CJ7 Sway Bar isn't the same width as the mounts?

[boney]

Hey all, sorry for asking a question that has probably been asked before. I did a search and found lots of good info on sway bars, but not the answer to my question.

My newly acquired 1983 CJ7 has a (disconnected) sway bar with some pretty short JKS quick disconnects. Considering it's lifted, I'm sure I need some longer links, but I've also noticed that the ends of the sway bar don't line up with the mounts on the U-bolt brackets (don't know what to call them.) There's about an inch, maybe a bit more discrepancy. (I didn't measure it, but it might be more.) The sway bar is narrower. I don't know if it's an aftermarket bar or not, but it does have some pretty beefy red urethane bushings which I figure aren't original.

So I'm looking at Quadratec and see that skyjacker makes a link that has offset while it appears that none others do.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.





So also, the bump stop is 5" from the axle, and clearly I need to make sure that the sway bar doesn't come up so high as to hit the brake line, which it can. Is there a way to determine the height of the lift with that information so I can buy the right links?

Am I overthinking this? Suddenly the choice seems clear. Buy the offset skyjacker links for the 2 or 2.5 inch suspension lift. It's obviously not a 4" lift if there's only 5 inches to the bump stop.

Sorry, now I'm thinking out loud...

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Until, we can see the sway bar in pictures. It's all SWAG on 'our' part.
LG

 

[Tinman22]

Sway bar disconnect?

 

[boney]

I'll do my best to explain what I'm looking at with these crappy cell phone pix:

First, with the sway bar centered, the links don't match up by about an inch on each side. I realize that these links are likely way too short, but lets not worry about that yet...



To my knowledge, they have never even been connected. In fact, the right side lower-half link doesn't appear to have ever been out of the zip-lock bag it came in. I can see why. They don't match up.

Next up. The sway bar has a nice bend in it. I haven't been able to find a representation of anything like this in any of the research I've done, but I understand the point of the bend and think I've figured out how long the links should be if I want the center of the link bolts to be aligned vertically for best leverage throughout the suspension travel. The benefits of a narrower sway bar would be clearance for larger tires when turned, and the bend would allow the axle to rise up to the stop and the sway bar would still clear the tie-rod. Makes sense to me anyway. But what do I know? I'm just getting started in this stuff.







With the current links, if they were connected, the sway bar end would be forward of the axle end. With about 6-inch links, they would run pretty much vertical with the current suspension height, and still not hit the brake line if the axle were to travel all the way up to the bump-stop. Longer links, obviously would hit the brake line and would cause the upper link to center toward the rear of the axle link.

The red bushings on the sway bar suggest that at least some of the parts are Rancho or Skyjacker? At least that's all I can tell from talking to a few people and delving deep into the internets. Skyjacker makes those links pictured in my first post, and the appear to be offset about the right amount, by my official internet-eyeball measurements. I can't find any Rancho anything for sway bars on a CJ7 - so I can't comment about that.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Took mine off the day I drove my '7' home from the dealer.
Have never regretted it at all.

LG

 

[Tinman22]

Ill agree with lg on that 100%

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Boney-Your pictures are FINE.
You have the OEM s'bar and some after market links.
Just pull the bar down and see if you can attach the links.
You may well need to loosen the nut on that bottom link section for some play to make the attachment.
Good luck!
LG