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View Full Version : trying to 'dial in' my suspension, need a little advice.....



robselina
07-13-2004, 01:30 PM
Posted this on NAGCA, but thought I'd try out here too :twisted:

Okay, here's the setup:
F/R swap, with stock front springs out back and 4.5" RE XJ coils up front. Sits at about 3.5" tall. stock trackbars (DIY extended), front disco'd sway bar, rear sway bar stock.

Now the issue:
I run mostly slick rock sorta stuff, and off-camber performance is key. I had taken my rear sway bar off, but I don't like the body roll in off camber situations. With it reconnected, it's better in those places, but it will FORCE front articulation instead of rear articulation in a lot of places, which I'm finding undesirable and can make me tippy were I wouldn't have been without it.

What can I do to even out my articulation while staying relatively stable (low body roll)? If it were a TJ, I'd be looking at an anti-rock right now. basically I'm thinking the front XJ coils are pretty soft, and the stock fronts out back are too stiff relative to them, so it's not articulating the rear and forcing the front to articulate instead. I'm also not sure if using the stock swaybar endlinks may be a problem, since it pulls it at weird angles of course....

anyway, should I:
- fab up longer sway bar end links out back?
- run a softer rear spring?
- run a stiffer front spring?
- run a smaller rear sway bar? (does such a thing exist?)
- run some sort of front swaybar?
- other?

if anyone knows re xj coil spring rate, stock coil rate (front and rear) that would help me decide a plan of action....

Thanks,
Rob

Alaska ZJ
07-13-2004, 04:28 PM
All the coil rates I have ever asked about for jeeps have been in the 165 range.

Why don't you fab up a pair of antirocks? Well I would get them from a Jegs or something other than Currie to save a lot of Dollars and actually be able have some variation in what I was getting.

Don't think for one second developed anything new with thier anti-rock. Racers have been using that for eons.

robselina
07-13-2004, 04:38 PM
All the coil rates I have ever asked about for jeeps have been in the 165 range.

Why don't you fab up a pair of antirocks? Well I would get them from a Jegs or something other than Currie to save a lot of Dollars and actually be able have some variation in what I was getting.

Don't think for one second developed anything new with thier anti-rock. Racers have been using that for eons.

good deal. I was actually thinking about trying to fab up something like an anti-rock, I'd definitely make one instead of buy one, don't want to fork out $300 for some steel rod :evil:

Anway, what would be a good material to use for the main rod of the swaybar and what would be a good diameter? I'm leaning towards using 9/16" mild steel rod, anyone see a problem with that? would it be better to use 3/8 or 1/2" or something? other metal?

Raacerx
07-13-2004, 05:21 PM
All the coil rates I have ever asked about for jeeps have been in the 165 range.

Why don't you fab up a pair of antirocks? Well I would get them from a Jegs or something other than Currie to save a lot of Dollars and actually be able have some variation in what I was getting.

Don't think for one second developed anything new with thier anti-rock. Racers have been using that for eons.

good deal. I was actually thinking about trying to fab up something like an anti-rock, I'd definitely make one instead of buy one, don't want to fork out $300 for some steel rod :evil:

Anway, what would be a good material to use for the main rod of the swaybar and what would be a good diameter? I'm leaning towards using 9/16" mild steel rod, anyone see a problem with that? would it be better to use 3/8 or 1/2" or something? other metal?

dont you need to spline the rod?

robselina
07-13-2004, 05:27 PM
dont you need to spline the rod?

you mean where the 'arms' come off of the rod? I was just going to lay some fat beads with the mig there :lol: though now you mention it I'm betting the heat of the weld would cause some problems :roll: and promote failure......

nmzj
07-13-2004, 07:19 PM
Does it need to be splined? Could you just square it off and then use square tubing to fit over. weld the square stock to an arm and be done with it.

Alaska ZJ
07-13-2004, 07:40 PM
Wow, there is some actual thinking going on here guys.......

I would go to a spring place and get a torsion rod of some sort if it was me, but you could easily do it with a mild steel rod as well.

I think you could do this for under 100 bucks if you take your time.

robselina
07-13-2004, 08:50 PM
I would go to a spring place and get a torsion rod of some sort if it was me, but you could easily do it with a mild steel rod as well.

I think you could do this for under 100 bucks if you take your time.

sorta want to avoid any splining issues since it's both ends that end up having to be splined, and that'd be a PITA. I could use tap and dies to get a mechanical connection between the rods and the arms, but at this pointI think I'll try my luck with mild steel rod first with welded on arms, see what the heck happens....so here's what I'm thinking:

9/16" rod with 1" square stock welded on the ends as the "arms" of the sway bar. Then I'll drill a hole through the end of the 1" square stock to accept the adapter for the sway bar links. sound reasonable?

Alaska ZJ
07-13-2004, 09:09 PM
Yah that sounds reasonable.

Drill a bunch of holes for the links so you can adjust thier movement and stiffness.

NorthernZJ
07-13-2004, 11:52 PM
I've done quite a bit of research into these setups. Here is what I've learned from Tony over at rockequipment.com. Currie and Rockequipment both use a 40 spline end on each of their sway bars. They also both use 4340 Chromo solid stock. The end links are AL. The bars are about 1 inch round with large areas of reduced size where it was turned down with a lathe, the areas are about 1 foot long or so and about 1/2 inch in size.

The spring rate is much lower on these bars compared to stock due to the small cross-section size of the sway bar and the long end links. The long end links are also nice because you'll normally have lots of suspension travel and a long link with a small heim joint on the ends won't cause additional bind.

I'll be building a do-it-yourself sway bar like this in the next month or so. I plan to machine flats into the bar at the ends. Drill a hole though the center and build an arm to match. The arm will slide over the two flat areas and a pin will go through the top of the arm and then into sway bar and thread into the bottom of the arm.

OverkillZJ
07-17-2004, 01:23 PM
I'm running a TJ sway out back connected with spherical rod ends, seems to do the trick rather well. Still a little tippier than I'd like, but it's not forcing the front to flex as you're describing.

BigDaveZJ
07-17-2004, 01:47 PM
I'm running a TJ sway out back connected with spherical rod ends, seems to do the trick rather well. Still a little tippier than I'd like, but it's not forcing the front to flex as you're describing.

It's not too bad when Anti-Rock is wheeling with ya though!

OverkillZJ
07-17-2004, 01:58 PM
I'm running a TJ sway out back connected with spherical rod ends, seems to do the trick rather well. Still a little tippier than I'd like, but it's not forcing the front to flex as you're describing.

It's not too bad when Anti-Rock is wheeling with ya though!

LOL, ya, BigDave hanging off of my roof and standing on my rockers definately pulled that body lean back in line!