Problem with front disconnects

I noticed this weekend that while disconnected, if I maneuvered the truck into a situation where one wheel is severely stuffed and the opposite is drooping, the swaybar would contact the drooping tie rod.

Apparently the swaybar is pushed up by the swaybar mount point on the lower control arm on the stuffed side, which forces the other end of the bar up on the drooped side. If I have to turn my wheel into the stuffed side, the pressure on the tie rod is high.

How have others addressed this without removing the sway bar, if at all possible?

Thanks in advance,

scoot

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Yup, it does touch, and badly.
So far, there is no solution except to remember to not put any large amounts of steering input while crossed-up.





The only solution I have come up with, would be a newly designed sway bar that attaches from the front of the control arm, instead of from above. That would cost a bit though.

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Regards,
Ian

Thanks Ian,

Too bad, I sure like the travel when fully disconnected. Unfortunately I cannot guarantee to myself that I will not be put in a postion where I will require the large amounts of steering while crossed up.

If I wasn't sooo lazy I would just pull the whole bar off at the trail each time before I go out, but that would require motivation.

Thanks again,

scoot

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I guess I managed to avoid any problems with my (anti-) sway bar: it was about the first thing I pulled off my Xterra

-GordP

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You pulled the front bar? I don't think that's a good idea, it really does help. The rear is a joke though.

Brent

Joke ?

ever try to merge into trafic doing 60 and beeing cut off by some one ?
how about Making sharp turn while hiting the breaks, to avoid hiting a dump truck parked in the left lane of the highway?

Brent, Sway bars there for a reason, I am sure Nissan people did their research.




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I did not notice much difference at all after removing the rear bar. Perhaps if you weren't drving around like Sham....

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Join the Heartland Xterra Owners Club at www.hxoc.net

Oleg,

I haven't had my rear bar on in nearly a year, and I have had absolutely no noticeable effect, even during abrupt moves. I really don't think it is necessary, and was likely put on there by Nissan as little more than something to point to as a safety item. I'm far from the only person that has removed their rear swaybar, and none of us have reported any problems.

Brent

True, but IMHO, if you stiffen up your rear suspension with better shocks when you remove the rear sway bar you don't notice the difference.

Stock shocks with sway bar versus stiffer shocks without. I prefer the latter.



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My wife calls it the "Intrepid Bee", I call it "Tonka".
craigs-tonka@home.com
www.azxterraclub.com

Brent it looks like you are sugesting that to every one who asks about sway bars
i can point you to lots of threads where you say remove sway bar and forget about it .

You should not be sugesting that.

if you are not having any problems it does not mean noone will be having any problems with out the sway bar
every one has their own styles of driving

i have a havy foot and i drive in the more congested/populated/f*cked up road conditions then you
so your mod aint gona be the same for me

i would think it would be dangerous for me to sucrifice that small % of stability that sway bar provides.

I am not looking to start any kind of war here ( you dont worth it )
i am just trying to point out that people think twice before they will disconect a SAFETY feature that was desighned especialy to prevent accidents


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I too have removed both sway bars...had them off for about 20K miles. To be honest, I don't even miss them...and my daily commute is 100 miles roundtrip.

My previous vehicle was a 98 Jeep Wrangler with 33" tires and I had removed both swaybars, and never had any problems...

Jason

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www.ec4x4e.com
"I'm loaded with good ideas, problem is that most of them suck!" - George Carlin

What would be the point in removing them?

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-Carl
Silver XE 4x4
5-Speed

The short answer is you gain "articulation".
A sway bar couples the 2 front or 2 rear wheels to one another in terms of up/down travel; so, when one wheel is going up (running over a rock/boulder), the other wheel "wants" to go up as well. This could lead to a tire needlessly going airborn & thus you lose crawling power (w/out LSD/locker, once one wheel gets airborn, that wheel receives all drive from the engine, disregarding the other axle(s)).
The best thing to do is keep them on normally, but remove them before 4x4-ing. However, most have learned that the rear sway bar seems to not effect body roll much (this *makes sense* since most of the weight of the car is in front & additionally under heavy breaking where does the weight shift to? the FRONT) so they have removed the rear sway bar permanently.


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[This message has been edited by xterrabull (edited 06-21-2001).]

Your rear shocks NOT your sway bar limit your articulation in the BACK

you loose only 1 or 2 inches with sway bar conected

so are those couple inches realy worth making a mod that is making your truck loose one of its safety features ???
i think not !


Nissan was fighting to make X as light as pocible ( small tires, light step rails ... )
so do you realy think they would put a sway bar there if they would think you dont need it ???
I think not !


But who am i to go against the words of wisdom of our know it all Brent.



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Thanks for the quick response.

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-Carl
Silver XE 4x4
5-Speed

You are wrong. I gained as much as six inches of extra travel. Have you even driven your X with the rear swaybar disconnected? From your post it sounds like you haven't.


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No, I have not ,

but just by knowing what sway bar does, talking to people who took it off and by seeing how much more truck leans into the corner with out a sway bar i know that this mod should not be done to every ones truck.



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I'm not claiming to know it all, just saying that I'm not the only one to take it off and never miss it.

Brent

Hey sc00ter... Its Troy! :-)

Looks like you have a situation there. maybe you can put a bump stop on it or something?
check out this guys disconnects...
http://www.xterrain.com/xmods8.html

Ive fooled with removing my rear once but put it back on for the heck of it. Didnt notice anything on the street though. thinking about getting disconnects fabbed for offroading though.

Hey Troy, What's happening?

You been wheeling lately? You up for a trip this weekend? Did you finally find a bull bar for the EX?

Yeah, the front just will not disconnect without interference. However, when I did the rear, I noticed a big diffence at least. Even though it's not as nice as totally disconnected, it's is still a tremendous help.

Ironically, after I got the rear disco's, I haven't re-connected them once! I guess I should just take the rear bar off all together.

Keep an eye on the NCCX forum on this site for wheeling info for this weekend.

scoot

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Slight tangent, but how tight should the front disconnects be done up when connected ?

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[This message has been edited by lemsip (edited 06-25-2001).]

Talking purely out of my ass, I'd say it's not all that important other than tight enough so that the nut doesn't come loose. There is no real "tension" set on the bar itself in the process of tightening the disconnects, as the entire bar flops up and down otherwise.

Brent

As tight as you can get it, plain and simple. Use a rachet on the bottom nut when tightening.

Or just listen to Brent, who admits he's "talking purely out of [his] ass".



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Philosopher's Xterra
Mid-Atlantic Xterra Club

Now is a good time to bring up a slight problem I had with the "knob" disconnects people are making, this last weekend on a trail run.

I probably tightened them too much (as in too much for the strength and durability of the plastic knob, not as in too tight for the connection of the sway bar in itself).

The nut that is seated inside the plastic broke its bond with the plastic and turned with the bolt as I tried to ratchet the bolt out. So while the knob wasn't turning, it wasn't loosening either because the nut was spinning, still encased in the plastic shell.

When I got home I had to cut through the plastic to access the nut and ratchet it off while gripping the nut with a wrench.

Could just be a bad knob, could be that these knobs are not durable enough for the job, could be over tightening that made the nut break bond with the plastic. Just a word to the wise, watch your nuts so they don't break away from your knob

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Mine:'01 Solar Yellow XE w/ lots of toys
Hers:'01 Super Black XE, 99% stock.
Urban Assault Xterra.com :Updated 5.22.01



[This message has been edited by Mike H (edited 06-26-2001).]

Yes, I would caution not tightening them too much.

As soon as the urethane bushings show a bit of deformation, stop.

Don't use the torque of a wrench to measure the tightness, only your bare hand on the knob. So far, I haven't had the displeasure of breaking a knob.

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Regards,
Ian

Sc00ter,

Id love togo wheeling this weekend but some lady ran into my drivers side door from behind while *I* was making a left into the driveway!! I had just finished swaping leaf springs from a 4dr into my 2dr!! So tomorrow the Ex goes to the body shop. Its still driveable but i have serious rubbing while turning and it looks pretty bad. So no truck for 10 days. Oh and I dont know what i want to do next with the Ex. bull bar, ARB locker, superlift 4" & 33s... who knows its all up in the air right now..... I want it all! but now i just want it fixed. Oh well Maybe I can rent a a 4x4 this weekend and run with you guys

Oh yea i think ill try the no rear sway bar when i get it back. only the fronts maybe when we hit the trail.

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And I thought this was a family oriented site! Sorry, it's been one of those days.

Troy, sorry to hear that. I hope it works out in your favor.

scoot



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LOL!

Ok, call me stupid, but I've been reading all these posts regarding rear-sway bar disconnects etc, and am still dumb.

Do you guys actually remove the whole bar, or just disconnect the two points near the wheels?

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For a good time call 800-565-3673

[This message has been edited by superjens (edited 06-27-2001).]

Once you disconnect them, you realize you don't really need the bar connected at all, so you just remove it. However, I will let you determine your own suspension needs.

scoot

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I would not advise removing the front bar permanently or otherwise disconnecting it on the road. The rear should be removed if you don't want it, I don't think you can keep it in a position to not interfere with the suspension if it is disconnected and left in place. It's very easy to remove anyway.

Brent

The rear sway bar also hit the right rear shock, it also has the great potential of denting the can.

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01 SE Super Black

My rear sway-bar is in a utility closet in my apartment.

My front get disconnected when ever I hit the trails. I have driven on the road with my front disconnected because I was too lazy and it was too muddy to reconnect it just to drive back to camp. I also had 18 psi of pressure in my tires, so I drove really slowly and didn't make any sudden movements. You can notice a difference with thr front discoed.

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Goliath the X
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Cloud White, XE 4x4, 3-Pack
31 X 10.5 M/T * AR-767 Rims * EOE Rock Sliderz *
MAXC Member

you mean stock shocks ? or Ranchos ?



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My stock shock had a rubbing marks, after market shocks with even a slightly bigger can (i.e rancho) can/will dent.


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01 SE Super Black

I know Ranchos will get dents , but i did not think our stock shocks may get hit by sway bar
I never seen any scuf marks or dents on my stock ones

hmm
i gues if it does hit them, you can get the dealer to change your shocks under waranty

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