Sway Bar Disconnects for
Range Rovers
Introduction
Classic Sway Bar
Disconnect (Home Made)
4.0/4.6/P38A Sway
Bar
Disconnect (Adapted from Jeep Parts)
4.0/4.6/P38A "Fast
Flex" Sway Bar Disconnect
(Commercially Available)
Introduction
Before 1991, Range Rovers sensibly did without anti-roll or anti-sway
bars, which are great for high speed cornering but reduce the ground
contact force on a drooping wheel and therefore reduce traction in
off-road situations. I leave mine disconnected all the time (try this
at your own risk), but the ideal solution is to be able to disconnect
them for trail use, then hook them back up again when you get back to
the highway. The following designs enable you to do just that.
(Photo at top
right: Justin Tiemneyer's "Fast Flex" link design, now being made
available to fellow RR owners, see below.)
Classic Range Rover Sway Bar
Disconnects (Home Made)
Ashfaq Ali made his own
disconnects
for the front and rear sway bars on his Classic Range Rover. He used
hitch
receiver pins with two washers to replace the bolts that are currently
used for the sway bar bushings. He kindly supplied fabrication
instructions
and a photograph.
(Photo: Stock bushing and bolt at left; disconnect
assembly steps at right)
Materials
The following parts are needed for each disconnect (four disconnects
are needed to disable front and rear sway bars and get them out of the
way).
(1) 6" x 3/4" round stock bend as shown
(1) 3/4" large washer, tack weld to the pin
(1) 5/8" large washer
(1) Hitch pin retainer clip
Procedure
Purchase a 24" long x 3/4" round rod at a metal store and cut it up
into 6" pieces. Simply bend the 6" rods like a hitch pin using
heat
from a torch and tach weld a 3/4" washer as shown. The eyes in
the
sway bars are 5/8" diameter so I had to grind the rod down to go in the
hole. (If you have a lathe you can turn the end down before bending the
rod). Drill a small hole for the hitch pin clips and voila!!!
Note: One can also use normal hitch pins for this, but there
would be a little of bit of play due to the smaller diameter. The only
trouble I'm running into is drilling 1/16" holes in the pins for the
clips!!!
I don't have a vise for my drill press!!
Results
Ali reports that attaching/detaching the front swaybar on the
passenger
side requires a little patience. The remaining connections are
easy
however.
4.0/4.6/P38A Sway Bar
Disconnect (Adapted from Jeep Parts)
Brent Wilhelmi
adapted a commercially available swaybar disconnect kit, intended for a
Jeep, for his 2001 Range Rover 4.6 HSE. He kindly offers the
illustration and instructions below.
1. The
sway bar disconnect are manufactured by TeraFlex and are intended for
use on a
Jeep CJ. They measure 4.5” center to center and have a slight offset.
In use, you simply pull out the spring clips (one on each end) and
remove the entire link.
2. The
kit come with two pegs that the disconnects will mount to. The top
mount is a
stud mount system. The hole on the frame will need to be bored out a
slight bit
to fit the new stud in the frame location. Using a tapered drill bit is
the
easiest way to do this. The stud is then mounted using a nylon
” fine thread
lock nut (not included in the kit). I suggest using this in lieu of the
included nut and lock washer.
3.The
lower mount to the actual sway bar will also need to be bored out. The
lower
link is a threaded stud and you will need a grade 8 fine thread bolt 3”
long to
mount the stud. Apply red lock tight to the thread before you tighten
the bolt.
4. The
disconnects can now be greased and slid into place. The angle portion
should
point toward the outside of the vehicle.
New Commercially Available "Fast Flex"
Disconnect for the 4.0/4.6/P38A
Justin Tiemeyer developed his own swaybar disconnect system for his p38
Range Rover and after the strong interest he has received in his manual
air bypass suystem for the air suspension, decided to make the
disconnect available to fellow RR owners as well. This makes Justin's
version easily the most convenient for the average owner who does not
want to do his own drilling and machining.
|
|
Fast Flex system
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Outside view of Fast Flex link
in place
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Justin is calling the new disconnect the "Fast
Flex Link System". The link is fully
adjustable (so it also works for lifted
RR’s) and is much stronger than the original pieces. By
pulling the pin and sliding the lower
joint off the stud, you disconnect the sway bar. This
allows your suspension to
articulate as it should, and will really provide that extra droop for
maximum
traction.
The links install in the
factory location and no
modification is necessary. They
actually bolt on the opposite side of the factory links. All components
of the Fast Flex link are
corrosion resistant or made from 303 stainless
steel. Installation is a breeze and
only takes
a minute. Importantly, the design is correctly engineered with a ball
joint at each end to offer no additional resistance to flexing while
the sway bar is connected.
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View of Fast Flex link from
inner side showing easy-to-remove spring clip.
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View showing ability of link to
swivel during suspension articulation while sway bar is connected
|
Justin is currently taking orders for the new disconnect system at a
low
introductory price of $150. Check out his Carroll Rovers website and contact
him by email, letting him know you saw his system on
Rangerovers.net; Justin has kindly agreed to help sponsor this site
based on the referrals he receives.
For comments or questions, email
John Brabyn
