Swaybar disconnects

**mattyg** · 24th February 2013, 07:59 PM

I was PM'd by another member about the installation and performance of my slickrock fabrication swaybar disconnects.
I thought I'd post the info on here for everyone.

Part One - Installation

They came without instructions but It was fairly straight forward. See pic 1 and 2. There were no washers supplied for under the mounting nuts and bolts so I put a couple on.

I mounted to the left / passenger side only as there was a general consensus on the forum that only one was required. ( which made sense at the time as it allows one side to move with the axle and the other to move free) I chose the left side as the right side has the panhard rod bracket sticking out and I thought that may limit clearance. See pic 3
It was supplied with stubs to secure them in a stowed position when they disconnected. This would only work if both were disconnected so I chose not to mount them and to cable tie the link to the swaybar to keep it out of the way when disconnected.

Part Two to come.....

**mattyg** · 24th February 2013, 08:45 PM

Part Two - performance

I went out and had a play flexing a while ago and took some pics. So I revisited the same spot today with the disconnects in and got some comparison pics.

I haven't had a chance to go for a decent off road since I put them in so I cannot give a proper review - just some observations from fairly static travel ramp stuff.

First three pics are with the sway bar connected.
There rear wheels had just started to slip a tiny bit when I was nearing the top.

Second three are with it disconnected.
There was no slip whatsoever. Notice how much flatter the car is sitting.

I was quite impressed with the difference. The flex was much more evenly distributed between front and rear axels. Notice in the last pic the space between the disconnect and the axle mount. This is how much more flex I got! (Minus a little bit of spring in the swaybar itself)

**goingbush** · 24th February 2013, 09:46 PM

good-o

Whenever I buy a 4WD if its got sway bars it the first thing to come off & go on the nature strip for hard rubbish collection.

Never been a problem for me on road without them (in a Defender and 80 & 100 series beforehand) . But I don't drive like that bloke that wears the Helmet on the Jeremy Clarkson show.

I'd be interested to hear if the on road handling has suffered with the sway bar disconnected.

(looks like the Warbys)

..Don

**mattyg** · 25th February 2013, 05:46 AM

It is indeed the Warby's - well observed Don!

There will be a Part Three where i found a bigger 'ramp' and found some limitations. I'll include a on road test diaconnected as well.

Stay tuned

**walker** · 25th February 2013, 10:01 AM

I have the disconnects on my D2, but I have to admit, I usually never have the connected. It drives fine with front and rear swaybars disconnected. There is a bit more body roll but still a lot less than a RRC.

**mattyg** · 25th February 2013, 05:52 PM

Part Three

So I found a bigger rock.

Front axle was at 23deg rear still on the ground, no slipping or traction control.

As you can see in the 4th pic the slickrock disconnect stowed on the side of the swaybar has come into contact with the axle. After seeing this it made me realise that using both disconnects (1 each side) would stop this as you could rotate the whole swaybar assembly up out of the way.

I am not sure I would get much more flex out of mine anyway as the tyres are pretty well tucked into the guards. If it flexed too much more I reckon it would risk dislocating a spring. If i were building a play truck with slinky springs then I'd put both in but as a all rounder with HD OME's I don't think I will.

Interestingly I tried this big rock with with my SLS at offroad height (+40mm) and I got wheel slip on the front right wheel. Pumping up the airbag has obviously reduced the flexibility in the back and the front can't make up for it.

I'd appreciate others thoughts on my findings. Especially the one disconnect or both.

Cheers
Matt

**twr7cx** · 25th February 2013, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by walker

I have the disconnects on my D2, but I have to admit, I usually never have the connected. It drives fine with front and rear swaybars disconnected. There is a bit more body roll but still a lot less than a RRC.

Yuck! The ACE on my D2 played up the other day on the way to the beach (red light on the dash and the ACE stopped functioning). The handling of the vehicle at 60km/h was disgusting - heaps of body roll and wobble, wouldn't want to try that on the highway! I would imagine this would be the equivalent of driving with the swaybar removed or disconnected!

**mattyg** · 25th February 2013, 06:03 PM

By the way specs on mine for reference are:

40mm lift - ome HD coils front, SLS spacers rear.

Bilstien shocks + 40mm - parts 994 and 995.

+2" brake lines and pulled through extra abs wire

Cross member spaced out

265/75 MT MTZ on Range Rover 16x8 inch alloys road pressure.

**Alex 110** · 25th February 2013, 07:20 PM

I'm thinking about disconnects (or removing swaybars entirely) but I reckon its my shocks that are the limiting factor for me - I got Suspension Stuff "Silver" shocks that were listed for a +2" lift, but they are the same length as the original (LR branded) shocks I took off. All SS told me when I queried them was that my original shocks must be long-travel ones.
BTW 2 inches extra travel needed on the shocks before the springs can be levered out - forget dislocating.
The reason for posting here, is would the flex be better with disconnects even when I reckon the swaybars are not limiting travel??
Alex
PS sorry mods if I'm not supposed to badmouth suppliers - feel free to delete or modify as necessary

**walker** · 25th February 2013, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Yuck! The ACE on my D2 played up the other day on the way to the beach (red light on the dash and the ACE stopped functioning). The handling of the vehicle at 60km/h was disgusting - heaps of body roll and wobble, wouldn't want to try that on the highway! I would imagine this would be the equivalent of driving with the swaybar removed or disconnected!

If you had that bad a handling with ACE disconnected then I would be looking at bushes etc for problems.
With my old D2 which had ACE I had a mod fitted which allowed me to switch off ACE when in high range. I tried this a few times on the highway and except for increased body roll the handling was good.
BTW this mod was fitted as it was a much nicer ride on bad dirt roads with ACE turned off. It was also handy for sand driving like Simpson which was mostly done in high range.

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