Re:Jimny Bits Swaybar (Anti Roll Bar) Quick Disconnect. Thoughts ?

www.jimnybits.com/jimny-anti-roll-bar-disconnect.html#reviews

I searched and found out that a few of you guys (Ricci, Boogie & Maverick) have this kit.

I spoke to a friend of mine about it & he's not convinced.
First off he said cutting the tempered sprung steel will ruin it.
Then he said the heat from welding the sprung steel will destroy the heat tempering that went into the spring processing.
I see his point but also I'm sure Jimnybits did their R&D so if it was no good or dangerous they wouldn't sell it.

Your opinions please

 
 

Both valid points. Also consider that by welding this non-springy thing to a significant length of it, you are stiffening the anti roll bar.
Having to lay on the ground and undo bolts isn't particularly quick or convenient.
You can achieve exactly the same outcome by removing the driver's side drop link, which also involves laying on the ground and undoing bolts.

You can get one purpose designed, if you want to spend the cash.
www.hardracesuspension.com.au/suzuki-jim...-disconnect-sway-bar

crash486 JB74W

Guys, thanks for the replies.
I don't have an Anti Roll Bar on the Jimny & it's quite high. Although I have yet to drive it more than 100 feet in its current state & only 1/4 mile in its stock state I like the idea of a sway bar.
Parts are non existant here & shipping a whole one would be bulky.... Read expensive. So one cut in half would just about be affordable, I think.
Busta, my idea would be to heavily weld the sleeve to the cut ends of the Swaybar as there's nothing to ruin there. Fish mouth the opposite ends of the sleeve & do a couple of tacks to minimize heat to Swaybar. Possibly drill through both ARB & sleeve twice and insert a bolt or rod then plug weld the rod to the sleeve on both sides to stop the sleeve spinning round the ARB. Gonna speak to another friend who's a bit more of a metal head to see what he thinks.
Crash: >1,000 dollarydoos !!!!  Oh no ! They don't do it for my 1999 gen 3 JB33. Gotta say if I did have a 2018+, oh yeah I'd want one & would be saving.  That is trick.
 

I stuffed up welding mine so its permanently welded together on Ulysses. I cant say I miss being able to disconnect it though. Axle travel is enough for me most of the time and the front locker sorts it out when its not enough.

I did have a working one on the previous jimny and it worked well. Not arduous to disconnect before a days playing with the two bolts, use a set of mole grips to align the plates when putting back together at the end of the day.

Whilst the jimny arb is a solid bit of metal I wouldn't particularly call it sprung. Under movement up/down it just pushes force onto the opposite side wheel. Maybe im confusing spring action with twisting action. Where the kit welds onto the bar is a long sleeve so plenty of area to get a strong weld on.

One of our laning buddies (Gary) has an air solenoid to replace the bolts on his kit, so no crawling under the car for him. Pretty simple to setup if you have onboard air.

Riccy, that's exactly what a spring is. A long length of metal that twists under force. Sometimes they are wound into coils to save space, but the principle is exactly the same. The stiffness of the ARB determines how much body roll (or articulation) it permits.

Just my opinion as requested ( I am full of opinions  )

If you want a disconnect ARB then fit the one from Jimnybits. I would not be concerned about R&D, like most of these professional engineered products the company R&D department is provided by liability insurance and reputation. 
Is it safe - sure why not, but Suzuki won't like it. The only "approved" method is the standard ARB as supplied by Suzuki, and as Busta said, you temporarily disconnect the drop link, of course reconnecting before joining the public highway again.
 

I had a near 5” lift on my old S200KYS Jimny (yes, James Lines - Martin’s son -  now has the plate)…

 

JimnyBits Diesel front springs with 1.25” spring spacers on the front to handle all the weight of the bumpers, winch, etc… but it articulated really well off road… but on-road that translated to a lot of body roll in the corners and I’d hate to think what it would do at motorway speeds if I’d had to take evasive action…

An anti roll bar disconnect did the trick though, they are safe to run with just one of the (12mm) bolts fitted and are night and day when bolted up for road use…

Just my tuppence worth though…

Lambert
I've seen your fab skills and bought a few bits off you from eBay. I like where you're going with the idea of your sway bay.
Here's one I like. (Bloody jeeps get all the good bits.)
skyjacker.com/shop/sway-bar-assembly/jfsba10/


Riccy
Any chance of a pic of your mate Gary's disconnect ?bsounds interesting.

Scimike
There are quite a few companies who do disconnectable/split drop links. Let me find some & I'll come back & edit/post links.

Everyone
Reading your comments/replies which I can't thank you all enough for, I'm about to bite the bullet & order.
 

I usually sell a similar kit in complete kit form that you weld up yourself, but I’m unfortunately in various hospitals at the moment, si I’ve had to end all my eBay listings…