Stabilizer bars are an integral and important part of a vehicle's suspension system. They can make or break a smooth, controllable ride, especially while cornering. Sometimes they are referred to as anti-sway bars or anti-roll bars. Their purpose is to resist body roll while turning corners in the vehicle. Skyjacker's new selectable stabilizer bar mechanism allows a user to easily enable or disable the functionality of a stabilizer bar. The key components are as follows: rigid torque arm, stabilizer torsion bar, mounting bushings, selectable torque arm, and locking mechanism. This new system is available for '97-'06 Jeep TJs.
The Skyjacker selectable stabilizer bar mechanism is unique from all other designs in the industry due to its simple, yet effective, method of locking and unlocking the stabilizer torsion bar. This can be controlled manually where the selectable torque arm connects to the stabilizer torsion bar through the locking mechanism.
Installation of Skyjacker's sway bar and locking mechanism is similar to installing a wheel hub. In fact, that's what the locking mechanism is. A hub body bolts to the selectable torque arm on the driver side of the vehicle, and a splined gear slides onto the splines of the stabilizer torsion bar and is held in place by a retaining ring. The outer gear is the heart of the system because it is the one which actually locks and unlocks the selectable torque arm with the stabilizer bar.
Once the entire sway bar system...
Once the entire sway bar system is installed, locking and unlocking before and after the trail is as simple as actuating your wheel hubs.
The outer splines on the inner gear are constantly meshing with the inner splines on the hub body. When the locking mechanism is engaged, the inner gear is moved into a position where its inner splines mesh with the outer splines on the center gear. In this locked position, both torque arms are rigidly connected to the stabilizer bar, forcing it to transmit torque from one arm to the other as the vehicle corners or traverses uneven terrain. When the locking mechanism is disengaged, the inner gear slides away from the center gear such that the splines of each gear do not mesh with each other. In this "unlocked" position, the selectable torque arm is able to move independently of the stabilizer torsion bar. This allows the vehicle's suspension to move freely over rough terrain. The unlocked position will also permit increased articulation, since the torque arm is no longer restrained. Only one locking hub is unsed for Skyjacker's sway bar system. This simplifies locking and unlocking the anti-sway bar setup. There are no sway bar link pins to pull out; you know how difficult this can be in bad weather or when your vehicle's suspension is slightly articulated.