SwayLOC Dual Rate Swaybar Install
For the last few years I've been disconnecting front swaybar whenever I go out on the trails. It has worked out well for the most part, however in some off-camber situations the body-roll is definitely pronoucned and somewhat sketchy feeling. I've wanted to install an off-road swaybar for quite some time, but I couldn't decide what one I wanted to go for.
The popular Currie Antirock gets mixed reviews regarding on-road performance from some people; while it isn't a problem for most, I do like the way my TJ performs on the road and didn't really want to add more body-roll. The other option was to pick a dual-rate swaybar that keeps the highway rate similar to stock, and allows you to "unlock" to a have lighter rate for off-road use. I decided to go with the
ORO SwayLOC Dual-rate Swaybar with manual lever control.
I started off by removing the bolts that retain the stock swaybar bushings. In my case the Warn winch plate needed to be unbolted due it's design which captures one of the swaybar bushing bolts. I had to use a prybar between the bushing retainer and the winch plate in order to shimmy it forward enough to get a socket on the bolt.
Once the bushing bolts were freed up, I removed the bushings and disconnected the swaybar links from the axle for the final time. I also removed the studs that the links mounted to.
Next I removed the swaybar. I wish I could say it was that easy, however in my case, it wasn't
. Due to my winch wiring I couldn't just lift the swaybar up between the grill and the winch, and I really didn't wanna completley disconnect the wiring. I was able to carefully lift and pivot the winch/plate and finagle the swaybar out underneath it.
Before installing the new swaybar bushings in the front crossmember I needed to remove some welding spatter. I made quick work of it all with a chisel and half-round file, I also applied a bit of paint to the bare metal before I put in the bushings.
I drove the passenger-side bushing into the crossmember and added some silicone grease into it. The SwayLOC has two torsion bars, a solid one and a tube. The tubular torsion bar needed to be driven through the bushing towards the driver side. This ended up being a lot of work, requirng a combination of: beating, twisting, and brute force pushing. Eventually it made it through.
I greased the driver-side bushing and began to drive it into place. This also ended up being a lot of work as it was a very tight fit between the crossmember and the torsion bar.
Next the solid torsion bar was greased and slid into the tubular bar.
Now the driver-side arm was ready to be installed. I tapped the arm onto the torsion bars until the hollow bar was fully seated in the arm, however the solid bar was not in at all. I tightened up the inner retaining bolt on the driver-side arm, locking the hollow bar down, and jumped over to the passenger-side to install the inner latching arm (which only attaches to the hollow bar); likewise I tapped it into place and tightened the retaining bolt once it was fully on the bar.
Doing this allowed me to tap the solid torsion bar from the passenger side until it was most of the way through the driver-side arm. At this point I was able to use the driver-side endcap bolt to pull the bar the rest of the way in. At this point the driver-side arm was done and all bolts were fully tightened.
Next I hopped back over to the passenger-side and loosened the retaining bolt on the inner arm. ORO provides a tool for pulling the passenger-side arms onto the torsion bars properly, while maintaing the gap needed between the arms. Once the inner arm was pulled fully seated its retaining bolt was snugged down. The outter arm was then tapped into place on the solid bar and the tool assembled again to seat it fully. Doing it this way keeps a gap between both arms, which is needed for when they're unlocked. Both of the retaining bolts on the passenger-arm were then tightened.
Instead of an endcap bolt, the passenger-side gets a grease zirk; it's installed in the same fashion as the endcap bolt.
Lastly it was time to assemble the swaybar links. I spent some time finding the best combination of parts for my setup, ORO includes many different lengths to allow for different lifts. Once I found the best setup I installed the links onto the arms and axle tabs. I put the upper side of the link on the inside of the swaybar arms to gain extra clearance from the tires; this is mentioned in the instructions as an option.
The install was pretty much wrapped up at this point. I did spend a bit of time trying to flex my TJ in various ways, also turning the tires lock-to-lock in order to see if there is any rubbing. With my current combo of 31x10.5" tires and stock 5.5" backspaced wheels it seems I'll only rub the passenger-side arm while at full bump and at full lock towards the left. I could likely add some steering-stop washers to help add some clearance, but ultimately I just will get wheels with less backspacing. I'll spend more time fine tuning and ensuring there's clearance in the near future.
Driving around in town felt good, very similar, but maybe a tad softer than stock, mainly on quick or sharp events. So far so good, I definitely approve!