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Rubicon Owners, have you waterproofed your Sway Bar connector?

pnut

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Dielectric grease for sure - I have lots of that for my boat ;) the X-Treme Tape looks like it may work, but it may be hard to apply.


Mine took 4 years to start. I got a random blinking sway bar light. Now, the entire thing is trashed. Definitely not under warranty.


Pull off the connector and take a look. Let us know what you see.


I don't know yet, do you have yours? Mine is scheduled for delivery soon in the next 1-2 weeks hopefully. Based on this (https://www.thedrive.com/news/33208...rams-can-disconnect-at-highway-speeds-lawsuit) it is affected until 2020 but this article was posted in April 2020.

I can say it's safe to assume, no, they didn't come up with a better solution.
4 years? I don't think the JL has been out that long??
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Swagger

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I didn't like the gap between the protective tubing and the connector, so I wrapped that area with gorilla tape. Didn't check it first, just did it for insurance. So far so good.
 

HungryHound

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Every connector I unplug gets the dielectric grease before reconnecting it. I personally keep amazon in business with all the supplies I consume!

ANother good place is the 7 way/4way trailer connectors. I keep those packed with this grease, as they rarely get used, and I don't want them getting rusty from water collectiing. Same with my TOAD connection on the front.
That's usually where my $5 OReileys bonus card goes: DE.
 

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Neanderthalman

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I will never understand why the engineers did not spec a water/weather resistant seal for this connector. 👎
Are you sure they didn't? It might not be obvious to us apes how this connector may be sealed.

It's claimed by Jeep that all components below 30" are waterproof and everything above that is water resistant. We have a photo of the JL sway bar connector posted here that is pristine inside which supports that. The original post is about the same connector on a JKU that corroded.

It's unclear to me whether any action would be necessary - but I'm packing this SOB on my next oil change anyway. Doesn't seem like it'd hurt
 

DexterJeeper

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I've been having issues with my JKU recently. Huge issues: every dash light on, wouldn't start, etc. Thought it was TIPM, replaced, etc. Disconnected the sway bar last night and discovered the sway bar connector to be full of water. This gave me a full-on panic attack because I'm days away from delivery. Luckily, I fixed it. After some research, this affects ALL Chrysler vehicles with sway bar disconnect (powerwagon, jeep). And Jeep doesn't care.

My delivery is inching closer and closer. I really want to avoid this issue in the future. Has anyone waterproofed the connector? People were wrapping plastic around it but there has to be a better option. For the curious:

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I have a 2019 JLUR with 30k miles and just had my whole swaybar module replaced under warranty. The dealer chalked it up to water intrusion. My Jeep is a daily driver but I do wheel it hard. Plus I live in MI so the freeze/thaw stuff may have affected it? From what I'm seeing here, it doesn't seem to be a regular problem but I'm going to pack mine with DE grease just to be safe. If I remember correctly, the part cost was over $1800. Good thing I still have my warranty!
 
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mackh4x0r

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Are you sure they didn't? It might not be obvious to us apes how this connector may be sealed.

It's claimed by Jeep that all components below 30" are waterproof and everything above that is water resistant. We have a photo of the JL sway bar connector posted here that is pristine inside which supports that. The original post is about the same connector on a JKU that corroded.

It's unclear to me whether any action would be necessary - but I'm packing this SOB on my next oil change anyway. Doesn't seem like it'd hurt
Perhaps they fixed it but there is an active lawsuit that affects JKs and JLUs, the lawsuit was filed in April 2020 for all vehicles 2007-2020. This also included Powerwagon.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2020/jeep-sway-bar-lawsuit-says-disconnects-fail.shtml

  • 2007-2017 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (JK)
  • 2007-2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (JKU)
  • 2018-2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (JL)
  • 2018-2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (JLU)
  • 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
  • 2005-2010 Dodge Ram 2500 Power Wagon
  • 2011-2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon
Being this was filed in 2020, I can it's safe to assume that the issue wasn't fixed and 2021 is still affected. I can confirm, though the pictures posted do look different but I'm not sure if it's any better.
 

Chocolate Thunder

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I cannot foresee any circumstances in which my connector would end up like @mackh4x0r did, even if I don’t take any action at all. Not a drop of moisture or any dirt inside. The dielectric grease and taping the connection point will take away all my worries and I’ll never even check it again short of an issue arising.
 

nU7OuxIx

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When you pack it with the dielectric grease, do you just get the perimeter of the connector, or do you fill the entire connector, pins and all?

I've read that you shouldn't apply grease to the contacts since it doesn't conduct electricity. Maybe it will work fine, but it would be a pain to clean it all out and redo it.
 

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Chocolate Thunder

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When you pack it with the dielectric grease, do you just get the perimeter of the connector, or do you fill the entire connector, pins and all?

I've read that you shouldn't apply grease to the contacts since it doesn't conduct electricity. Maybe it will work fine, but it would be a pain to clean it all out and redo it.
Not on the pins themselves, inside and around the connector. In the picture below, in the area around the male inner plug, between the inner and outer part of the connector. Not in the pins themselves.
Jeep Wrangler JL Rubicon Owners, have you waterproofed your Sway Bar connector? 1614881261445
 

Maverick909

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