Antirock limits?

kmas0n

I have no idea what I'm talking about
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Just having an idle thought, is there a functional limit of what an antirock can handle?

obviously they can handle 12" travel shocks, but what about 14"? 16"? Is there a known point they become over twisted and metal fatigue sets in?
 
Is there a known point they become over twisted and metal fatigue sets in?
The simple correct answer is, "I don't know." But the bullshit internet answer is that there is no real risk of metal fatigue, all you have to worry about is permanent deformation of the bar, or in simple terms bending so far it doesn't go back to center, maybe just plain breaking. I don't think many have reached that point but that's the bullshit internet answer.
 
Just having an idle thought, is there a functional limit of what an antirock can handle?

obviously they can handle 12" travel shocks, but what about 14"? 16"? Is there a known point they become over twisted and metal fatigue sets in?
Two different things going on there...fatigue would be failure due to repeated cycles. That is unlikely, as its a "spring" of sorts and designed to be twisted, over and over. You could plastically deform the thing, which is twisting it in one direction further than the elastic limits of the steel. Also unlikely, in my mind, as the forces you would need to do that are much greater than that which the jeep can generate...that's an educated guess though. I haven't done the math. Most likely, the limits to travel would just show up as a limit to travel...no harm, no foul. at a certain point, the jeep would simply not be able to exert enough force on the bar to make it twist any more. Its not heavy enough.
 
There are a lot of very well built competition-level rigs running huge tires on extremely flexible suspensions with Antirocks. No issues.
 
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Jerry hit a good point. Currie is no stranger to metallurgy. They must have done some homework on material, hardness and tension.

Has anyone heard of a production bar breaking?
 
My JL's have broken two factory rear sway bars with only 11" travel shocks, but those are cheap hollow tubes formed into looking like real anti sway bars.

I believe I have my answer, thank you to everyone.
 
The simple correct answer is, "I don't know." But the bullshit internet answer is that there is no real risk of metal fatigue, all you have to worry about is permanent deformation of the bar . . . .

And the practical answer is that if you wreck the torsion bar you just buy a replacement and get on with life.

We waste a lot more money on our jeeps chasing the "best" shocks, tires, control arms, bushings, etc. than the cost of a new bar.
 
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Just having an idle thought, is there a functional limit of what an antirock can handle?

obviously they can handle 12" travel shocks, but what about 14"? 16"? Is there a known point they become over twisted and metal fatigue sets in?
It is a spring essentially no different than a clevite bushing with similar life span attributes in that the number of cycles it can endure before failure is directly related to the frequency and amount of deflection. The main thing keeping the AR alive is the arm length. The longer arms reduce the degrees of rotation which keeps the spring in elastic deformation.

Also, tubular versus solid has nothing to do with lifespan. The SwayLOC runs a tubular bar and it will bend or break the arms long before it ever fails.
 
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Has anyone heard of a production bar breaking?
A few, not many and certainly not many given the number in use. Given who made them for Currie, I'd suspect a manufacturing defect long before I pointed any fingers at abuse or design flaw.
 
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