too sway or not

[backcountrymafia]

another one of the main reasons i wanted the sway bar gone was that it is definately just beggin to get itself torn off and take whatever it can with it.and trust me if you hang that thing up it will STOP the sled, not good

 

[Ruckus]

Bombardier makes a sway bar disco. It is approx 1/4" longer than the phazer link and the bolts are 8mm instead of 12mm. I think a sleeve could be used to take up the slack from the smaller bolt and the length is just about perfect. $60 or so.



Skyjacker makes an awesome system for 4x4's using a torsion bar and a locking hub where you can select between 3 levels of firmness and total lock on the sway bar. I think this would be the ultimate type of setup for the all terrain rider.

 

[Ruckus]

So I went ahead and made a home made disco. It was pretty easy, here's the pics. All that is left is a re-usable zip tie so I can rotate the link back and zip it to the sway bar. I will report my test as soon as I can get the next ride in, within a couple of days.

 

[Ruckus]

I put some miles on this mod today and I have to say it is awesome! I timed myself and it takes 30 seconds to get off the sled, disconnect and get back on, about 45 seconds to do the reverse. In the twisty, bumpy tight, off camber stuff it is great, sidehilling is so much easier too as well as boondocking. On the groomed trail however, it is a different story. Anything above 40 mph is sketchy as the sled wants to tip away from the turn. No big deal though, just reconnect and go! I tackled some terrain today with new confidence, I am so happy I did this mod and I would highly recommend it to anybody that takes their machine off the beaten path. You only need to do one side to negate the effects of the sway bar and this means it stays put and doesn't sag. I zip tied a piece of clear PVC tubing around the sway bar directly beneath the A-arm just in case it comes in contact with it. I also used a re-usable zip that I trimmed down so I can rotate the dogbone down and back, tieing it up to and parallel with the say bar.

 

[yam177]

Looks nice!! I just yank the whole bar off as its only 4 more bolts!! Good job though nice creative solution

 

[RedPhazer]

So does the sway bar just hang there once it's disconnected? What do you do to keep it from hanging up on the ground when hitting bumps?

 

[Ruckus]

So does the sway bar just hang there once it's disconnected? What do you do to keep it from hanging up on the ground when hitting bumps?

As described in my above post, only one side is disconnected therefore the sway bar stays exactly where it is.

 

[Ridndirty]

Nice simple fix, but it would be nice to see how close to the ground the disconnected end gets when you hit a bump with that ski. It must get pretty close.

 

[karl]

nice solution ruckus, the only concern I would have is that you have a forward pointing probe hanging under the a-arm. some of the places I ride that might get hung up on stuff, particularly when the still connected side of the suspension drops in a hole or low spot. the situation I discribe might put the loose end of the bar below the other ski. just a thought - discos work great on other off road rigs so the idea is solid. I wonder about discoing both sides and pulling the bar ends up above the a-arms somehow??

 

[Ruckus]

I agree. The bar should be able to rotate backwards and be clipped to the underbelly. The main reason for the single disco for me is for sidehilling. This is absolutely the worst sled in the world to traverse a hill on. With its heavy engine, high center of gravity, tall suspension and wide ski stance it is murder to sidehill, especially on firm snow. If I were in the back country mountains for the day, a double disconnect would be the solution. As for being a probe for disaster, well I can see how you can suspect that, but its no different than stock, only the dogbone is removed. I have arguably some of the roughest terrain here at my doorstep. I climb from sea level to roughly 2000 ft in a matter of minutes in some crazy terrain ranging from groomed trail, power lines, lakes, woods, barrens etc and no problems yet. Land here is 'Crown' or owned by the people, so you can go wherever the hell you want. It is because of this that the 'groomed trails' are a bit of a boring way to go. Anyhoo, this was mainly an exercise in how the phazer would handle without a sway bar. I will definitely do a double disconnect for next year and figure out how to tuck the sway bar up out of the way. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[karl]

agree totally with your comments about the handling. I ride the venture mp and always in natural terrain, what are groomed trails??? I completely removed the sway bar on my sled and could not be happier about the improvement in handling. almost totally stopped the feeling that I was gonna roll every time the ski ran up on a little bump. I was also thinking of going to the mountain a-arms to narrow up the ski track but I am not sure whether they would fit or how the geometry changes.