2007 JKU Rubicon Smartbar Electronic sway bar disconnect

[2007jkurubicon]

So I decided on Sunday to figure out how the electronic sway bar in my rubicon worked.......bad idea!  It disconnected the sway bar as it was supposed to but wouldn't reconnect it once I pressed the button again.  I had read up on this and know that there have been a lot of issues with the motors going bad. 

I decided to tear it apart and see what was going on and if nothing else reconnect the sway bar so I could drive it.  I started by removing just the motor where I found 1 of the metal tabs was broken.  Also as soon as a split the motor from the housing a lot of water came out.  So the whole sway bar came out and here are some pictures of what I found.

sway bar out on the bench, still not reconnected



Removed the motor



Seperated the 2 pieces of the sway bar



Absolutely full of grease and rust and water



Removed the fork


Cleaned up the fork and gears on the ends of the sway bars





Repacked with fresh grease and applied some gasket silicon before putting it back together.

Next I drilled out the rivets holding the circuit board into the motor housing and pulled out the board. (I actually had already had it apart and put back together and had forgotten to take any pictures so I did it again)


 


i couldn't find any issues with the circuit board or motor so I just put it back together with some new gasket silicon and rivets.

Truth be told I had it back in the jeep and back out 3 times and each time it will disconnect with no issues but it won't reconnect. I don't believe there is any issue with the motor but instead it is binding up where the 2 gears reconnect with the fork.  After I reassembled it the 3rd time and put it back in the jeep I didn't have the guts to try it again.  Maybe another day when it's not raining.

[tmk]

Ya electronics are great lol. If it were me I wouldn't waste anymore time with it. Get a sway bar for a sport jk and some quick disconnects. Then it's just a couple pins that ya pull to disconnect. Or off-road evolution makes a fix for the rubicon by using a knob instead of the motor to engage and disengage the swaybar.

[eastcoastcam]

Hehe. "Smartbar"... . Not very smart when it doesn't work... I would do what Tyler suggested above and be done with it.

[8 inches longer, again]

Here is what you need. Northridge4x4.ca sells it. I had to buy it directly from EVO when I got it, but now Northridge sells it.  It will cure all your woes and it's slick to use.  Not quick as slick as the button press perhaps, but really easy and reliable.




Off Road Evolution EVO NoLimits Manual Rubicon Swaybar Disconnect (copy/paste from the website):
"The Factory Rubicon Swaybar Disconnect is a great feature but is prone to breaking, shorting out and all around being annoying. The EVO NoLimits Manual Disconnect now allows you to defeat the overly troublesome computer system that operates this very cool feature that Rubicon Model JK’s come with. The manually operated EVO NoLimits Swaybar Disconnect now allows you, with a few turns of the dial, to disconnect your Rubicon Swaybar at anytime, in any gear, and with any amount of articulation. No need to bounce the vehicle, no pins to pull or fighting to reinstall, no swaybar links to remove, no punctured tires from removed swaybar links, just unrestricted articulation. Back to the highway… Simply turn the dial a few turns in the opposite direction on level or uneven ground and your swaybar will fully reconnect by itself for highway use.

It is recommended to use an AEV ProCal Module or similar computer programmer to turn off the swaybar light function on your dashboard."

[Enos]

Its like the return of 80's Dana 30 axle disconnect but with more technology LOL

[2007jkurubicon]

The fix that makes it a manual disconnect won't make any difference in my case. The motor is working fine to disconnect the sway bar and the only thing that allows it to reconnect is once the motor retracts there is a small spring to push it back into place.

[Creepy]

Apr 16, 2014 9:40:41 GMT -4 eastcoastcam said:

Hehe. "Smartbar"... . Not very smart when it doesn't work... I would do what Tyler suggested above and be done with it.

That circuit board could launch the space shuttle!