XJ Procrack swaybar

There is nothing wrong with building your own sway bar. However, I definetly would NOT reccomend welding the arms to the torsion bar. Most torsion/sway bars are formed from heat treated spring steel. The weld creates a stress riser, and will eventually crack on the edge of the heat affected zone.

This is exactly why most torsion/sway bars are either forged in one peice or have the arms splined for a mechanical connection. The bar isn't exactly something you want to fail while on the road.
 
Boostwerks.com said:
There is nothing wrong with building your own sway bar. However, I definetly would NOT reccomend welding the arms to the torsion bar. Most torsion/sway bars are formed from heat treated spring steel. The weld creates a stress riser, and will eventually crack on the edge of the heat affected zone.

This is exactly why most torsion/sway bars are either forged in one peice or have the arms splined for a mechanical connection. The bar isn't exactly something you want to fail while on the road.
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Completely agreed. Did you look at the pictures?

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DSC01786.jpg


The non-hardened A-arm adapters which are splined to the torsion bar, are welded to the arms. The torsion bar is not welded to the arms, there are some tacs on the outside of the bar so the splined adapters don't fall off.
 
Well it's good to know that the adapters are splined, but I still would not have even tacked to the end of the torsion bar. The correct thing to do would have been to machine and tap a hole in the end of the bar for a retaining bolt, or to simply cut off wheel a groove for a snap ring.

Call me paranoid, but I speak from experience.
 
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Boostwerks.com said:
Well it's good to know that the adapters are splined, but I still would not have even tacked to the end of the torsion bar. The correct thing to do would have been to machine and tap a hole in the end of the bar for a retaining bolt, or to simply cut off wheel a groove for a snap ring.

Call me paranoid, but I speak from experience.
Click to expand...

I dont know of any drill or tap which could penetrate this hardened torsion bar and a snap-ring would eat up my spline engagement, not to mention being unjustifiably expensive for a junk yard sway bar setup.

I considered drilling and tapping a hole in the A-arm adapter, adding a flat spot to the torsion bar and staking the entire assembly with a bolt but again I fell back on the tack-welds because I feel they're stronger than a bolt for their intended purpose. Even if the tack welds crack and fail, the splines are messed up enough it shouldn't allow the adapter to slide off. I still have full spline engagement prior to the possible stress riser and I don't see how I'm losing any strength.

The torsion bar and adapter held up to 300,000 miles of constant load on a 3,700lb vehicle. I believe I have an acceptable margin of safety and I speak from experience as well.
 
I'd never weld the adapter to the arm... would have used two bolts as the factory isuzu application did. Actually came here to post that. I don't see a problem with a small tack weld to hold the splined shaft into the adapter though.

That being said this is an awesome idea and I look forward to the results.

Any thoughts on making it lock/unlock by using bolts through the adapter and arm instead of a weld, and removing the bolts when needed? I'm not sure it's the best idea, but I'm still thinking about it...
 
kastein said:
I'd never weld the adapter to the arm... would have used two bolts as the factory isuzu application did. Actually came here to post that. I don't see a problem with a small tack weld to hold the splined shaft into the adapter though.

That being said this is an awesome idea and I look forward to the results.

Any thoughts on making it lock/unlock by using bolts through the adapter and arm instead of a weld, and removing the bolts when needed? I'm not sure it's the best idea, but I'm still thinking about it...
Click to expand...

I see where you're going and I paid careful attention to the OEM trooper engineering. The bolt-holes on the A-arm adapter you refer-to hold the splined adapter against a second splined attachment on the backside of the trooper A-arm. I don't believe the two bolts were intended to pickup all the shearing force.

I found some pics online, the lower pic being the second splined attachment which you can't see until the A-arm adapter is removed. The A-arm adapter is more of a sleeve linking two splined attachments, one being the torsion bar, the other a splined bolt on the backside of the A-arm in Pic#2 below.

torsionbarintolowera-arm-hi.jpg


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Thanks I'm glad you like the idea. Are there any more strength concerns?
 
I got it finished and drove it around town today. No issues, I didn't die, and it works! The resistance to roll is very noticeable but not quite as stiff as the stock sway bar, it handles good. I hope to go wheeling in the next few weeks and try it out.

I used polyurethane inserts for the stock sway bar bracket and some moog sway bar links I found at the auto-parts store which are an experiment in themselves. Previously I have fabricated all of my own sway-bar disconnects and I really hope these last. The moog sway bar links are good out to 35 degrees of deflection so they should do the trick.

file-19.jpg


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Can you explain the advantage/point of this vs. stock or addco HD front sway bar?
If it is 'weaker' than stock, then you can leave it hooked up when wheeling?
 
That looks like one of the isuzu's torsion bars... very interesting.

I will be heading to the jy in an hour or so to help a friend look for a usable ej251, might check out the isuzus while I am there.
 
Why does everyone seem so worried about a possible failure? Half the people I know run no swaybar, and the other half have driven on the street with their swaybar disconnected at some point. If you were flat out at the limit in a turn and it failed I could see a problem, but who's diving a lifted xj flat out in the turns anyway?
 
The op wasn't worried about it, everyone else was. He built a copy of an off-road swaybar, which won't work as well on the street as the stock one(which isn't great anyway). If he was looking for high speed cornering, shorter arms would have been in order. I don't see a failure being caused by a couple tack welds, but even if it were, I don't see the danger.
 
I had a rough country sway bar end link let go while going off a highway offramp. Scary to say the least, but everything was fine.
 
CobraMarty said:
Can you explain the advantage/point of this vs. stock or addco HD front sway bar?
If it is 'weaker' than stock, then you can leave it hooked up when wheeling?
Click to expand...

I guess I put all sway bars in two catagories: street and off road. The addco and stock sway bar are for the street as they almost completely limit the front suspension from artuculating right? Sway bars designed for the street have to be unhooked for wheeling. An off road sway-bar is left hooked up all the time, no disconnects, its designed to add balance to a suspension system.

Previous to this build I didn't run a sway bar and my stiff rear leaves didnt flex much at all. The front suspension is so compliant it does all of the work.

I wanted an off road sway bar like the currie antirock which adds resistance to articulation, forcing the rear leaves to flex and share the work. Its a compromise for street driving no-doubt but so far the street manners seem to be a reasonable compromise if the off road performance is improved. I haven't tested it on the trail yet. Side hills and off camber stuff should be improved as well since this sway bar will be left hooked up.
 
zachandandy said:
Why does everyone seem so worried about a possible failure? Half the people I know run no swaybar, and the other half have driven on the street with their swaybar disconnected at some point. If you were flat out at the limit in a turn and it failed I could see a problem, but who's diving a lifted xj flat out in the turns anyway?
Click to expand...

Nail on the head. I got into Jeeps with the mentality that they're safer than all my previous forms of motorsports, this mod dooesn't even register on the danger scale. I'm going to load my 2 and 4 year old daughters in the death-trap and go wheeling now :lol:
 
zachandandy said:
The op wasn't worried about it, everyone else was. He built a copy of an off-road swaybar, which won't work as well on the street as the stock one(which isn't great anyway). If he was looking for high speed cornering, shorter arms would have been in order. I don't see a failure being caused by a couple tack welds, but even if it were, I don't see the danger.
Click to expand...

Simply put: you should not weld (or even heat) spring steel. Go ask any ME. Sure it may not fail, and may actually last. It is however whether or not your willing to risk a failure and possibly putting your life or someone elses in harms way.

I'm glad it works so far, but only time will tell. Either way, I'd be checking it daily for cracks.
 
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