Rear sway bar removal grumble grumble

Flyer58

Flyer58

YJ Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
924
Location
Magnolia, Texas
More of a rant than anything. I'll be installing a new exhaust system and shocks and the way the tailpipe crosses over the sway bar it looks like my only option is to remove the bar and quickly get the exhaust in place. I don't have any lift kit so the space is pretty tight and I simply cut up the old rusty pipe to remove it.

Well the shocks came off with no problem as did the right side sway bar bolt but the left side bolt is stuck in the bushing and will not budge. It rotates fairly easily yet does not slide out even when turning and pounding at the same time.

I have it soaking to see if that helps. It won't be the first time I've had to cut through a suspension bolt to get it out.

Meanwhile spider webs are building up on the inside of my rims while I wait.

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Sounds like its froze in the sleeve in the trac bar, not sway bar. Keep soaking and hitting it as it may magically come loose. Worst case scenario is a sawzall right inside the edge of the trac rod bracket on either side or the axle bracket. Might booger up the bracket itself but I wager you are amoung the small percent who still run the trac bars. Most remove both trac bars and the front sway bar and never look back.
 
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Gilaguy23 said:
Sounds like its froze in the sleeve in the trac bar, not sway bar. Keep soaking and hitting it as it may magically come loose. Worst case scenario is a sawzall right inside the edge of the trac rod bracket on either side or the axle bracket. Might booger up the bracket itself but I wager you are amoung the small percent who still run the trac bars. Most remove both trac bars and the front sway bar and never look back.
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Yes, trac bar. I've read that about it being pretty much worthless and probably installed to make lawyers happy. I bought this stock YJ as a project when the engine needed rebuilding and since I only go grocery shopping with it I haven't done much else to it.

I'll keep soaking and pounding for now.
Thanks!
 
Aaannd I got it out. A few more very hard whacks with a 3lb sledge given the limited space and it moved. There's always that one, or two bolts. Not looking forward to the front shocks later on. These rears may have been changed out but everything up front looks original with the rust to prove it.
 
More grumbles. I should have stayed in bed.

I'll drive around and see if I notice any difference without the track bar. It's more about off road wheel travel without the bar so there should be no difference on flat roads.

I ordered a Walker exhaust through RockAuto and received most of it except the end tailpipe. Looking at the front pipe where the O2 sensor is located I found they crushed the snot out of it to make a flat spot to weld on the O2 bung. I called Walker and they agreed it was beyond the spec by double. So I boxed up the front pipe and got the exchange going through RockAuto. Hopefully this is a one time event and not an automated process where the last 100 were all made wrong. They crush the 2in pipe down to 1.5 inches and for a 2.5L i don't need any further restrictions.

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Lawyers, to protect corporate from Girly-men who weren't man enough to learn how to drive a squirrely vehicle.
Jeeps Are suppose to be squirrely that's why they work, but they were trying to turn them into cars to boost sales.
They're either friendly on the road, or friendly off-road, seldom both unless you hit that magic sweet spot.
 
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The front track bar has some merit due to it really helps to tighten up the steering, especially with our less than stellar Inverted T steering design. The rear one you will feel absolutely fine without it and won't regret removing it.

The front is still removed by most also, there's just not a good way to keep it once you have any lift. If I were fully stock, I would pull the rear off and leave the front. But I'm not so I run neither anymore.
 
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jeepjoe43 said:
I don't run either, or the anti-sway bar, for that matter.
No problems and I don't miss any of it.
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For me it has just depended on the situation. Low lift, I don't mind either of the track bars being gone. Sway bar, different story. On stiff suspension (BDS) I did get used to not having it but it always felt like it swayed way more without it esp on highway curves. Something to get used to for sure. I never ran without it with Rough Country 2.5.

My OME suspension feels really unsafe without it though, so I added it back. It felt like it was going to topple over going down the road at 35 mph with any steering input at all. My solution was quick disconnects on it so that it wouldn't hinder me in the times when I need the sway bar gone.
 
Still waiting on the head pipe to complete the exhaust installation which should come in tomorrow. Today I was looking at the two rear shock and think they may be the factory original based on my quick search. They're MAECO shocks 52040041 63816 2591KIE. MAECO was the Monroe Auto Equipment Co. and most of my searching brought me to golf cart suspension LoL.

The shocks are rusty and have no gas pressure to extend them. They collapse with some pressure yet are still very slow to extend.

I still think it's time for new ones. Maybe the Smithsonian wants the old ones..

I used a wire brush to clean them up to read the numbers.

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