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Sway bar links cheap and easy

MightyThor

NAXJA Forum User
Not sure I will be able to post pictures here yet but what the heck.

After lifting my 91 XJ 3 inches I drove it for a couple of months with the factory sway bar links installed. Not the best, but I share this rig with my 17 year old daughter and I was not going to let her drive w/o some sort of sway control.

I have quick disconnects on another rig and I started thinking along those lines, hoping to build something with stuff I have laying around the shop. What I found was some threaded rod that was comparable diameter to the thick part of the factory link, some steel sleeves from an old spring project that I could cut and thread onto the threaded rod and some poly suspension bushings etc from some long forgotten project.

When I pulled the factory link out it was bent, but it had been straight when I installed the lift so I knew it was being abused. good thing I decided to change things when I did.
IMG_7229.JPG


I trimmed off the threaded part of the factory link but left enough of a stub so it would support the threaded collar that I made. Here are the parts before welding.
IMG_7230.JPG


And this is after welding stuff together and threading the rod into the collar.
IMG_7232.JPG


Installed, adjustable, removable (with some effort) and fully functional.
IMG_7234.JPG
 
I did the same thing, but used a drum nut since I don't have a welder. It's great isn't it! That part I like was being able to make them for any height I want just by cutting a new piece of threaded rod. So far they have been holding up very well.
 
I'm not an engineer or any other sort of expert, but...
Isn't all-thread like you are making the link out of normally grade 2 / weak, soft and otherwise unsuitable for suspension parts?
I dunno, man. Looks like an A for ingenuity but I think the material just isn't up to the task...
Imagine the sway bar going out in the middle of a turn, unexpectedly. Bad news, right?
 
Not sure of the actual "grade" of the all thread, but the factory link is plenty soft in terms of the steel, The diameter of the factory link, as shown in the pictures is minuscule compared to the rod I installed, and with this system I can swap a grade 8 bolt in if needed. with the angles set properly, the force is pretty much straight up and down and I am not anticipating any problems. Still, I am watching it to see how it holds up. I will update with any problems that develop.
 
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