Swaybar Disconnect for non KDSS

Just be our guinea pig, we will arrange a GoFundMe for you. You got my $10

 

Just finished install in my garage. Its a not that difficult but similar difficulty level to say installing my lift for the first time. Did it over 2 days taking my time. Mostly all the drilling that took forever. Buy good cobalt bits you will notice a difference vs titanium coated. The stepbit that they sell was 100% worth it to me.

Its very easy to use and when its disconnected it feels like no sway bar. (only been on 2 test drives around town no highway yet and no off road yet)
One unexpected thing I had to modify was the TRD skid plate. I had to cut 2-3 inches of the upper side splash guard part to make room for the air shock. (3rd picture)

Time will tell if the rivnuts and the fact that the disconnect mechanism attaches to the upper ball joint will hold. Everything feels well made and strong I just prefer a castle nut to be on there.

Pictures aren't great lol I wrapped up the project and thought I probably should take at least 1 photo.
Oh and a picture of my 4Runner because why not.

 

Awesome job, buddy! Now get it on the ramp and show us!

 

So... I am about the last person that actually needs one of these (yet )

But I watched the install video and its not that scary. They eliminated the welding of the prototype and have a bolt on bracket that just requires some drilling and rivnuts.


I agree with the thoughts up thread... If this is the first truck you have ever wrenched on, or your wrenching experience doesn't extend beyond oil changes and brakes - I would find a shop.
However if you have fairly extensive experience working on cars and a well equipped garage I wouldn't be afraid of it. The scariest part is drilling a couple holes but they give you nice drill templates to work off.

 

Can you post some pictures of, and describe the connection between the upper control arm and the disconnect link? Also, what are the rivnuts used for? Are the rivnuts taking any pulling forces?

I spent some time looking at how to temporarily disconnect and tie off the swaybar, but it seems like a lot of work to verify if a tied off bar will clear everything without causing some horrible interference at the worst time. So maybe 700 bucks for a well thought out solution isn’t so bad.

The only thing that gives me a little pause is the connection to the upper control arm and how rib nuts are used. Actually, one other thing is how it will stand up to corrosion and if that could lead to failures.

 

Thanks for sharing Eric! Your rig looks great and so does your install. Please do a follow up so we can see how they are holding up.

 

The install video they provide will make way more sense as to where the rivnuts are used and how the disconnect connects to the UCA ball joint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6UjP62OCOk&t=189s

 

The rivnuts are mostly taking up tensile loads from just bolt torque. In the case of the sway bar mounts, those 14mm bolts have a (minimum) tensile load rating in excess of 10,000 lbs…way over what the sway bar could generate in terms of ‘pulling’ force on the mount. The rivnuts themselves (cad plated steel) have a thread shear rating well above the bolt tensile rating. You’d bend the frame member long before the fastener gives up. As for shear forces it’s a bit trickier to calculate because of several unknowns, but an ‘approximate’ single shear calculation puts a 14mm bolt well above its tensile failure load.

In short, those bolted joints should not fail in this application…sans a really bad drop onto a boulder while rock crawling.

As for corrosion, yes the drilled locations should be given some kind of protection on the exposed metal surfaces for long term benefit, meaning anything that stops oxygen from coming into contact with exposed ‘raw’ steel…

 

Thanks, watching that helped clear up how it all goes together.

Interesting, thanks! I’m just a little suspicious of rivnuts on a real life structural application with consequences. I’m no engineer, but I would imagine the sway bar mounts end up taking both shear and tensile loading. Rivnuts can probably test out with specs that exceed anticipated loads, but not knowing how much strength is affected by a slightly imperfect rivnut install, or once a little corrosion takes place around the holes (after say, 4 or 5 years), gives me a little pause. It seems like fishing through some stick nuts for the sway bar mounts would be more fool proof. But I’m not sure how possible that is.

My more general concerns with corrosion was more related to the actual hardware. The video makes it seem like they are all nicely coated though.

Anyone know if the over-center lock is anodized aluminum, or red painted steel?

 

the over-center locks are non-magnetic so I'm leaning anodized aluminum.

 

Can you describe how it interfaces with the steel? Any type of isolators between the two metals? Hard to see what’s going on with the bottom part that hooks on to something.

 

So it doesn't look like any aluminum and steel touch except for the tiny safety pin. The bottom is all aluminum and the top of the latch rests into some tough feeling rubber. The slide is steel but again the latch doesn't touch for the rubber. Not sure if this is what your asking.

 

Yes that answers my question. It really is a neatly engineered kit. Is that a ball joint of some sort underneath the nut that attaches to the upper control arm bolt?

Time will tell how these do, but it’s really cool that they had the guts to put as much effort and thought as they did into it.

Do you daily drive your 4runner? I think it would be cool if you could update the thread on how it’s functioning over time.

 

I suspect based upon that flexible boot that underneath lies a ball or other two-DOF joint due to the suspension's complex articulation path.

Replacing the factory sway bar link with this design is smart. My only concern is really with the gas shock damper. We know what can happen with conventional shocks and the potential for overheating so that's where I think the only weak point is with this design. Would like to see before, during and after a trail run temperature readings of this component.

 

What exactly does that shock control? Is it meant only to damp the impact of the sway bar ends when they hit the limits on the sliding rod?

Also, is it a shock (with oil), or is it basically an air spring?

 

In the video they are 'charging' it with compressed air...does it have oil? Only they can answer that question. The air shock/dampener looks to work in conjunction with the conical rubber 'bumpers' on the sliding link shaft to help keep the swaybar from really banging hard against the hard stops by controlling rapid movements. In mechanical design we call that a 'dashpot' system.