...

Does the splined bar twist and the resistance of the twisting is what provides the 'stability'?

Billy

Yeah the resistance can also be looked at as a spring rate, adds additonal spring rate to the suspension in roll with out significantly effecting the ride..


Since your suspensions already setup it would be touch to change much to reduce BR, the sway bar should help post up after you tried it off-road.

 

[Stumpalump]

So is it like a torsion bar inside? And how come you don't need to disconect that system for trails? Nice clean install!

 

[Weasel]

Yeah like a torsion bar.

 

[Stumpalump]

John Currie says in his video that it's basically just a light sway bar. I guess a poor cheap bastard could scrounge a junk yard and find a lighter bar that would fit and basically do the same thing. Of course the Currie unit is tits as far as quality, adjustability and is just plain cool. I wonder if you could use a rear XJ bar on the front or if anybody ever tried a bar from a small vehicle that was alot lighter than stock? I know I've seen thin ones. Check out the video of John Currie explaining it here if you want. It's nice.
http://currieenterprises.com/CEStore/antirock.aspx

 

[JeepFreak21]

John Currie says in his video that it's basically just a light sway bar. I guess a poor cheap bastard could scrounge a junk yard and find a lighter bar that would fit and basically do the same thing. Of course the Currie unit is tits as far as quality, adjustability and is just plain cool. I wonder if you could use a rear XJ bar on the front or if anybody ever tried a bar from a small vehicle that was alot lighter than stock? I know I've seen thin ones. Check out the video of John Currie explaining it here if you want. It's nice.
http://currieenterprises.com/CEStore/antirock.aspx

I don't think it's that easy... but, you can save a 40 bucks if you buy Rock Equipment's knockoff.
Billy

 

[Roxtar]

I don't think it's that easy... but, you can save a 40 bucks if you buy Rock Equipment's knockoff.
Billy

Or you could build it yourself:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93596

 

[hellbilly04]

or you could buy one made to fit an XJ from here: http://www.tandjperformance.com/products-bpp-xrock.htm

Saving my pennies for one & plan on running it in the front though.

Or you could build it yourself:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93596

 

[Weasel]

I've seen them built by running a bolt through a piece of tube, lighter vehicles though.

 

[vetteboy]

Or you could build it yourself:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93596

You could, but I didn't feel like:

-sourcing pillow blocks
-sourcing bar stock for the swaybar itself
-machining the bar stock for arm mounting
-cutting/drilling arms
-cutting/drilling/tapping links
-sourcing heims for link ends
-getting pieces hardened etc.

I dropped $350 for a kit that did everything I wanted it to do in around 5 hours. I love building my own stuff, and nearly everything on my XJ has been built by me, but I also admit to points of diminishing returns. Just sourcing all the bearings and materials, and arranging for the hardening wouldn't have been much of a cost savings and I still would have had to do all the work.

or you could buy one made to fit an XJ from here: http://www.tandjperformance.com/products-bpp-xrock.htm

That's for the front and isn't wide enough to span the rear framerails in an XJ. I didn't want a swaybar in the front; the springs and suspension up there are more than adequate as far as roll resistance is concerned.

 

[Stumpalump]

I dropped $350 for a kit that did everything I wanted it to do in around 5 hours. I love building my own stuff, and nearly everything on my XJ has been built by me, but I also admit to points of diminishing returns.

Thats true on alot of stuff. I spend 4 hours looking and fiquring and 1 hour actually getting somthing done. I bought sliders because I knew that by the time I figured and fetched the steel and layed under the jeep for hours deciding what to build it would be better to just drop the 300 bucks on pre made ones. I felt like I woosed out but after building bumpers and a skid plate I owed it to myself. That Currie kit is nice and I wonder if you can rig pull pins so you can set it stiff for a long ride home and loose for the trail? It's nice to be able to play around with the settings I bet.

 

[vetteboy]

That Currie kit is nice and I wonder if you can rig pull pins so you can set it stiff for a long ride home and loose for the trail? It's nice to be able to play around with the settings I bet.

Part of putting it on there was to improve offroad performance as well. I don't plan on ever disconnecting it.

 

[josh9mile]

I know this is a 10yr old thread. I'm hoping the OP could chime in and hopefully still has the pics of his install. They seem to have disappeared from here. I'm running the Clayton rear 4 link, and putting an antirock on the front doesnt seem like a good idea for my setup since the rear seems to be doing twice the work of my front 3 link. I need to figure out how to mount it to where my upper arms are not in the way.

 

[Vanimal]

I know this is a 10yr old thread. I'm hoping the OP could chime in and hopefully still has the pics of his install. They seem to have disappeared from here. I'm running the Clayton rear 4 link, and putting an antirock on the front doesnt seem like a good idea for my setup since the rear seems to be doing twice the work of my front 3 link. I need to figure out how to mount it to where my upper arms are not in the way.

i ran one in the rear of my xj when i had a 4 link for the same reason. I ended up running it under the rear seat. worked out pretty well. it cuts right through the middle of the transmission tunnel but my driveshaft cleared it easily.

 

[josh9mile]

Would you happen to have any pics of the install?

 

[Vanimal]

nope, sold it and i dont have any pics of the sway bar. it wasnt too difficult to do though.