Automatic Sway Bar Disconnects

A set up like that has been on my mind for a while. My friend has a 07' Chevy 2500HD with a SAS kit on it and he has a sway bar like that. Cut it spline it and make a coller (Spelling) hooked to a cable or some form of actuator it would totally work!

 

The forces on the sway bar are more just pure torsion. There's bending as well. If you put the coupling in the middle of the sway bar, it will need a third support clamp. Better to put the coupling closer to one of the clamps.

 

the auto disconnect was great in my 2008 rubicon. Its basically a 2 piece sway bar at the top of the bar. Works kinda of like a locker. After i went went from a 2008 with the auto disconnect to a 2003 rubicon without i definately missed that feature. Sucks getting out in the mud and snow to disconnect

 

Toyota has a very good fully-automatic swaybar disconnect system in the form of KDSS. The 4Runner and Land Cruiser have it. Toyota is just too cheap to make it an available option in the Taco.

 

I love the fresh energy on this thread.

Unfortunately, you can't just cut/split/spline the sway bar in the middle like the Rubicon swaybar, because the Tacoma swaybar has a bend in it. It isn't straight between the mount/pivot points -- unless you discard the factory swaybar and completely fab a new one from scratch.

So it has to be disconnected at an end. Unfortunately, as you know, if you *just* disconnect it, the loose end will rupture the CV boot.

So the best approach is probably to leave one end connected, and then disconnect and completely remove the other end, like this one in this picture:



Jerry, from BAMF, doesn't have time to design one. I keep hoping I'll be able to maybe design/mock something up in paper & plastic very much like the one in this pic so he could fab it up...

 

^I'd buy this in a second if made available.

 

This is the "Electronic Sway bar disconnect" system that comes standard in the Jeep Rubicons….. it would be cool to retro-fit the necessary parts of this system to the Taco's sway bar…


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6e9TH_QgwU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqzrOqF3dI

 

It would. However, there's a fundamental, serious if not fatal flaw:

The rubicon swaybar is absolutely *straight* between the two swaybar mount pivot points.

The tacoma swaybar has a bend there.

So you can't make that work without cutting the bend out of the tacoma bar and replacing it with a section of straight tubing, plus the disconnect.

And it begs the question: why is that bend there in the first place??

 

removing the entire sway bar would certainly be difficult in 5 minutes

I do think the picture of the sway bar that allows removal of ~ 1/4 of it's length and allows the other side to remain attached definitely has merit, that may indeed solve the problem of potential damage to the CV's while still allow full articulation

while I think the idea of an automatic sway bar is need, I see it as cost prohibitive; the option above should be in reach of most

 

How different is the FJ sway bar from the Taco sway bar?
http://forum.ih8mud.com/fj-cruiser/289953-sway-bar-quick-disconnect-day-here-2.html




Fabricator's page: http://norcalfjs.com/profile/2007fj

 

I'd say there is hope for us , very similar design to what was proposed above- sounds like the FJ guys have put the design through it's paces and it works

 

Nice!

 

Cool. I'll try and contact Mark via the NorCal FJs site.

 

any luck? I tried emailing him at the email listed in the FJ thread w/ no luck

 

Too darn many swaybar threads running around. Another swaybar thread with that same pic got bumped over the weekend, and I wrote in that one instead.

Anyhow I got ahold of him briefly via email. Basically, because of a combination of limited demand and potential liability, he is NOT selling them any more. He gave me a couple of pics (I don't currently have permission to share; I asked) that make me think that the one pic above that we've been bandying about IS his work.

Now, Jerry from BAMF is very busy and doesn't have time to design these from scratch. But I think if we give him a design and parts list based on the pics we've got and a little extra creative genius on our part, and perhaps pay a little extra denero up front for some time on the mock up and tooling, Jerry still might be able to come through for us. He seems to spend most of his time on that high dollar simulator contract, but I notice he still finds time to produce a few tacoma fab products.

So if you think you'd be serious about laying down - say - $250 plus your existing sway bar as a core - post up on that thread in the BAMF forum to let him know you're interested and serious. And that's just a number I pulled straight out of my ass. So don't give him or me any sh*t later if it turns out to be a totally off base number, OK?

BAMF "convince jerry to build swaybar" thread:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/bay-area-metal-fabrication/219398-swaybar.html

 

that would be great if he could

I'm going to see if I can snag a sway bar off the buy/sell forum- I know there are a fair number of guys running w/o a sway

 

I've got one I'd give you for 20 bucks if you cover shipping. Probably about 30-40 bucks I'd bet

 

the fj ones were going for $399, way too much for me. does anyone have a parts list. i might be willing to give it a shot but no promises.

has any started to fab one up yet?