Stock link next to man-a-fre 2.5″ extended link.
My cruiser came with a front sway bar. Well, it was on the burnt hulk that I was able to pick parts off, I got it myself and it came home with me in the back with all the other old rusty parts.
A few weeks ago, after finally installing the transfer case shield, I went to mount it up and found that the links between the frame and the bar were too short. I sort of expected this since the rig is lifted 2.5″ compared to stock.
I can’t install the sway bars because the link between the bar and the frame are too short. I need longer ones. I did a little research and found a recommended place that makes “heavy duty” ones. Man-A-Fre. The alternative is to buy a long bolt and sleeve, make my own as the link itself is very simple:
Stock sway bar link disassembled. Simple.
Order off the internet and they arrive 3 days later. They were $18 each, postage was $17. Dang. They are quite nice though.
Sway bar with stock link installed next to pair of man-a-fre 2.5″ extended links.
Purpose of Sway Bar:
Front sway bar attaches to the car at four points:
1) Left outside of differential near the leftwheel.
2) To the left frame just above and forward of where it attaches to (1).
3) To the right frame just above and forward of (4)
4) Right outside of differential near to right wheel.
The important part of this is that the differential (the wheels) and the frame, are connected by… the springs! The wheels are unsprung, the frame is sprung. The wheels move up and down relative to the frame of the car. The sway bar gets in the way of that motion.
Sway bar is very simple. The way the bar is connected to the frame allows it to rotate. That means that if I drive straight over a speed bump the sway bar will rotate and have no effect on the motion of the differential and the wheels. However, if I drive over a speed bump at an angle, say left wheel onto the speed bump before the right wheel, that will cause the sway bar to resist the upward motion of the left wheel. The sway bar acts as a “torsion spring” a twisty spring.
So I’ve just described something the sway bar does, but why is that good? Actually, the case I describe above is not good. You don’t want to limit independent wheel movement in rough terrain. That’s why many off roaders detach their sway bars. But there is a pretty common case where sway bars are good:
Its called “going round corners”. When you go around a left hand corner the car body sways and places more force on the outside wheels. That force depresses the springs on the right side, which causes the vehicle to sway more, etc. This sway is disconcerting and bad for handling. When cornering its best to keep the vehicle flat at it keeps more weight on the underweighted inside tires. This problem is more severe if you carry lots of stuff on the roof.
So, I’m hurting the offroad ability of my vehicle in order to improve the on road handling.
Stock link
Stock link and bracket that attaches to frame.
Comparison of stock link and Man-A-Fre Heavy Duty 2.5″ extension link.
My nasty sway bar with link removed.
Stock brackets and links.
New Links Arrived!
This morning my new fancy expensive Man-A-Fre heavy duty sway bar links arrived. Nice! Very pretty. I hold them up against my sway bars and realize they are really nasty, all rusty, and need to be cleaned up before installation.
Sway bar and rotating attachment that bolts to differential housing.
Link and bracket and sway bar.
Call my friend whose place of work has a wonderful machine called a “media blaster” and he lets me use it. This is a wonderful box, you put dirty stuff in it, put your hands into rubber gloves bolted through the walls of the machine, head up to the glass. Pick up the gun, press the pedal on the floor and high pressure air and sand comes blasting out. This wears though grime, grease, rust, and leaves the metal shiny and virginal, a perfect prep for paint. I wrap it in plastic to keep it clean of oil from my hands.
After 60-70 minutes I have the pieces cleaned off pretty well. Good enough. Coming home I pick up a can of VHT Epoxy Suspension Paint which I used previously on the Porsche sway bars. Excellent stuff.
Wow
Home with a bag of clean metal.
Really is amazing. The blaster works so well, its hard to believe the same pieces went into the enclosure. I’m a huge fan.
Ready for paint
Propped up and ready for paint.
Cleaned brackets!
Cleaned Swaybar End
Cleaned bits.
Silver sway bar
Lay everything out on the driveway and hose it down with VHT. This is terrific stuff. $7 a can, easy to apply and super durable. It doesn’t tolerate UV light, but sway bars are hidden pretty well from the sun so should be ok?
The VHT must all be applied in 3 coats over 1 hour. After an hour you leave it. Can be handled in 3 hours, fully cures in 7 days, so I can install it next week. Cool!
One might wonder why I use this instead of POR15? Por15 is quite brittle feeling, its harder to the touch and I don’t think it will handle abuse as well as this VHT. Also this stuff is much less expensive and easier to apply.
Anyway, 3 hours later I move the pieces into the garage. They’re dry to the touch.
This piece was so badly rusted that media blasting put a hole through it. Still strong at the edges though.
Once nasty bracket now looks good. Eventually this will have its very own coat of fluidfilm.
CanadianBJ 