What is the proper method for sway bar end link adjustment?

IDK, before my 2.5 lift the SB was virtually flat with the original links so when I installed adj end links I set it the same way. Also there is a hole already in the frame so in my case no need to drill.
Ok. I’ve read a few things and it seems there is some tolerance of 5-15 degrees. The 10 degree up recommendation seems to be because most TJs have more downtravel than uptravel so this keeps the sway bar performing in the optimal zone.

Based on all that, I’m not going to sweat a few degrees and just make sure they are equal.
 
Ok. I’ve read a few things and it seems there is some tolerance of 5-15 degrees. The 10 degree up recommendation seems to be because most TJs have more downtravel than uptravel so this keeps the sway bar performing in the optimal zone.

Based on all that, I’m not going to sweat a few degrees and just make sure they are equal.
Not a problem, connected though I am not sure travel is an issue.
 
All done. Ended up around 10 degrees. Will keep a close eye on whether anything is hitting.

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I had some body roll too. I found my track bar frame mount bolt had come loose. Torqued it to spec and replaced sway link bushings. Double checked alignment and it drove like new. 4” lift w/33s on 3.75” backspacing.
 
I actually have had some experiences when it comes to link adjustment. I also have JKS discos on the front @ 10*. I found that by running the stock length rear links, I have induced more roll than I like. I tried the correct length and it was like night and day. I'm running about 3.5" in the front and 2.75" in the rear OME springs.
 
I am running stock rear sway bar links with my 2-2.5” OME lift. Do you think that could be causing me any issues that I may not realize?

Attached is a pic of my rear sway bar angles.

74DC0123-CD7C-4FB0-B05F-53F8281CDFF1.jpeg
 
I am running stock rear sway bar links with my 2-2.5” OME lift. Do you think that could be causing me any issues that I may not realize?

Attached is a pic of my rear sway bar angles.

View attachment 104558
What the heck are you using to take these pictures? On my phone they look like Super 4K on steroids!😳 My bad on front bracket placement. Just glad its correct.👍 Did changing the bar angle up front make it handle different? 🤔
 
I would just run to Harbor Freight and pick up a magnetic angle finder. No need to guess. The tool is under $10.

Mine had a noticeable difference between the corrected ones for the lift and using the stock ones. Maybe it was placebo, but to me, it did handle noticeably different....
 
The reason the sway bar is set to 10 degrees up and the correct length link is important are really the same. The lever arm for the sway bar is reduced by the cosine of the angle between the sway bar arm and level (I know everybody hates math). So if the arm is at 35 degrees up the sway bar strength or lever arm is 80% reduced. The rear bar is already pretty small so it feels like allot when you cut it further. This is why the proper length link has an effect on how it drives.

The front is really interesting. If you set the sway bar level at mid travel it has maximum leverage when the sway bar is at rest doing nothing which is not what the factory intended. The factory setup puts the max leverage on the inside wheel when the Jeep leans enough so the inside axle drops enough to counter the 10 degree offset. This means several things. First the effective leverage on the axle in a turn is more on the inside wheel so the outside spring which is already compressed does not have it's spring rate increased as much. More of the sway bar torque is effectively applied to the inside wheel in a turn. This helps keep the ride reasonable with such a large bar. This also means that the sway bar response is non-linear. As you lean into a turn it becomes more effective until you reach that 10 degrees so as you begin to lean into a turn the sway bar rate is actually increasing not only based on increasing twist but based on the leverage difference inside and out. At 10 degrees the sway bar levels off and at this point the leverage reduces as the angles become extreme, like off-road when you are flexing.

If you bias the bar down the outside wheel would see more effective leverage and be biased in a turn increasing the spring rate on an already compressed spring and reducing the lift on the inside wheel in comparison, exactly what you don't want.

Following the advice given by @jjvw of level at mid travel isn't necessarily bad it just puts the sweet spot at an arbitrary point that might not have much use when you are driving.

The factory could have designed and positioned the joints to have the bar sit at rest wherever they wanted, just thought this would be a more helpful explanation than "just set it at 10."
 
What the heck are you using to take these pictures? On my phone they look like Super 4K on steroids!😳 My bad on front bracket placement. Just glad its correct.👍 Did changing the bar angle up front make it handle different? 🤔
It was early morning lighting. Made everything look great. I was laying on the ground in my driveway under my TJ taking pictures. My neighbors must think I’m a little crazy.

I have only driven it for about 20 miles so far, all on the road. It might feel a little different, but I don’t think it’s dramatic. Could be in my imagination. For me, the quick disconnect was the selling point. The beefier connectors was a bonus.
 
I would just run to Harbor Freight and pick up a magnetic angle finder. No need to guess. The tool is under $10.

Mine had a noticeable difference between the corrected ones for the lift and using the stock ones. Maybe it was placebo, but to me, it did handle noticeably different....

Apologies if I missed it—did you do the front and back? Or just one of them?
 
The reason the sway bar is set to 10 degrees up and the correct length link is important are really the same. The lever arm for the sway bar is reduced by the cosine of the angle between the sway bar arm and level (I know everybody hates math). So if the arm is at 35 degrees up the sway bar strength or lever arm is 80% reduced. The rear bar is already pretty small so it feels like allot when you cut it further. This is why the proper length link has an effect on how it drives.

The front is really interesting. If you set the sway bar level at mid travel it has maximum leverage when the sway bar is at rest doing nothing which is not what the factory intended. The factory setup puts the max leverage on the inside wheel when the Jeep leans enough so the inside axle drops enough to counter the 10 degree offset. This means several things. First the effective leverage on the axle in a turn is more on the inside wheel so the outside spring which is already compressed does not have it's spring rate increased as much. More of the sway bar torque is effectively applied to the inside wheel in a turn. This helps keep the ride reasonable with such a large bar. This also means that the sway bar response is non-linear. As you lean into a turn it becomes more effective until you reach that 10 degrees so as you begin to lean into a turn the sway bar rate is actually increasing not only based on increasing twist but based on the leverage difference inside and out. At 10 degrees the sway bar levels off and at this point the leverage reduces as the angles become extreme, like off-road when you are flexing.

If you bias the bar down the outside wheel would see more effective leverage and be biased in a turn increasing the spring rate on an already compressed spring and reducing the lift on the inside wheel in comparison, exactly what you don't want.

Following the advice given by @jjvw of level at mid travel isn't necessarily bad it just puts the sweet spot at an arbitrary point that might not have much use when you are driving.

The factory could have designed and positioned the joints to have the bar sit at rest wherever they wanted, just thought this would be a more helpful explanation than "just set it at 10."

Wow. I am sure I didn’t really grok all of the nuances, but those were some great details.

I get how to think about it for the front sway bar. It was clear that it was 6 degrees facing down, so quite a difference. But how about the rear one? I don’t know what to focus on in my picture to see how far off it is.

One other thing I noticed was that the emergency brake cable was resting on the bar too. Not sure if that’s a big deal or not. I’ve had no issues to speak of there.
 
But how about the rear one? I don’t know what to focus on in my picture to see how far off it is.

One other thing I noticed was that the emergency brake cable was resting on the bar too. Not sure if that’s a big deal or not. I’ve had no issues to speak of there.

Stock I think it is supposed to be pretty close to level or near parallel to the control arms in the rear. Yours don't look too far off. It would be interesting to see how @liquidfluidity has them set. The rear bar is small, I think the idea is you just don't want it at a steep angle.

For the rear cable just check around and be sure it doesn't get caught or pinched anywhere and it'll be fine.
 
Apologies if I missed it—did you do the front and back? Or just one of them?


I have done both. I have JKS Discos on the front and I used WJ fronts on the rear. These just happened to be the correct length to achieve 10*. Both front and rear are set to 10* and it handles quite nicely. I did the front first while I was doing some research on the rear about proper angle. The general consensus was that the rear should also be 10*. With the original rear links on, it was almost like it tightened or pre-loaded the rear. I just didn't like it and it was noticeable. Once I put the corrected length ones on, it was immediately noticeable. Just seemed to be more sure-footed and less sway.

Like I said, it may be placebo but I genuinely feel like it made a real difference.
 
The reason the sway bar is set to 10 degrees up and the correct length link is important are really the same. The lever arm for the sway bar is reduced by the cosine of the angle between the sway bar arm and level (I know everybody hates math). So if the arm is at 35 degrees up the sway bar strength or lever arm is 80% reduced. The rear bar is already pretty small so it feels like allot when you cut it further. This is why the proper length link has an effect on how it drives.

The front is really interesting. If you set the sway bar level at mid travel it has maximum leverage when the sway bar is at rest doing nothing which is not what the factory intended. The factory setup puts the max leverage on the inside wheel when the Jeep leans enough so the inside axle drops enough to counter the 10 degree offset. This means several things. First the effective leverage on the axle in a turn is more on the inside wheel so the outside spring which is already compressed does not have it's spring rate increased as much. More of the sway bar torque is effectively applied to the inside wheel in a turn. This helps keep the ride reasonable with such a large bar. This also means that the sway bar response is non-linear. As you lean into a turn it becomes more effective until you reach that 10 degrees so as you begin to lean into a turn the sway bar rate is actually increasing not only based on increasing twist but based on the leverage difference inside and out. At 10 degrees the sway bar levels off and at this point the leverage reduces as the angles become extreme, like off-road when you are flexing.

If you bias the bar down the outside wheel would see more effective leverage and be biased in a turn increasing the spring rate on an already compressed spring and reducing the lift on the inside wheel in comparison, exactly what you don't want.

Following the advice given by @jjvw of level at mid travel isn't necessarily bad it just puts the sweet spot at an arbitrary point that might not have much use when you are driving.

The factory could have designed and positioned the joints to have the bar sit at rest wherever they wanted, just thought this would be a more helpful explanation than "just set it at 10."
Well....how come my Direct TV looses reception when it is raining like 5-10 miles away to the West, but comes back on when it is like 5-1 miles away, then back off when the rain gets to me? Dish is 100% unubstructed? Serious question. The receiver says 98% strength on the troubleshooting meter thing. Sorry for the hijack.
 
I have done both. I have JKS Discos on the front and I used WJ fronts on the rear. These just happened to be the correct length to achieve 10*. Both front and rear are set to 10* and it handles quite nicely. I did the front first while I was doing some research on the rear about proper angle. The general consensus was that the rear should also be 10*. With the original rear links on, it was almost like it tightened or pre-loaded the rear. I just didn't like it and it was noticeable. Once I put the corrected length ones on, it was immediately noticeable. Just seemed to be more sure-footed and less sway.

Like I said, it may be placebo but I genuinely feel like it made a real difference.
Ok, perhaps a dumb question, but how should I be looking at that 10 degrees in the rear sway bar? I can see it easily on the front but I don’t know how to measure it for the rear. Can you share any pics of how it should look “?
 
I've noticed that a full tank of gas sinks the rear about 3/8". Passengers and the hardtop do something similar. Do I need to adjust the sway bar angles when the ride height changes throughout the week?
 
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I've noticed that a full tank of gas sinks the rear about 3/8". Passengers and the hardtop do something similar. Do I need to adjust the sway bar angles when the ride height changes throughout the week?
Haha. I may be overthinking all this. Just trying to learn if it’s a concern or not since I didn’t change anything in the rear after I did my lift. If it’s not at all impactful or a conceRn, I’m good with that too.
 
I'll snap some pics when I get home, It was confusing at first so I understand . I'm an over thinker too. I never thought about gas and I'm not going to...LoL.. For the sake of argument, how about just testing it with a half tank?
 
The reason the sway bar is set to 10 degrees up and the correct length link is important are really the same. The lever arm for the sway bar is reduced by the cosine of the angle between the sway bar arm and level (I know everybody hates math). So if the arm is at 35 degrees up the sway bar strength or lever arm is 80% reduced. The rear bar is already pretty small so it feels like allot when you cut it further. This is why the proper length link has an effect on how it drives.

The front is really interesting. If you set the sway bar level at mid travel it has maximum leverage when the sway bar is at rest doing nothing which is not what the factory intended. The factory setup puts the max leverage on the inside wheel when the Jeep leans enough so the inside axle drops enough to counter the 10 degree offset. This means several things. First the effective leverage on the axle in a turn is more on the inside wheel so the outside spring which is already compressed does not have it's spring rate increased as much. More of the sway bar torque is effectively applied to the inside wheel in a turn. This helps keep the ride reasonable with such a large bar. This also means that the sway bar response is non-linear. As you lean into a turn it becomes more effective until you reach that 10 degrees so as you begin to lean into a turn the sway bar rate is actually increasing not only based on increasing twist but based on the leverage difference inside and out. At 10 degrees the sway bar levels off and at this point the leverage reduces as the angles become extreme, like off-road when you are flexing.

If you bias the bar down the outside wheel would see more effective leverage and be biased in a turn increasing the spring rate on an already compressed spring and reducing the lift on the inside wheel in comparison, exactly what you don't want.

Following the advice given by @jjvw of level at mid travel isn't necessarily bad it just puts the sweet spot at an arbitrary point that might not have much use when you are driving.

The factory could have designed and positioned the joints to have the bar sit at rest wherever they wanted, just thought this would be a more helpful explanation than "just set it at 10."
Well there is a lot going on here that I don't follow or can't challenge but I do wonder about: what is the angle of the bar on a stock ride and wouldn't the angle change as the springs droop or are compressed with weight? My springs had drooped by an inch before they were changed. Also I wonder why this is not mentioned in the FSM. For the second it could be assumed that the OEM links are so precisely made that the 10 degrees is guaranteed but this seems unlikely. Also replacing with aftermarket links would seem to be an issue since they largely operate on a "that's close enough"