Thread: Puma's Torsion bar keeps warping....

Originally Posted by Bush65

IMHO, the disco rear sway bar does not necessarily hurt the offroad capability when connected. It helps the front to flex more so swings and roundabouts. But I have long fairly soft springs - heavy rear springs may be different.

Stock it does prevent down travel before stock shockies are fully extended. Spacing the swaybar mount down at the chassis can remedy this problem.

I have heavy rear springs.....and I shagged out my bushes it went with a real crack both of them the descision was made for me

Originally Posted by dullbird

I'm actually looking to fit my sway bar back on with disconnects...

What brand disconnects are you going for? Do you have a link to a site? I've been tossing the idea of trying the copy or mod the electronic disconects that you can get on a Jeep Rubicon. These are expensive though

And no mine have never inverted???

Cheers,

no there are links in the disco section somewhere though.....I have sent my engineer an email to ask if he would engineer them

Originally Posted by chumpion

Hi folks,

Every time I take my Puma offroad, one side of the torsion bar "pops up" on itself, and I need to crow-bar it back down when I get home. The ride home is a bit rougher than normal, and when I get back, it's easy to fix.

But it's a bit of a pain in the neck.

Does anyone else have this happen? I've popped into my local LR Dealer in Parramatta, and they said it was pretty common.....

Are you referring to what we call 'anti roll bars' if so people over here take them off for serious offroading and re install for road use.

Originally Posted by Grockle

Are you referring to what we call 'anti roll bars' if so people over here take them off for serious offroading and re install for road use.

That is what I have assumed.

Originally Posted by JohnR

What brand disconnects are you going for? Do you have a link to a site? I've been tossing the idea of trying the copy or mod the electronic disconects that you can get on a Jeep Rubicon. These are expensive though

And no mine have never inverted???

Cheers,

When the stock sway bar is connected and the wheel on one side is able to droop as far as it will go, the forward facing arm (of the sway bar) and the link at the axle end become aligned. On my disco, this happens before stock shockies are fully extended.

When the wheel is forced back up, it is possible for the link to invert. It is just luck (with a little bit of gravity) if the link returns to the stock position.

The problem is that the link is too short, and or the chassis mount for the sway bar is too high.

Edit: dullbird was talking about the sway bar on her disco. As it is a 110, defender thread I don't know how this applies to swaybars on defenders.

Originally Posted by clean32

if you read the sentencing he was jailed for his driving not the defender

COrrect, but he copped a serve from the judge, not to mention his former fiancee about the modifications he did to the vehicle.

Originally Posted by dullbird

...a lot of the unsafe mods were to do with his braking etc.....and were done by himself and poorly...

This is the thing... a lot of chatter on UK forums I read suggested people who knew him and the vehicle were confident in his abilities and the condition of the car. It comes down to professional opinion and that means seemingly OK off-road modifications could be classed as unroadworthy on a technicality. So simply removing a sway bar could be judged by some as "you took off a thing that was meant to make your vehicle corner better on the road" ergo, you made your vehicle un-roadworthy (or at least less roadworthy.

Originally Posted by dullbird

I'm actually looking to fit my sway bar back on with disconnects...

That seems like the best option by far so your vehicle maintains its on-road manners and legality but gives you the option off-road.

the tragedy in the UK and the press reporting of it hasn't given a clear picture of what exactly where the mods and faults, but i have posted this else where and am still interested in getting some more facts.

sway bars will by nature limit actuation. there job is to push the lower wheel up and the high wheel down relative to the body, that the opposite of what we want. simple really.

although my first post was a bit toung in cheek and bearing in mind that i have a whooping big diesel tank hanging out the back which precludeds the fitting of a sway bar. as this tank is all kosha i see no problems.

disconnects, great idea, but what happens if it fails? or you do the big stretch with out unlocking it? but if you where to fit them i would up grade to a heavier sway bar to get the best benefit. they are not a bad idea but my view is it just adds more potential problems

extending the mounts, yes seen this done, they hang off your bum like dangly bits and would make nice parallel trenches on any accent unlit they get ripped off. forward mounted sway bar not a bad idea.

if the porting of your shocks are good and correct then there really is no need for a sway bar either unless you drive your defender like a petrol head.

lastly if it handling on road that you wish to improve the real way its the sway bar up front that will do the work. unless your rear springs are like marsh mellows.