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chopshop
07-03-2004, 04:11 PM
I am a cheap bastard.

http://img2.exs.cx/img2/168/Dsc02044.jpg

http://img2.exs.cx/img2/8963/Dsc02050.jpg

ATL ZJ
07-03-2004, 04:32 PM
I actually like that. But then again, I'm a cheap bastard too...

BigDaveZJ
07-03-2004, 06:03 PM
I actually like that. But then again, I'm a cheap bastard too...

I'm an even cheaper, and lazier bastard. Both of my swaybars are in my backyard and have been for two years or so. Although that is a sweet idea!

Alaska ZJ
07-03-2004, 08:28 PM
dude....that is so Ghetto and Ingenious that it is awesome. I really like that.

Although if I did it I would put the air coupler on the up side so the dirt would fall OUT of it instead of INTO it.

Awesome idea.

jwbronco
07-03-2004, 08:35 PM
I like the idea but I think a few run or sometime out in the elements and you won't be disconnecting anything. Those are not the most friendly to use when they get all filled with dirt and mud.....trust me.

gearhead313
07-03-2004, 09:11 PM
Wow... that is truely usin the ol' noggin there! I can't believe that couple actually holds the force of the pitching of the vehicle! :thumbsup:

BMRisko
07-03-2004, 11:41 PM
John Mesko did this eons ago. There should be a few posts in the NAGCA archives. Cool idea nonetheless.

Peak ZJ
07-04-2004, 12:00 AM
Sway bar..... What's that? :lol:

jpmtx
07-04-2004, 02:05 AM
Good input, chopshop. Thanks for posting it. John Mesko is indeed running a similar setup on The Zebra. So you are in good company. Here is a link to the photos I took at GSW 2004 of John's discos. I'm sure he won't mind my posting them here.

http://community.webshots.com/album/159134794VNfqNW

This disco mod is on my current "to do" list. The nicest thing I like about this setup is that, according to John, they also allow you to reconnect real quick. This is something my current "quick disco" setup definitely does not allow me to do.

My intention is to continue to always run connected on-road and always disconnected off-road. So I believe that the stress, if any, on the couplers (gearhead313's concern) should be lateral only. This lateral stress on the couplers should occur on-road only, when my rig would generally not be articulating much at all. I may be wrong, but I don't think I need to worry about lateral stress too much in this situation. The only vertical stress on the couplers I would anticipate having would be if I ran connected off-road, something I don't plan to do. Also, since the disco and coupler will be disconnected and in one of my tool bags whenever I go off-road, I don't anticipate getting any dirt or mud in the coupler (Alaska ZJ's and jwbronco's concerns) either. Make sense? Let me know if you guys agree or disagree. I would like to hear all the possible positives and negatives before I go this route.

Also, since I see you modified both discos, I assume you may be planning to disconnect both ends of your swaybar off-road. If so, Dan Mick showed me a trick last year that you may find interesting (if you don't know about it already). It works on my rig, and may work on yours too. Dan had me disconnect only one end of the swaybar and leave the other connected. This allows the disconnected end of the swaybar to float up and down as my rig articulates. When I do this, my swaybar doesn't hit or interfere with anything on my rig as far as I can tell. And I don't have to bother with tying the swaybar up out of the way every time I disconnect it. Like I said, I believe this is working for me. At least I haven't noticed any problems yet. And I have run some pretty difficult trails doing so. If anyone has had any negative results with this approach, I would appreciate hearing about that too.

Jim

chopshop
07-04-2004, 09:27 AM
thanks guys. I was laughing making them. hehehe, these are gross. they are getting a little sticky with dirt, but still work. I just give a blast of air and some oil to loosen them up again.
(stare at alaska's tits)

my rig isn't very large, they seem to handle the load no problem.

up here in Canada, these little things cost big bucks. I'm not paying $120 for stupid disco's.

(go back, stare at alaska's tits.)

jwbronco
07-04-2004, 09:51 AM
whenever I go off-road, I don't anticipate getting any dirt or mud in the coupler (Alaska ZJ's and jwbronco's concerns) either. Make sense? Let me know if you guys agree or disagree. I would like to hear all the possible positives and negatives before I go this route.

Also, since I see you modified both discos, I assume you may be planning to disconnect both ends of your swaybar off-road. If so, Dan Mick showed me a trick last year that you may find interesting (if you don't know about it already). It works on my rig, and may work on yours too. Dan had me disconnect only one end of the swaybar and leave the other connected. This allows the disconnected end of the swaybar to float up and down as my rig articulates. When I do this, my swaybar doesn't hit or interfere with anything on my rig as far as I can tell.

Jim

Jim,
The problem is that no matter how good of a quick connect it is it'll eventually going to get dirt packed in there and be a real bear to disconnect or connect for that matter. If you do go this route I would recommend you make a boot for it to keep it dry. I've worked with various quick connects and all of them when being exposed to the elements for some time like in the desert they just don't operate the way they are supposed to. As far as the using the sway bar with one link connected is that I can see it being a limiting stap for that side. I would possibly look into setting up a sway bar like the anti-rock from currie and have that attached to the lower control arms that way you wouldn't need to worry about it being a limiting factor. The one thing is though that you'd need a very heavyduty swaybar because the axle will have more leverage on it. As far as the strength of the coupler, I'm sure its really strong but I would hate for it to break on a sharp turn.

Alaska ZJ
07-04-2004, 10:23 AM
Jim,

I think your thinking is spot on.

Question though. Have you looked at a Anti-rock type setup? I mean don't go get the currie deal since they charge like 10 times more than Jegs for the same thing.

Race cars have been using that technology for years.

Personally for the way your WJ is set up and what it is set up to do I would really consider front and rear Anti-rock type setups. Then you would have NO disconecting at all.

Shoot if you got yourself a CTIS (Central Tire Inflation System) you would never even have to get out of your rig.....lol. Well unless you busted a Tierod and had to weld a XJ tierod end in it's place at the top of oh say.....the last waterfall on Poison Spyder.....lol..Good Times.

jwbronco
07-04-2004, 11:21 AM
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=2529&prmenbr=361

as far a a remote disconnect I'll think on that and let you know, I'm not sure how the anti-rock works but I'm sure there's a simple way to make it all work.

jpmtx
07-06-2004, 08:42 PM
Thanks, Brent and Josh, for your input. I'm always looking for new ideas for spending money on my Grand. Let me give you some quick feedback without "hi-jacking" this thread any more than I already have.

I have looked at the anti-rock type setup. But it looks to me like a "full time" compromise between running a real anti-sway bar on the highway and running disconnected off-road. Good off-road articulation. But with on-highway "anti-sway" performance that necessarily is something less than what a stock anti-sway bar would give you.

I upgraded to heavy-duty Addco anti-sway bars front and rear after riding in Josh's (Addco-equipped) Grand after GSSE last year. And I love the way The Geezer handled on the highway at speed and on winding mountain roads on the trips (and side trips) I made to and from GSSW and GSW this year. No way am I going to give up that rock-solid highway cruising capability any time soon, no matter how much articulation I could get with the anti-rocks off-road.

Not saying this is the way anyone else should go. Indeed, I know that some of you guys (like Dave) don't believe in anti-sway bars at all. That is fine with me. But I have built The Geezer as a "one of a kind" WJ to meet my particular planned usage and specifications. And I believe that everyone should take the same individualized "build it the way you plan to drive it" approach for their Grands too.

As you know, The Geezer does pretty good off-road as it is right now. So I am really into the final "fine-tuning" stage now, with no drastic changes anticipated.

Josh, leaving one side of the sway bar connected doesn't cause me any apparent limiting problem I can't live with right now. In fact, I am going to limiting straps front and rear now to better protect my suspension components.

Any approach I take to experimenting with "quick reconnects" will be limited to the discos themselves. I want to keep the Addcos "as is" so I can quickly go back to where I am if I don't like the initial results. So we will probably be using two sets of discos, one the stock JKS set I am using now, the other the "experimental" setup we will be playing with. Thanks for you e-mail and diagram.

One other thing, Brentt. At my age, I actually look for any excuse I can get to get out of The Geezer to stretch my legs and for "pit stops." So I won't be looking into CTIS any time soon. Anyone who doesn't understand what I am talking about will find out for themselves soon enough. :lol:

FYI, I have a Premium Power Welder on order to take care of any future "trail welding" needs that may arise. And I'm signing up for a welding course at my local community college to learn how to use it. So we should really be able to wheel like "gangbusters" next GSW. Good thing I won that $150 discount certificate at the GSW raffle. It will cover SOME of the cost of the extras I ordered with it. :lol:

See ya.

Jim

MrFreeze5
07-06-2004, 09:01 PM
Thats a good idea but after snapping off two of those male pieces that go into that coupler just handling my impact wrench I wouldn't trust it to hold up there, but hopefully your parts werent cheap CH stuff like I have.

Alaska ZJ
07-06-2004, 10:40 PM
Jim I hear ya and respect that.

Hell the Geezer kicks some serious ass for being a 50/50 built rig. I mean every time I looked back there was Ross chipping along on damn near the same line I was.

I really like your rig and I miss the days of driving the ZJ to the store for groceries.

Jim, also. I need to do a prerun next year before GSW and the like. Have you ever wheeled south Dakota? Black Hills. I am only 8 hours from Rapid City.

GetoZJ
07-07-2004, 12:44 AM
Actually did mess around very close to Rapid City in Warfrats old 5.9 when we were driving her to Seattle from NJ. Just played around for awhile, then pegged a deer going 85mph - the damage - one bent D30, about 2800$ to get a Uhaul, trailer, and tow the bastard home.

But yeah, SD had hills, unlike ND.

chadjans
07-07-2004, 11:44 AM
Jim your leaving one side connected sway bar trick only works if both ends have a rotating assembly. If you maintain the fixed stud end it can not artiulate with the axle and will break off. So your trick won't work with this gheto fab mod.

Chad

jpmtx
07-07-2004, 07:56 PM
Brentt. Per MapQuest, Minot, ND is a 1,555 mile drive from The Woodlands, TX., while Moab is only 1,247. So Moab wins. Hope to see you there in 2005.

One of these days, I would like to head up to your part of the country and do some wheelin. But it probably won't be for another couple of years. Just have too much stuff going on around here right now to be able to break free. Thanks for the offer. I'll keep in touch.

Chad. I think I understand your point. But I believe that I will be able to dodge that bullet. Currently both ends of my Addco swaybar and JKS quick disconnect setup have the rotating assembly. So I believe that I automatically default to a rotating assembly on the passenger side when I disconnect the driver side and leave the passenger side connected.

I'm actually thinking of taking a slightly different approach than John and chopshop did. I was thinking of doing my ghetto "quick reconnect" mod only on the driver-side disco, leaving the Addco swaybar and the passenger side JKS quick disconnect "stock.". So if I continue to disconnect the driver side only, I believe that I would continue to default to the same situation I currently have. Make sense? Or am I missing something?

Jim

nate
07-12-2004, 10:27 PM
Anyone even think about cutting the swaybar in the middle and putting a sleeve with pins? I'd say weld one side... but it is spring steel right?

Alaska ZJ
07-12-2004, 11:55 PM
Yep.

Do it and let us know how it works. Sure would make things easy to disco.

Not sure how easy it would be to get everything to line back up to reconnect though.

paulkeith
07-14-2004, 07:15 PM
John Mesko did this eons ago. There should be a few posts in the NAGCA archives. Cool idea nonetheless.

yep, he was the first, and it was about a year and a half ago.

i almost went this same route, but it seemed to me like it would be pretty hard to disconnect, since the way those air chucks work, you have to push them together, slide the sleeve, and then pull apart....and the bar would be fighting you the whole time


so i just went with some really big wingnuts that i can undo with some visegrips. takes ~20-30 sec per side.

phillyzj
07-26-2004, 03:15 PM
Anyone even think about cutting the swaybar in the middle and putting a sleeve with pins? I'd say weld one side... but it is spring steel right?

what if you rigged a vac disco from a HP30 in there. turned it into a posi with a cable actuator. disco it and there ya go, done. i'm sure there'd be more to it, but that'd be pretty slick.

Zebra
11-26-2004, 02:20 AM
John Mesko did this eons ago. There should be a few posts in the NAGCA archives. Cool idea nonetheless.

yep, he was the first, and it was about a year and a half ago.

i almost went this same route, but it seemed to me like it would be pretty hard to disconnect, since the way those air chucks work, you have to push them together, slide the sleeve, and then pull apart....and the bar would be fighting you the whole time


so i just went with some really big wingnuts that i can undo with some visegrips. takes ~20-30 sec per side.

The Air discos work well. I've had them on there for 2 years and they NEVER break on the road. Ive had them break twice when I went wheelin' without disconnecting them. They are easy to disconnect when on level ground because they are not under stress. They can't be disconnected on uneven ground.

John