Axial Sway Bar - Quick Disconnect Mod

[8threads]

So recently i upgrade my Wraith to a MMP and ROC 412 3100kv motor (on 2S battery). I quickly realized how "unstable" the Wraith really is, so i went ahead and installed Axial's "sway bar" kit, front and back.
It wasn't long before i noticed how much less articulation my Wraith has now, like borderline remove the sway bar kit. I DID however LOVE how straight the Wraith shoots at full throttle WITH the sway bar kit installed. When i hammer on it, it back flips with NO hesitation.
But i wanted best of both worlds, great articulation when crawling and great stability when bashing/high speeds. The problem with trying to achieve this is that the sway bars are secured via nut to the shock mount and i'd have to remove or re-install them depending on the type of wheeling i was doing that day.
I got to thinking why there was no "quick disconnect" option with these things, and came up with what i thought was a great idea; adding ball links to the end of the sway bars to pop on and off as needed. Here are a couple pics I took of my mod:






Front:

Ball Links:


This mod isn't really tested and perfected, and i know overtime the plastic couplings will weaken, but it's a start for me. Also - it is sort of difficult to pop the ball links on and off, but i don't expect to do it often. I'll continue to look for alternate material that could suite this mod better. One potential problem i will still have is where to secure the sway bar to when I have them disconnected. I'm thinking bungee cord to frame for now.

Please share any thoughts or opinions!

 

[lostonthetrails]

Thats SICK! Glad to see that people have a love for inguenuity and custom fabrication like I do. That is what I call enginnering my friend. Thumbs up too you.

 

[Sh0rtBus]

Here's a thought. Rather than use a ball cup on the bottom end, why not use the regular screw and drill a hole through it big enough to fit a small body pin. Very close to the real thing too. Then when you needed to disconnect, pull the pin, slide the links off the bottom screw, and secure them with small zip ties.

 

[MAVERICKJK]

 

[LuckyDevil]

I did a similar mod but made my own parts when the axial ones stripped out. I made my own bar out of music wire and used collars for the quick disconnect.
Works great.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/2-2-scale-rigs/372396-nyx-luckydevils-new-build-3.html
Pages 3 and 4 show them the best.

 

[8threads]

Here's a thought. Rather than use a ball cup on the bottom end, why not use the regular screw and drill a hole through it big enough to fit a small body pin. Very close to the real thing too. Then when you needed to disconnect, pull the pin, slide the links off the bottom screw, and secure them with small zip ties.

SH0rtBus: I think this mod would work the best. I know eventually the plastic ball cup will wear out.

View attachment 269426

MAVERICKJK: I thought of this as well, but they would be a huge clearance problem though, on the side of the axle with the "pumpkin".
It's a royal pain to get in and out of there already. If i moved that mod further away, it then interfere's with the shock springs.

Thanks guys for the ideas....

 

[Turtlejon]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but what about cutting the bar itself in the middle, then use a coupling tube with a couple of set screws to hold it together, and just loosen or remove one of the screws when you crawl?

 

[mrhobby100]

The axial brand sway bar uses the center of the bar as the torsion part. The bars are all the same size so basically they are the same torsion bar but axial has notched a piece out of the bar on 2 of them. one bar has a large chunk missing which is the soft bar has a small piece of metal to twist the other one has maybe 1/4 of the bar notched that is the medium and the one with no notch is the stiff. If you cut the middle out you will then make all the bars the same. you could I guess cut a piece on either side of the notch so you don't affect it. I just unstalled the axial wraith sway bar only in the rear though its not needed up front and it actually lets it articulate a bit so mild crawling is okay for an all around heavy rig the soft bar on the rear only is good. But I do some real slow crawling comps and gtg's so I wanna figure out a disconnect too.

 

[Turtlejon]

I meant just cut them apart, not remove a section, then couple the parts back together. Should only be < 10mm all together...
You could even do it off on the side, to minimize change to the skinny part.

 

[Farabomb]

Honestly, The ball end is probably the best way to go. No worries about loosing pins and the balls pop on and off easily. I may use balls on both ends and just remove the link.

That being said I really, really need a reason to make them disconnect. So far I haven't noticed any loss of crawling ability and the benefits of a RSB only seems to be working well.

 

[fr8cture]

so if you just disconnect the one and and don't connect it somewhere on the chassis when not in use it just drags on the ground? lol I run dlux on the rear of mine and they work great no need to disconnect.

 

[mrhobby100]

I haven't needed to disconnect mine yet. But it doesn't matter if you have a different brand or not that isn't gonna decide if you need to disconnect or not. if another brand flexes more that's just from a softer bar. but I doubt it cause mine flexes pretty good with the soft bar they are most likey pretty close to the same stiffness I think the axial aluminm one are a lil stronger than the thin carbon fiber ones plus I don't really like that pressed in collar on the carbon fiber ones they look to much like the carbon fiber stuff on rice rockets and lil drifter cars. I also think the axial ones look pretty damn real if you look at the pics of the race truck I posted they look just like those sway bar arms.. My boss's real rock crawler has a disconnect on only one side that might work on our rigs to just make a disconnect system for one side leave the other side connected.