Sway Bar Disconnect

[85_Ranger4x4]

Initial plan when I did my D35 swap was to retain the D28 radius arm and rear sway bar.

Had the brainy idea last night if I used the sway bar that came with my '95 D35 it probably wouldn't be too hard to make it disconnect for more articulation.

Anybody done this?

 

[Curious Hound]

I wanted to do sway bar disconnects for a long time. I finally disconnected them completely and they are still collecting dust under a workbench in the shop. Cheap, easy solution.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

This thing has a really freaking long road trip loaded fairly heavy in its sights... I don't really want to permanently make it handle worse. About 15 hours nonstop one way so I don't want to fight an ill handling truck the whole way and back. But at the end of said road trip is an off road park.

Suspension is stock and I have limited slip in the rear... so any added front articulation will help the thing overall if it helps keep traction to the rear wheels.

Trying to make the most of what I have for cheap...

Not sure if I can just use like a hitch pin/hair pin where the link mounts to the front of the axle or if there is too much tension on them or If I can even add the later bar to my earlier truck.

 

[4x4junkie]

I've had disco's on my Ranger for a good number of years now. They were home-made ones, and were a bit hard to put back together (I cut the stock ones in the middle, welded a tube over one side, and used a bolt w/wingnut to hold the other side together). They did serve their purpose though.

More recently we did disco's on a friend's Explorer... He bought Rubicon Express Jeep JK disconnects, which required the lower mounts be modified (a non-issue since there was already a lot of customization going on). However I think YJ Wrangler disco's separate in the middle (or maybe it's CJ ones, I forget), which should work on the Ford TTB without modification.

You will need to swap to the later sway bar if yours is the behind the axle type.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I've had disco's on my Ranger for a good number of years now. They were home-made ones, and were a bit hard to put back together (I cut the stock ones in the middle, welded a tube over one side, and used a bolt w/wingnut to hold the other side together). They did serve their purpose though.

More recently we did disco's on a friend's Explorer... He bought Rubicon Express Jeep JK disconnects, which required the lower mounts be modified (a non-issue since there was already a lot of customization going on). However I think YJ Wrangler disco's separate in the middle (or maybe it's CJ ones, I forget), which should work on the Ford TTB without modification.

You will need to swap to the later sway bar if yours is the behind the axle type.

Thanks! I will have to look into that!

Any complications you know of going to the later sway bar? AKA anything special about where it mounts on a later frame?

I need to go digging thru my iron pile and try to find the sway bar and mounts now... I think it had some sort of fiber links which were broken when I got it.

 

[4x4junkie]

It's possible you might have to drill holes in the frame for the swaybar brackets to mount up, but the brackets themselves are basically the same shape as U-shaped pipe or conduit clamps (just thicker), each held down with two bolts. I don't see an issue as long as the bottom of your frame is relatively smooth & flat where you need to mount it.

The swaybar runs through two bushings (urethane or rubber), each of which are held down by the U-clamps (the one on the rig I mentioned above is visible in the picture here, maybe that helps give you a better idea?).

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Here is a crappy pic of my axle right after I got it, I did have all the parts at one time.



That was a few years ago, hopefully the clamps are still on the bar which is probably towards the bottom of my scrap pile which is now buried in snow.

I didn't know if the frame had any special bracing or anything, I figured holes would be required but it sounds pretty cut and dry.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I removed the sway bar and haven't looked back...

6" lift with unknown red coils, homebrew leaf pack and 3" blocks (need a traction bar, like bad...) and 35" tires. My Ranger has done a bit of everything since I lifted it, it's driven over mountain passes, towed a 3000lb enclosed trailer (around 7500 pounds combined I think with the ol turbo 2.3L) over a mountain pass 350 miles from home, rolled down a hill sideways... . Yes there's body roll as expected but still drive it as fast as any other car on the road even on corners.

If you have stock suspension, I see no use for a sway bar... it feels goofy at first but I got used to it and it doesn't phase me anymore... if you drive rationally it really isn't that bad.

I'm all for disconnects, and like a couple said I contemplated it and kept the sway bar for a while after I swapped and lifted with intentions of installing it but never got around to it and it isn't as scary as I thought...

 

[gw33gp]

scotts90ranger, you may drive as fast around corners without sway bars as other cars but that doesn't mean you are able to drive around corners as fast as cars with sway bars are capable of. Most people (at least 99%) don't push their vehicles to the limit when cornering. That is good because most people don't know how to drive on that edge.

I have been racing in SCCA for over 30 years and can tell you for certain that in general, vehicles with sway bar(s) (or something equivalent) are faster around corners than ones that do not have sway bars. That is true when the grip or traction is good. When grip goes down, such as in the rain, sway bars are not good. Soft suspension, including sway bars (none or light) is the way to go in low grip situations on smooth surfaces.

I built disconnects for my Ranger and really like them disconnected when off-road. When I get back on pavement I can't wait to get them connected again. I don't feel comfortable with a lot of lean in the corners but I carry at lot of weight (heavy shell, camping gear and supplies for a week of camping) which causes a lot of lean in the corners. Light vehicles are decent at cornering without sway bars but still need a relatively stiff suspension to minimize lean in the corners.

Sway bars need to be tuned to the vehicle to work properly. You can make a vehicle handle worse with sway bars if set up wrong.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I won't not need them much, I have had a sway bar on the truck so far and after 18.5 years I haven't wished I didn't have anything very often but the option in theory would be nice.

I have never had the thing on a honest to god "trail" though, the roadtrip in question is to the roundup in Ohio. The disconnects would let me have it both ways and if I ever decide down the road I need more flex it is just a couple pins away.

I don't even know how much if a difference it will make with a stock suspension, it might be a complete joke and not gain anything.

Loaded heavy is a topper, spare set of tires and a bunch of camping gear and truck spare parts in the bed with two people in the cab. Truck has a bodylift so it does have a somewhat higher CG. And we will probably take turns driving... so I don't want it too weird for my wife either.

 

[BlackBII]

I have my sway bar mounted all the time on my Ranger, and bring a set of wrenches to remove the bolt on the axle beam whenever I go wheeling.

The factory sway bar already has "disconnects", you just need a wrench or two.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have my sway bar mounted all the time on my Ranger, and bring a set of wrenches to remove the bolt on the axle beam whenever I go wheeling.

The factory sway bar already has "disconnects", you just need a wrench or two.

I had thought about that too. Come apart pretty easy or is there much tension on it?

If I had the stupid axle in the truck now it would be a lot easier to play with...

 

[4x4junkie]

Sway bar vs. no sway bar makes a huge difference off road even on a stock suspension. Only thing is you'll reach the travel limits of the suspension quicker than if you have a suspension lift that adds more travel (stock travel is about 6" on the SLA IFS and about 7" on the TTB).

I did the wrench thing for a bit... It got kinda old.
Pull a couple pins, push the bar up out of the way (secure with a bungee cord if needed), and you're on your way.


FWIW, I've found the handling on a TTB truck seems somewhat less affected by removing the swaybar. I've driven a SLA IFS truck w/o it's swaybar and it definitely had more-pronounced body lean even at stock height than my TTB trucks do.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I wasn't saying they don't help, just that like junkie mentioned above with TTB it makes less difference than you would think... and I know what you mean, my DD 5.0L explorer has both sway bars and with that pig I don't think it'd be as pleasant without any, most people say the SLA suspension doesn't do well without sway bars... but with both sway bars the sploder handles pretty good for 4500lb or so of metal going down the road...

I don't blame ya on wanting to play it safe, if it's just for one trip I'd be tempted to just do the bolt thing (if a bolt is under plreload, a pin will be too...), take it for a joy ride without one on the street and see how it does then make a judgement call for yourself whether it's needed or not

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The lost is found!



I think the holes are already in my frame. Maybe in '85 they were already making changes for the '86 Supercabs?



I was at the JY (and nabbed new clamps since the guy that pulled my axle blew out one hole on each of mine with a torch) and noticed they don't exactly sit flat on the frame so I will need to shim that.