NovaPath

Great work!

Good to know thanks for the post!

To be honest I totally forgot about that(in regard to attaching to the strut. The only way I can think to verify is to turn the wheel all the way to one side, and try to eyeball if the new joint will have that much rotation. This would also remove a heim style joint from a possibility up front as well. If only I had thought of this sooner I could have investigated it when I was doing my brakes this morning(upgraded to hawk LTS, HUGE difference especially when combined with finally adjusting my LSV after the lift). I'm going to remove the rear sway for the trip in a couple weekends, and get the rear sorted and fabbed up. I may just leave the front the heck alone until I'm able to turn this truck into a camping/wheeling only rig(probably a year or more away).

I took this project out again today and se it on my counter, but that is about as far as I got with it. I think I lucked out as my 180* disconnects are like your one good one. I've got an offroad event planned for the end of June that I will probably just take the rear one off for, but after it is off I can mock up the replacement pieces and figure out how to make at least the rear work. My issue with the pin type ones shown is noise, they are going to create quite the racket with two moveable pins, and 2 moveable clips all banging around on every bump.

My 180* ones seemed to be okay, but maybe a slight bit of play. Regardless, i'm going to give them a go. Stainless steel rods came in while I was away on business travel, but this past weekend was spent detailing the family hauler and trying to get rid of the rotten egg smell(literally) from the trunk. Hoping next weekend to have the nuts here and be able to tinker...

Thanks for the follow up. I know I will eventually be in this boat again, but for now the starter has not been acting up(well, once or twice since I posted that back in February). Once it starts acting up again i'll deal with it...

I know you did not mention anywhere that you wanted to lift it, so this may not be helpful. I had the exact same issue as you and it was absolutely terrible to drive over any sort of speed hump(not bump, but hump at any sort of speed), or dip in the road. It was compounded as there is a dip in the road that you must hit everytime you leave and come back to where I live, so it was at a very minimum happening twice a day. Once I installed the 2" lift and bilstein 5100 series rear shocks it rides like a dream over those same bumps.

That was nice of you to come back and post the outcome. All too often threads like this end without any resolution, which is very angering for someone searching for the same problem down the line!

Placed an order through Grainger tonight for 2 1ft sections of 316 grade 1/2-20 right hand all thread. Still need to source the bolts but that shouldn't be all that difficult I wouldn't think. Scheduled to arrive May 20th, and I should have some time to tinker(I hope) the weekend after. I will update once they are cut and installed!

I received them in the mail yesterday and had a chance to unbox them. The good news is I definitely think they will be strong enough, but there are two downsides: 1. The springs on the 90* angle ones are very difficult to compress with one hand. Perhaps they will be easier once mounted. 2. There is play in the joints that will undoubtedly lead to noise. I'm wondering if I can pack them with some super thick grease to help reduce it, time will tell I suppose. The rear noise won't bother me as much as the front, but I hate being able to feel clunking and loose parts through the wheel and the floorboards. I'm still moving forward with the project, but suspect I may ultimately go the heim joint route as well. This will serve as a very practical, useful, and cost effective stepping stone I think, but I don't expect it to be the end result.

For a grand seems hard to go wrong, depending on what registering fees etc are where you live.

Excellent detective work! I found Grainger will sell a 3ft section of 1/2-20 solid Stainless all thread for 39.00, so I think I am going to go that route. I will wait and see what the ebay guy posts first though. Seems like the jeep guy really preferred the heim joints, but I'd like to give this way a go first as well-seems easier. I also really liked his retain-age system, although I don't necessarily know how it would work on our pathys. I honestly think that figuring out a way to secure the sways is going to be the hardest part of all this, I haven't found any documented cases of someone being successful at it(not that it means we can't!). I'll most likely be out of town when the joints arrive next week, but the week after I should have some time to fiddle around with them.

So I think i'm going to go ahead and order a 2 ft section of 316 grade stainless 1/2-20 RH threaded rod. I've been on the fence about buying a grinder for a while now, and I think that this will help motivate me to make it a "need". I think that the stength will be just fine compared to what is on there now, and if it bends these rods than the links themselves are going to have problems anyways(just my thought process). I've also been thinking about the required lubrication, and i've come to the conculsion that as long as I am able to wheel this thing once every couple of months(which is my goal), and I re-lube them every time, that they should in theory last a long time. I'm getting very excited to get some parts in hand and spend a day tinkering with this project, the payoff would be huge the next time I am out wheeling and flexing like crazy!

Alright, just placed an order for: 6 Qi500 Ball Joint, Quick Disconnect USD $3.42 USD $20.52 2 QIL500 Ball Joint, In-Line Quick Disconnect USD $9.25 USD $18.50 Looks like someone else is stalking this thread because the previous stainless steel ones that were available last night are now gone...

Thats my thought as well, although another concern with the front sway is it looks as if we may have to push the abs and brake lines out of the way to not snag them while it is rotated up. This is actually a large concern as it would make disconnecting the front a two person job. At this point I think the best thing to do is to get some parts in our hands and start fiddling. I'm going to go ahead and pull the trigger on the 6 SQI's and 2 QLI's now. If the QLI's rust it will be an easy swap at a later date. Did the ebay guy get back to you on the links yet?

I think I'm going to go 1/2" all the way around, seems like i'm being lazy not to and would just introduce a weak point for failure. Let me know what the guy says about stainless rods, I'm going to figure out a way to cover most of these things anyways but with the salt up here in the mid atlantic I'm concerned about corrosion regardless. I was had my cart loaded up last night but decided to hold off and call them to see if getting the stainless ones would be an option anytime soon, if not I will go ahead and order 6 SQI500's and 2 QIL500's(the stainless version of these is what is not in stock). Seems like stainless steel ball joints with stainless steel links should be pretty darn bulletproof as long as you lube them occasionally. Also thinking about the possibility of only needing one side secured with the wire loop once the sways are disconnected, essentially we just need to make sure that it never drops down lower than the lower track rod. My concern with securing both sides would be getting into a situation where the sway was putting force onto the hangers, and then it ripping them off.

I suspect they will as well. Problem with the rods is they will need to be some sort of treated metal or else they will simply bend. Ideally we would want stainless for the rods....There are a few options online I just don't know how I'd cut them at home.

I was looking for the stainless version it appears, I see now that the regular version is in stock. I'm about to place an order as well, did you order the shafts from there as well? I'm debating between ordering off this site or waiting and seeing if I can find something at HD etc that would work...

The 3/8" 90* and the 1/2" 180* are not in stock. I just checked amazon/google and it appears I will have to make some calls on monday to see if I can order over the phone from them or another distributor. Insert angry face here. Edit: My main concern now is trying to figure out a way to keep them partially sealed so that grease can keep them lubricated. I guess we will have to take a closer look once one of us receives them, otherwise greasing them will be a weekly activity...

oh and with regard to the spring popping out, I don't see that happening unless of course a shock fails or breaks off, either way you've got problems if that happens anyways.

I'm willing to be a guinea pig on this one. I'm going to try to do some research(or read the research you've already done thoroughly!!) tonight and then place an order. The swaybars don't see all THAT much force, and frankly if it fails it isn't the end of the world and can be easily repaired. I like the u-bolt and strap idea for the rear, and I think we can find someplace to hang the front one on off of the body/wheel well etc. Thanks for putting so much thought into this!

I'm 100% in. Please keep me posted. My only concern is if those will rattle and how tight the fit is. Regardless, we NEED to come up with a disconnect plan for these trucks, and I'm glad I've found a like minded individual that isn't just trashing them entirely. I'll do some research on those links this weekend(thanks for posting!), but let me know if you pull the trigger first.

what about looping something(say a bungee) around the center where it bends up around the pumpkin, and pulling that towards the rear of the car and looping it around the LSV bracket? That would point both of the swaybar ends up, the only question is if they would hit the wheel well during compression?

It seems like there must be a good solution for this rear swaybar dillemma, although that hump over the pumpkin certainly isn't doing us any favors. I just don't want to have to deal with laying on the dirt/ground after a 2 hour drive to remove the dang thing for every off road trip. I'll look at it again some more this weekend and see what I can think up..

So I just went out and looked at it again, and I don't think that would work. Our swaybar is attached to the rear axle as a fixed location instead of the chassis like that photo depicts. Therefore, it would actually make more sense to disconnect at the sway I think. Could you zip tie the swaybar to the rear lower control arm? My head isn't working right to figure out the physics of that at the momemnt...will think some more.