oh while I am thinking about it, what makes you think since it's a common problem to break heat temper harded steel OEM end links probably at least a grade 5, that your inferior stainless steel (probably 18-8 equivalent to a grade 2) will hold up any better?

 

And as promised pics... No measurements though, running out of daylight...


Before: Front sway bar connected...



After: Front sway bar disconnected...



So yeah... I'm a beleiver???? Front stuff with a 35" tire - CloseUp...

 

BUT, how does it feel. I (tried) to service my control arm bushings, and SNAP, both ends are toast. So off came the control arm bar. Dang, so 22 years of driving with it, then without as of today, Out is not bad. Besides I drive like an old lady with lockers.

 

oooops meant SWAY BAR bushings

 

Why did I say sway bar,? Forgive me.

 

Oh forget it................... you know what I mean, the wife as yellin at me as I was trying to get my point accross

 

Wabbit's links are the best around. I don't run them, but I've seen them personally and if my truck was a DD, I would buy some. If someone can't see the benefit of running swayless on the trails, that means they haven't tried it for themselves. 3" of travel is an exaggeration - I got ~1" more travel. However, that 1" does make a difference and I've noticed in some particular places where I was lifting a tire and spinning before, I'm still on the ground and getting traction now. The sway bar links don't bear much weight when you're driving normally on road. But, on the trails when you lift a tire of the ground, that weight transfers to the other side and the link becomes pretty darn weight bearing at that point. The OEMs don't snap like this because things get lighter...

 

How does a part snap if it never experiences some force? And what would be the cause of the force?

I have snapped OEM end links clean in half doing a U-turn with the OME/TRD lift. I went with Wabfab's disconnects and they haven't given me any problems at all. Highly recommend them, plus he gives great customer service and he's my Facebook friend

 

what breaks OEM links is age and rust (or modification like a lift, w/o modifying the end links also).

no rust, it will never break.

stainless will do the job 100% and not rust as fast as OEM (stainless will eventually rust but it will take 100 years vs 5)
but yeah stainless is not beefy enough to go wheeling with. OK for street. anyhow, who would use stainless anyway ?

 

I don't use quick disco's so I don't really have a horse in this race, but I always trust what Steve Schaefer says as he is a pioneer in 3rd gen suspension modification. Here is what Stever says about disconnecting the sway bar:

" By disconnecting the front sway bar you may gain a very slight amount of added a-arm droop, but here is the problem with an IFS truck. The only tire that has any weight on it is the one compressed, so it does not matter if the other tire is in the air, almost on the ground or on the ground. It will spin because it has no weight on it.

It is however correct to disconnect a sway bar on a straight axle truck as it will increase articulation. The real benefit of having a straight axle is that both front tires bear the weight at all times, not only one like an IFS truck under articulation."

 

My snapped one (in the pic above) doesn't have a spec of rust on it. It snapped from the weight/stress.

If you guys don't believe it makes a difference on an IFS truck then you should definitely not try it out for yourself because other people's opinions are always better than your own experience. Really, what I mean is try it before you make up your mind, it only takes ~10 minutes to remove.

 

The "old swaybar debate"!

I run a swaybar on road. I unbolt my links and take them off when off-road.

My feelings are that I do get more travel in front. More importantly it rides much better off-road. The front wheels work more independent. The vehicle walks thru holes and up steps with less pitching of the whole vehicle. Since the vehicle pitches less the rear tires stay on the ground more.

There will always be two sides to this debate.

 

has anybody seen the photos that Kregg just posted? He's showing compression not droop.

In some people's defense, disconnecting the swaybar does not give you more travel. The only thing that will is modifying the upper and lower bump stops or adding a bracket lift and not extending the bump stops.

What it does do however is allows you to use more of the travel that you already have. How? By taking the stored energy in the swaybar out of the equation. With the swaybar disconnected the swaybar is no longer "pushing" up on the frame, which takes away from the ability to stuff the tire right to the upper bump stop. On a harder hit on the terrain you won't see as much of an advantage as the force on the tire pushing it up is much greater. Where you really see the benefit is when crawling.

As a side note, you won't see as much of a benefit if you are running a stiffer spring, stiffer shock or have your torsions bars cranked more. WHich is probably why some people are seeing between 1" and 3" of travel "increase"

The same goes or the "added" droop but for the opposite reason. The swaybar will no longer be "pulling" up on the tire allowing it to droop easier to the lower bump stop.

 

I really don't understand what the big deal is. If it travels more, great! If not, darn! Either way, there is NO argument that the off road ride is much better. So what if disconnecting doesn't take you from a level 5 trail up to a level 8 trail. It will help keep your spine from throbbing on the drive home after a day/weekend of wheeling. After dealing with "this individual" several times on this forum, it is beginning to feel like we are dealing with either a 16 year old rich kid, whose mommy and daddy have bought everything! or a man who is 3 feet tall and feels like he has to prove something to the world. Everything midget does is better than us, everything midget has is better than ours. MOVE ON MIDGET! maybe there is another toyota forum where the users will be on your level. I know that myself along with several other people are tired of the negativity that comes with EVERY one of your posts.

Wabbit, I LOVE your disco's. if I had the money, I would have a set on my rig right now. Keep up your good work!

And as I have said in previous posts. midget, GO FLY A KITE!!!!!!

 

Maybe he would best be "served" on Pirate.

 

hmm, my 100% stock 99, when used to max articulation 14 times a day, every weekend day, for 10 years, the endlinks only snapped from rust.

I have carried a load of cut wood about 1 cord (entire back filled to roof with seats removed, and passenger seat full of wood) and that didn't snap or bend my endlinks

(my driveway is, shall we say, extremely bony... and I scrape the skid plates and pumpkin all the time, and have one wheel in the air, need to use the locker...all that...I go really slow)

 

Man, now I am all worried about breaking mine!
What would be the pros of adding a heavy duty end link set to a DD rig that sees snow, ice, beaches, and beat-up logging roads?
And is there an increased risk of damage due to simply lifting the truck?

 

Peace of mind.

 

Mine was 13 years old, and definitely no rust (actually, there's no rust to speak of anywhere on my truck). It snapped when I was wheelin and going down an off camber steep hill. The weight shifted and I heard a pop. They definitely limit upwards travel too because the the weight of the truck forced the suspension to go farther than what the link allowed. This smashed and bent the link until it snapped. It wasn't a clean break, the link had definitely been pounded out of shape before it broke.

BTW, I have OME 883s (med/heavy duty) so I would think the stiffer coils would prevent this more than a stock coil, but it still snapped it. I think it has everythng to do with lifting. Since the control arms are pushed down further than stock, they have more upward range to build up energy and when the weight of the truck comes down on them, they bottom out with more force.

I'm definitely no physicist, but I would compare it to hitting a nail with a hammer from 4" away as opposed to a foot away.

 

brian you are correct, that is why they make swaybar drop brakets.

I just hope that Mr. Stainless Steel guy realizes that these sway bars do carry weight on them.