Swaybar Quick Disconnects

This is my swaybar disonnect. The stainless pin has since been replaced with a high tensile bolt and that is just pulled with a cable so no need to get under the car to disconnect or reconnect while on trail. More work to make then other designs, but way easier to use.
3arY1jql.jpg
 
That's awesome! Did you make it, or is it an of the shelf type of thing?
 
I made it.

This is the front in place. The front doesn't have as much room as the rear.
JOi7evSl.jpg

There's a nylon sleeve between the tube and swaybar so it doesn't rattle.
F97n87Ql.jpg


Cable hooked onto lower screw for good handling and onto top screw for good articulation.
eiCgnZAl.jpg

And for rear I pull the cable to loop it on the bolt. The cable tie I usually tuck up better, it's just out for the photo.
Ea7vygil.jpg


Because there are springs along the cable I don't have to be on level ground to connect and disconnect. The spring does it when I drive.

The bearing on the piece of angle was added afterwards as I did not realise how much force there was pulling the two halves of the swaybar apart.

Current setup is working well for me so far. A large reason for me doing this was the 22mm whiteline swaybars were harder to disconnect then the standard ones. One day it would be nice to have it at the flick of a switch, but that's not a priority yet.
 
That's nice work.
That bolt must be bloody strong.
 
rear bar you can just disconnect and leave there. i just secure them with some straps. what mean illegal ? whos gonna see that or check ? police? nah. cut front bumper is illegal here too i guess. but i passed MOT with it. so it must be legal then. so it depends how you look at things. and whos looking.
for front sway bar anyone test suspension travel with it and without ? how much it adds to suspension travel then ?
 
Awesome Work Mate!!!



So when does production start :woohoo:

1WD
 
On a stock SG Forester you gain 35mm travel from disconnecting the rear and 56mm travel from disconnecting the front. With my stiffer swaybars I have less travel than stock when connected and with my long travel coilovers, when the swaybars are disconnected I have more travel then stock, so the gains would be huge. I've never measured the gains on an Outback. If you drive sensibly on road you probably won't notice the rear disconnected, but you will notice the front. If you are a bit more spirited in your driving you will notice more understeer with the rear disconnected.

Originally I wasn't worried about the pin being strong enough as I knew the weakest link was the stock swaybar hangers. But since then I broke the stock swaybar hangers and needed to upgrade, so now I'm concerned about the pin again. The current pin is 12.9 grade, which is 3 times stronger then standard. Time will tell if I need to upgrade...
 
So your coilovers are not long travel? Why you put them ? Thats interesting idea for front sway bar. I was thinking like just to make quick bolt removing option but then there is no place to keep disconnected sway bar .
What if you just disconnect one side of sway bar will it then gain same travel as fully disconnected bar. Would be nice to have some fast and clean to do system to dosconnect front when you go off road and connect back on normal road.
I guess i like that understeer more on my car . i so used to it now then when i tried to drive with rear bar connected i thought car feels wrong to me. So disconnected iy again.
Not sure does rear self level struts are l stiffer then normal or smt but car drives good enough without rear bar.
P.s. i still dont understand how that system works and where it is? So its sway bar itself ?
 
I have heard of front sway bars snapping when just one side is disconnected
 
Red XS said:
The current pin is 12.9 grade, which is 3 times stronger then standard. Time will tell if I need to upgrade...
Click to expand...

a dual pin setup perhaps, would halve the load, woudn't it? Then another bearing thingy as well (Just for looks?! you'd have to rejig it so the bearing is on the other side to fit I reckon) and you'd be pretty solid.

Then sell it to me. :lildevil:
 
My coilovers are long travel and give much more travel then stock, providing I have disconnected the swaybars.

You only have to unbolt one end of the swaybar for it to be disconnected, however you must check that the unbolted end does not hit anything during travel. On some cars it can hit the tie rods. If this is the case you have to unbolt both sides and safely tie the swaybar out the way.

Outbacks with rear swaybar disconnected will handle better then early model Foresters with rear swaybar disconnected. This is due to the Outbacks multilink design. Unfortunately the Outback will not get as much travel in the rear as the early Foresters.

Yes the system is the swaybar itself. Basically my swaybar has been cut in half. When the pin is pulled the two halves of the swaybar are able to rotate freely, effectivly disconnecting it. When the pin locks in the two halves of the swaybar are locked together and the swaybar is connected.

The easier method of making a swaybar quick disconnect is replacing the bolt in the endlink with an easy release pin.
 
Ben - Did you want one with standard swaybars or whiteline 22mm swaybars? Standard swaybar won't have the forces going through it that my upgraded one has, but then you don't get the performance upgrade of the Whiteline.

Two pins would halve the load providing it's all a good fit. A thicker pin might be another option.
 
Red XS said:
Yes the system is the swaybar itself. Basically my swaybar has been cut in half. When the pin is pulled the two halves of the swaybar are able to rotate freely, effectivly disconnecting it. When the pin locks in the two halves of the swaybar are locked together and the swaybar is connected.

The easier method of making a swaybar quick disconnect is replacing the bolt in the endlink with an easy release pin.
Click to expand...

You'rs is a brilliant idea, and much more refined than having to crawl under the car.
I might have to search out some SG swaybars from the wrecker...

Did you have much difficulty finding the right diamerer bit of pipe to house it - i'm guessing it's some kind of pipe as a sleeve?
How does it handle dust/dirt/water?
 
You need a tight fit to keep the grit out. I sprayed heaps of Lanox in there when I assembled it. I also used a nylon sleeve to fit inbetween the pipe sleeve and the swaybar. The nylon sleeve was made by drilling out a rod.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/White-N...513230&hash=item4ae6e685e2:g:mVkAAOSw8OJZws9Z
A lathe would be ideal, but I used a drill press to drill out the rod to get the right diameter to slide over the swaybar. A hand drill would be very hard to get a straight enough hole. When drilling start with a small hole and work your way up really slowly.

The nylon sleeve then fits in a steel sleeve with an internal diameter of 25mm.

It will take a few goes to get a nice tight finish as the nylon expands when you drill and compresses when you put it in the steel shaft. You pretty much want the tightest fit that you can assembly by hand with help of lube. It doesn't matter if it's stiff to turn as it will be nothing for the weight of the car.

You can look up telescoping pipes if you want to go other sizes. Keep in mind you need a little bit of clearance to take into account the internal seam. Or you can just walk into a steel shop and see what the have.
https://www.aisnational.com.au/sites/aisnational.com.au/files/AIS_Directory_761.pdf

My old oem swaybar is sitting in the shed, but I don't know how cost effective it is to truck across the country.
 
So that pin is main thing that holds sway bar ? Wow. Its strong enough and sway bar dont move with it in place? I wonder what other cars doing or unlocking sway bars ?
If all clean its good but what if your sway bar all in mud how you connect or disconnect it then? You must clean it properly i guess.
I tried disconnect front sway bar on both sides but i cannot drive like that there is no space for sway bar ends to hold as it touches something when suspension starts to move.
Cut in half away bar cant give same results as normal sway bar is it? I mean its allready dont have strenght as oem does is it? I had thought connect front sway bar to liken rubber end links maybe so it woulf stay in same place but could move and let suspension flex. But maybe its not good idea
 
Jeep Rubicon's and Dodge Rams have swaybars that disconnect in a similar way to mine, but have a stronger locking mechanism and are enclosed. Down side is they are bulky and there isn't enough space under a Subie.
Nissan Patrol have made disconnects on the endlinks, but that system relies on having longer endlinks then Subies have.
Top models of Landcruiser and several other expensive vehicles have methods which allows the swaybar to move at the push of a button, but these systems were more complex to make.

I've done puddles and dirt, but I don't know how it would go in deep mud. There's not much mud where I live.

Glad you checked if your swaybar would hit before going on a drive. There's no way to tie it out of the way?

If you cut your swaybar you will need a mechanism to lock and unlock.
All the oem swaybar mounting on my Forester was weak. The hangers are made out of very thin metal and the welds are just a small tack. So I knew there wasn't too much force going through the oem swaybar. I don't know what Outbacks are like.
 
And i see your sway bar on some spacers yes? I mean its more far away from frame as i see . mine so close and after lift maybe its in more tension because of lift. Duno but it seems like. Seems like we have diff system to swaybars as well there.
I tried to tie it to something but as its not straight its still hitting something and i cant face it down then it would hit something on road that would be worse.
 
I updated to stronger spacers because I bent the oem ones. But they are the same height as the oem spacers. The Outback swaybars seem completely different to the Forester ones.
 
maybe you familiar with my model front suspension and how much it would gain with front sway bar disconnected in suspension travel ? its kinda hard to find that kind of info , guess not many people measured or did that , as they dont see outbacks as cars to lift and use to places as foresters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top