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homemade discos are crap

B

Bmxpunk1369

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bridgewater, NJ
i recently went through the RE links for a 4 inch lift using the homemade cotter pin hitch pin method and wow did that suck, wat a PITA it was to reconnect even if the ground was close to level. Then i cut my RE links and went to the hardware store and tried to copy their gen 1 disco set up and that is a little better but its not even worth the 8 dollars for pins and the tubing i paid for it. Anyone who says homemade discos are as good as a brand name clearly has never been off roading and had to crawl under the jeep and fight the sway bar to fit it back together or pull that cotter pin out. Why cant those JKS be more in my budget. I got almost new 4" leafs for 150$... i dont want to pay that for discos.
 
$8.00 for pins, and tubing. clothes all full of mud from having to climb under you rig to fight to connect them back. Loss of skin on a few knuckles. JKS quick discos....PRICELESS! They are worth every penny.
 
I've fabbed up a couple of different styles for local xjers, some have worked better than others. I had Gen1 JKS units and outgrew them, modified them for more length and they eventually became rattley too. The value of high dollar discos is relative to how often one needs to disco their swaybar.
Try an Antirock swaybar setup to be done with them forever.......and it only costs 3X what the discos do.
 
Bmxpunk1369 said:
i recently went through the RE links for a 4 inch lift using the homemade cotter pin hitch pin method and wow did that suck, wat a PITA it was to reconnect even if the ground was close to level. Then i cut my RE links and went to the hardware store and tried to copy their gen 1 disco set up and that is a little better but its not even worth the 8 dollars for pins and the tubing i paid for it. Anyone who says homemade discos are as good as a brand name clearly has never been off roading and had to crawl under the jeep and fight the sway bar to fit it back together or pull that cotter pin out. Why cant those JKS be more in my budget. I got almost new 4" leafs for 150$... i dont want to pay that for discos.
Click to expand...

Since you're being so nice.......

How totally lame! The idea of the homemade disco is using a wing nut on the top, which is what makes them easier to put back on than the aftermarket ones...plus being cheaper. You put the pin in the bottom with the top loose, so how can it be hard to do? :dunno:

Then you put the wing nut on top and tighten it down. You have to be somewhat level, but that's not rocket science, and you don't have to be anywhere near as level as you have to be to insert a pin. I've been doing this with A LOT of wheeling for 10 years in my XJ, and all I've ever had was homemade discos, and I've never one time fought them to get them on.........just stuck the pin in the bottom and then put the wing nut on top.

What gives? :rattle:
 
Goatman said:
Since you're being so nice.......

How totally lame! The idea of the homemade disco is using a wing nut on the top, which is what makes them easier to put back on than the aftermarket ones...plus being cheaper. You put the pin in the bottom with the top loose, so how can it be hard to do? :dunno:

Then you put the wing nut on top and tighten it down. You have to be somewhat level, but that's not rocket science, and you don't have to be anywhere near as level as you have to be to insert a pin. I've been doing this with A LOT of wheeling for 10 years in my XJ, and all I've ever had was homemade discos, and I've never one time fought them to get them on.........just stuck the pin in the bottom and then put the wing nut on top.

What gives? :rattle:
Click to expand...

Agreed, I drilled the lower stud and top thread of the link for a pin and use a wingnut and pin on the bottom and wingnut and pin for the top. It's easy to do the bottom as there is no load on it at all and as long as you have a little thread poking through the eye on the end of the swaybar it's easy to use the wingnut on the top to crank it down. The big dollar ones may be easier still but I wouldn't say this wing nut method is that bad, the worst I get is a muddy arm from reaching over the tyre (tire for you US guys).

Cheers
Steve
 
Spanky414 said:
Any pics or articles on these homebuilt ones? Just running a large wing nut on the top?
Click to expand...

It's one of the more simple things you'll do on your XJ. In it's basic form, you just use a 10mm wing nut on the top of the sway bar link to replace the 10mm hex nut. I ran mine without even detaching the link at the bottom for awhile. Next step is to pound out the stud in the bottom mount and replace it with a 1/2" clevis pin. So, to remove the link you take off the wing nut and remove the pin on the bottom. Putting them back on is easier because you don't have to be level to put the bottom pin in, which you do first, then put the wing nut on top and tighten it down.

The next step is to lengthen the link for the amount of lift that you have. Just cut the link and weld in a piece to make it the length you want, with everything else staying the same. Very simple, very cheap, and very easy to install after a run. The only negative of using the stock links is that if you have a lot of droop in your front axle the top of the link will bend if you put the rig on a hoist or wheel it with the links still hooked up. This isn't too big a deal if it happens, and it's easy to bend them back......I've done it many times. :)
 
Sorry to disagree with some of you...but I have the home made 1/2 inch clevis pins/hitch pin setup in the bottom of mine...they both slid in easy...and I wait to get back on dry gound to slid under like maybe a foot and a 1/2 under to reattach...the other guys sway bar must be bent up on one side quite aways to fight to get them back on...compared to what the JKS quicker disco's costs this set up is great on my limited budget...

John4wd
 
Wingnut on top is the way to go. I bought clevis pins at home depot and some torsion style lynch pins to hold them in place. I forgot the wingnuts so I just welded 3/16 inch tabs to the factory nuts. I also extended the links 4" with the smooth shank of a carriage bolt and used ploly bushings. Corners better than factory with no noise.
If you don't have access to a welder, or you like the bling of JKS discos, or your time is worth the extra minute you may save with aftermarket discos, then shell out the money.
I personally think that I can disconnect faster than with JKS units, and I spent a total of five dollars :laugh3: .
 
I had the homemade disco setup when i was at a 3" lift, worked great until i forgot to disconnect and tried to flex :wierd: Bent the swaybar. Man was it a Bear to try to take those things off and on. So, i found some homemade ones similiar to the JKS type. Guy by the name of Eric Dipple made them. For $75 i didn't go wrong. I've got one side adjusted differently to allow for the bent swaybar. The only thing is, that when you are connected under normal driving, they rattle somewhat. I bought them off Ebay.
 
fire325 said:
I had the homemade disco setup when i was at a 3" lift, worked great until i forgot to disconnect and tried to flex :wierd: Bent the swaybar. Man was it a Bear to try to take those things off and on. So, i found some homemade ones similiar to the JKS type. Guy by the name of Eric Dipple made them. For $75 i didn't go wrong. I've got one side adjusted differently to allow for the bent swaybar. The only thing is, that when you are connected under normal driving, they rattle somewhat. I bought them off Ebay.
Click to expand...

The rattle is one reason why I just drilled a hole through the standard stud at the axle rather than replace with a hitch pin. This means with the wing nut on the stud and a pin I can heep the lower nice and tight, almost standard really, and have no rattle.

Cheers
Steve
 
I rant he wingnuts quite a while ago but never really liked them. Somewhat easy to get on and off but the wingnuts were crappy and I would break one ever 4-6 months easy. Wingnut would just pop off when driving around town, crack zing and the jeep flops to one side. Got tired of it so I switch to Tera's which are fine. The bushing are almost worn out but thats after two years of use.

I would go with an Antirock but the settings isn't as good as having the stock sway bars, which I don't want. In cab adjustable discos are next!
 
well i dont use the stock style with the wing nut on top. I have the RE links like i said if ud read my post. This link has a round top part with Poly bushings that go in a upside down u shaped holder and it is held by a bolt. I just discoed the bottom part with the clevis pin then folded the links up and zip tied em up. With the stock style yes its easier, but with a lift and some extended links im impossible to get it all back together. Maybe it take 5 mins, but still 5 mins in the cold mud holding up a whole group of guys is 2 long. Its just like running open difs in a group full of lockers, it sucks to be the one to hold everyone back. Im just voicing my opinion, if ur method works, foward it 2 me because mine clearly did not.
 
Bmxpunk1369 said:
Why cant those JKS be more in my budget. I got almost new 4" leafs for 150$... i dont want to pay that for discos.
Click to expand...
http://www.dc4wd.com/

Halfway down the page under "XJ Cherokee Accessories"
Part # QDFXZ Terra Flex discos
Same design as the JKS without the length adjustment (unneeded anyway) for $80
 
Ummm, why not just looooose the sway bar?
Havent ran one for over a year......(and its fine)

Made some air-line couplings for the wifes XJ, they work great if kept lubed.

She asked me one day why her XJ was'nt as free as mine (on the road) told
her is was the sway bar............she said 'loooooooose it!!!' Maybe this spring
we'll loose her sway bar & 10lbs up front!

Chick wants her front end free'd up..........imagine that.
 
I wheeled with DoTheDew24_7 last weekend and got to see his discos on a 2" lift. A ratchet to disconnect the stock hardware and a home-made setup (I'd guess $10) to hold things out of the way seemed to work just fine, and only took a couple of minutes to recconect on fairly level ground. No wrestling with it, no grunting.....
 
Hammertoe said:
Chick wants her front end free'd up..........
Click to expand...

and you're waiting till spring to accomodate her. :dunce:

Hammertoe said:
imagine that.
Click to expand...
 
What size clevis pins did you use for the lower part of the link? I am guessing maybe 7/16"? i want to make these this weekend adn tahts the only thing not included in taht write up.
 
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