Better Swar Bar Disconnects?

[HighCountryJLU]

I'm absolutely at my wit's end with these damn Rock Krawler Suspension RK07331K Gen II Front Sway Bar Disconnects. I have been through an obscene amount of back and forth with the company.

Per the manufacturer, these CANNOT be used off-road. At all. Ever. They insist they are not designed to be used this way. Do not use off pavement. And I'm not talking crawling, I'm talking anything similar to going over a curb can piss these things off. There are times I want articulation out front. And there are times I do not. I shouldn't have to pull these off every time I take a slightly rutted dirt road to go to a trailhead. (Of course this isn't in the information when purchasing). You MUST remove them before using the Jeep in any meaningful way.

What happens? The pins fall out / shear off / who knows what and the link falls off the spindle. Whether the top or the bottom falls off dictates how mangled things get. When the bottom drops, sometimes the link floats and all is well. When the top drops, the link falls and at minimum mangles the bushing, rips off the grease fitting, and then proceeds to try to tear up steering and suspension parts.

Additionally, the way the right lower mount attaches, there is no way to keep it from spinning. The other three come with lock washers and they only pass through one piece of metal. This one however comes with a spacer, a bolt, and the spindle that the bushing slides onto. There is no combination I've found that keeps this from rotating, which ends up spinning the spindle where the pin goes through to random angles. I've followed the manufacturers directions and torque specs, and I've tried to get creative. In the end, the surfaces mating are too smooth and I haven't found the right torque / technique to keep this sucker from spinning. And when it spins 90 degrees, the pin makes contact with the suspension and pushes itself out. This is my most frequently lost pin. It has been known to fall out even without leaving the pavement. I had to order a decent quantity from the manufacturer to replace all the ones that fall out (on this position and the others - there isn't a position I haven't lost a pin in).

So, does anyone know of a better sway bar disconnect that is actually able to be left on when off-road? I'm not going to attempt Moab's worst with them on, but I should be able to do light-to-moderate wheeling where articulation isn't paramount and rely on the links. Am I nuts? Is this just not a thing, or are the links I have now just not engineered in a logical way? Any recommendations for replacements? For reference, I have a '21 JLUD Sport S with about 2.5" of suspension lift.

Thanks in advance.

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[SadRobot]

I'm absolutely at my wit's end with these damn Rock Krawler Suspension RK07331K Gen II Front Sway Bar Disconnects. I have been through an obscene amount of back and forth with the company.

Per the manufacturer, these CANNOT be used off-road. At all. Ever. They insist they are not designed to be used this way. Do not use off pavement. And I'm not talking crawling, I'm talking anything similar to going over a curb can piss these things off. There are times I want articulation out front. And there are times I do not. I shouldn't have to pull these off every time I take a slightly rutted dirt road to go to a trailhead. (Of course this isn't in the information when purchasing). You MUST remove them before using the Jeep in any meaningful way.

What happens? The pins fall out / shear off / who knows what and the link falls off the spindle. Whether the top or the bottom falls off dictates how mangled things get. When the bottom drops, sometimes the link floats and all is well. When the top drops, the link falls and at minimum mangles the bushing, rips off the grease fitting, and then proceeds to try to tear up steering and suspension parts.

Additionally, the way the right lower mount attaches, there is no way to keep it from spinning. The other three come with lock washers and they only pass through one piece of metal. This one however comes with a spacer, a bolt, and the spindle that the bushing slides onto. There is no combination I've found that keeps this from rotating, which ends up spinning the spindle where the pin goes through to random angles. I've followed the manufacturers directions and torque specs, and I've tried to get creative. In the end, the surfaces mating are too smooth and I haven't found the right torque / technique to keep this sucker from spinning. And when it spins 90 degrees, the pin makes contact with the suspension and pushes itself out. This is my most frequently lost pin. It has been known to fall out even without leaving the pavement. I had to order a decent quantity from the manufacturer to replace all the ones that fall out (on this position and the others - there isn't a position I haven't lost a pin in).

So, does anyone know of a better sway bar disconnect that is actually able to be left on when off-road? I'm not going to attempt Moab's worst with them on, but I should be able to do light-to-moderate wheeling where articulation isn't paramount and rely on the links. Am I nuts? Is this just not a thing, or are the links I have now just not engineered in a logical way? Any recommendations for replacements? For reference, I have a '21 JLUD Sport S with about 2.5" of suspension lift.

Thanks in advance.

I've had the RK disconnects for a couple of years and I hate them. Those pins bend all the time. The bushings fall out so I've started just removing the links completely when wheeling instead of just rotating the bottom up.

I've also been told by RK that the pins are bending because I am "using the Jeep offroad without disconnecting" which just is not true at all. If I'm off pavement at all I'm disconnected.

Look into Apex Autolynx, Anti-rocks OR getting a Rubi swaybar and adding a manual disconnect. At some point I'm going to do one of those 3 options just haven't decided what I want to do.

 

[Medsker]

I loved my Apex AutoLYNX. They made it so easy to disconnect. Highly recommend them!

 

[c20040215]

Source a Rubicon take off and install EVO no limit would be my suggestion, which was what I did.

 

[DesertJeepRat]

Second vote for Apex AutoLynx. They're not cheap, but work great both on & off-road.

 

[azwjowner]

JKS is always a solid choice.

 

[engineXI]

which kit did you buy?

 

[entropy]

JKS

 

[AmericanPatriot100]

I have disconnected my links and they’re currently zip tied up out of the way mostly. I do get some tire rubbing on them when disconnected. I also just drove roughly 450 miles with them disconnected and will drive another 156 miles home. And so far I’ve decided they won’t go back on. Having them disconnected on some of the roads I was on was questionable due to lack of road maintenance but I was still doing 55-75mph. When trucks passed it handled the wind pressure just as if they were still connected.

 

[Speed331]

AutoLynx for the win!
Expensive? Yes, but when it comes time to reconnect after a long, hot day on the trail, they feel worth every penny.

 

[Dalvarado55]

AutoLynx for the win!
Expensive? Yes, but when it comes time to reconnect after a long, hot day on the trail, they feel worth every penny.

Apex AutoLynx!!!!! I’ve ran them for 5 years at least and have not had an issue. Easy to install and even easier to use. Simple twist of the knob unlocks or locks them. Cannot go wrong on road, Offroad, or crawling.

 

[TikiRick]

100% JKS. I've had them on both of my JKU's and they're great. The thing I like most about them is that when you disconnect, you don't have to take them out and store them somewhere, and try to secure the sway bar. The kit includes another pin that gets installed higher up. To disconnect, you slide the lower end off the pin on the axle, rotate the link up, and slide the bushing onto the upper pin. This keeps the sway bar up and out of the way while you're wheeling. The bushings are greaseable and replaceable...great product.

 

[Willys41]

I'm absolutely at my wit's end with these damn Rock Krawler Suspension RK07331K Gen II Front Sway Bar Disconnects. I have been through an obscene amount of back and forth with the company.

Per the manufacturer, these CANNOT be used off-road. At all. Ever. They insist they are not designed to be used this way. Do not use off pavement. And I'm not talking crawling, I'm talking anything similar to going over a curb can piss these things off. There are times I want articulation out front. And there are times I do not. I shouldn't have to pull these off every time I take a slightly rutted dirt road to go to a trailhead. (Of course this isn't in the information when purchasing). You MUST remove them before using the Jeep in any meaningful way.

What happens? The pins fall out / shear off / who knows what and the link falls off the spindle. Whether the top or the bottom falls off dictates how mangled things get. When the bottom drops, sometimes the link floats and all is well. When the top drops, the link falls and at minimum mangles the bushing, rips off the grease fitting, and then proceeds to try to tear up steering and suspension parts.

Additionally, the way the right lower mount attaches, there is no way to keep it from spinning. The other three come with lock washers and they only pass through one piece of metal. This one however comes with a spacer, a bolt, and the spindle that the bushing slides onto. There is no combination I've found that keeps this from rotating, which ends up spinning the spindle where the pin goes through to random angles. I've followed the manufacturers directions and torque specs, and I've tried to get creative. In the end, the surfaces mating are too smooth and I haven't found the right torque / technique to keep this sucker from spinning. And when it spins 90 degrees, the pin makes contact with the suspension and pushes itself out. This is my most frequently lost pin. It has been known to fall out even without leaving the pavement. I had to order a decent quantity from the manufacturer to replace all the ones that fall out (on this position and the others - there isn't a position I haven't lost a pin in).

So, does anyone know of a better sway bar disconnect that is actually able to be left on when off-road? I'm not going to attempt Moab's worst with them on, but I should be able to do light-to-moderate wheeling where articulation isn't paramount and rely on the links. Am I nuts? Is this just not a thing, or are the links I have now just not engineered in a logical way? Any recommendations for replacements? For reference, I have a '21 JLUD Sport S with about 2.5" of suspension lift.

Thanks in advance.

I installed a Rubicon sway bar and added a pneumatic cylinder to disconnect the sway bar.
I already had an ARB compresses for filling tires so I only had to add a pressure regulator some lines, fittings, solenoid valve and make the adapter plate and push rod.
EVO makes something similar.

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/...yl8SP9j5xsY7_tBFLlIOaWWolIpZwuhRoC19oQAvD_BwE

The only problem with the Rubicon sway bar is it can stick in the open position so I doubled the return spring pressure. It has never failed me.
I like the fact that I can turn it on and off with a push of a button.

 

[Flip]

Either a Rubi sway bar with the manual EVO or Apex Lynx.

Best of luck.

 

[jondotcom]

Rubicon take-off with $25 ebay disconnect handle. Sometimes you can score a takeoff sway for ~$100

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