[Apexbasher]

UPDATED with Solution! See post #10 at bottom of page.


Anybody else found the sway bar rubs the heck out of the bottom coil wrap on the new WE 2.5 coil-overs?

I thought it was the bushings making all that racket up front, so I loosened and re-torqued everything with weight on the wheels. and STILL had a squeeking noise from the wheel wells. Finally I got MrsApexbasher to push the front end down while I poked around underneath. BINGO! Swaybar was firmly in contact with the very bottom coil. I sprayed a little wd40 at the spot and all went silent. I have since pulled the swaybar and ground off fairly large amount of material from the offending area and now have perhaps 1/8 of gap between now. I called All-Pro to let them know and he seemed surprised I had an issue. "Never heard any problems from these on the FJ", was his statement.

That's okay, I will be on the phone with them on Monday because they sent the wrong dang bushings for one of the ends on my new rear lower links. DRAT! I wanted those on for Hard Rock tomorrow...:mecry:

 

[niceguysanti]

mine clanked a ton.... I bent the sway bar to fix the issue. I did this a month ago and have not had any issues with the handling or any more rubbing of the coils on the swaybar.

here is a copy of my post on the fjnortheasters.org site.



A while ago I installed a set of Walker Evans 2.5 coilovers on the rig. They rubbed on the swaybar a ton , I thought that by changing the UCA's the problem would resolve itself. I installed some toytec light racing uca's and the rubbing continued.

The swaybar rubs even though I have the swaybar relocator kit that came with the W/E coilovers installed.

It was driving me nuts. On every washboard road it sounded like my front end was coming apart.

I finally took off the swaybar yesterday and drove around without it. At low speeds the rig drives fine but at highway speeds quick turns are hairy.


While the swaybar was out I decided to try and bend it out a little bit. Hopefully this would open it up enough for the coilovers not to touch the swaybar.

Here is a picture how i did it

I got the factory clamps and bushing that hold the swaybar to the fj and bolted them down to a 2x6 with some lag bolts at the factory location for the clamps. I don't know if you can see it but my swaybar has some collars on them backing up the stock collars, I had to leave the collars on otherwise the rubber sway bar bushing flexed too much when I applied some force with a pipe. I measured the bar beforehand at its widest position it measured 47.75". I put the pipe on one end and bent it until I gained .5" on one side then I switched to the other side and did the same. I ended up with a 48.75" spread at its widest point. This fitted up fantastically. I ended up with about 1/4" free space between the sway and the coils.

NOTE: the actual measurements are insignificant, they apply to my rig and the numbers might be different on another rig. The point is to spread the swaybar so you have enough room to clear the coils.

This has quieted the rig down completely. I drove home today and it seemed to handle perfectly. Hopefully there will be no long term issues.


Sway Bar rub

 

[Apexbasher]

Yes, this was the other way I could have fixed mine but found I did not have the required items to get the job done. Also, I was afraid of bending the two sides unevenly, though I could have sorted that out by trial and error. Good write up, btw.

 

[JonB]

We are doing an install tomorrow with these shocks and I will find out what's going on. Maybe something changed on the sway bar relocater brackets.

JonB

 

[HercNav]

I am experiencing the same problem. I tried bending the swaybar but only gained maybe an 1/8 inch on each side (I didn't have an appropriate setup to bend it anymore). Additionally it appears that the Allpro sway bar relocation brackets may be thicker than other brands out there. I say this because my swaybar is also rubbing on my Budbuilt skids. I talked to Bud and he stated they had an FJ in the shop with Icon and there was no rubbing issues. He stated that the relocation brackets from Icon where about 1/2 inch thick (Allpro's are about 3/4-1 inch). Between the rubbing on the coils and the rubbing on the skidplate, I may try running without the swaybar for a while.

 

[FJ FunJunkie]

I had that issue on the toytec adjustables when they weren't cranked up enough, I put the all pro sway bar links on and cranked them out a bit long and the bar dropped about a half inch and cleared the coils. Just another option for ya.

 

[SKINUM]

I ran into this issue with the Camburg lift. I installed the Icon's and I had an issue with the swaybar making conatact with my allpro skid. So, I just removed the swaybar and haven't had any issues since. Still handles well!

 

[Apexbasher]

Okay, Jon from All-Pro gave me a call a few days ago and we talked about the rubbing issue. He said that they had not heard about this issue until now. He's very interested in the fixes used.

On a side note he also asked about the problem I had fitting the long arms I ordered (also mentioned in first post). It turns out one of the link ends was pulled from a bin for the Taco. A day and a half later UPS showed up with the replacement end and a call tag to do the return.:bigthumb: Thanks Jon!

Installed them this morning and all is well in the universe again.

 

[HercNav]

Well I got tired of the swaybar rubbing on my Walker Evans 2.5s as well as my Budbuilt skids so I took the plunge and just removed the swaybar. I am loving life! There is a very, very slight increase in body roll when braking and corning, but not bad. The roll is a lot less than I though it would be. I am running 700 pound springs on my Walker Evans also. Best part is, no rubbing issues and no worry about a broken link puncturing a boot.

 

[Apexbasher]

UPDATE!

I was surfing through the All-Pro site and got to looking at the Walker Evans shocks and made a startling discovery. Check out the picture below of the W.E. 2.5 (on the left) and the W.E. 2.0 (on the right). Notice the difference in the spring bases? Instead of the taller/stepped base (A) I got the shorter base for the 2.0 (B).

Here is a closer look at the difference (pictured upside-down, sorry). Notice on the correct base that the area previously occupied by the bottom coil of the spring is now a void that does not have a chance of rubbing the swaybar. THIS could explain why the folks at All-Pro never had this problem during their in-house installs.

I called All-Pro and they immediately recognized what error had occurred and shipped the correct bases out pronto (Thanks, All-Pro!). I dropped the new bases in this weekend and all is well and good in the world again!

 

[niceguysanti]

Lucky you...


I have been waiting for 2 weeks now for the new spring seats.