Sway Away

[zefrum]

I've been looking for a new bumper, ARB or Tough Country or the others still out there. The thing stopping me from pulling the trigger on even the lighter ARB (Tough's is ~250lbs) are reports on this and all other forumns of people noting, sagging, front end dive and worse handling. Usually this is then followed up by those saying get beefier bars; then thats followed up by well sorry Sway Away is actually the only upgrade as Old Man Emu arent designed for Alphas or Ts AND they stopped making them.

My point to all this is, theres alot of people wanting to upgrade their front end and plenty that already have and want better traction/handling and we H3 owners havnt decided to bug Sway Away with a group buy!?

So I spoke with a Sway Away rep and he said the H3 sway aways are not that big of a difference from the ones for the H2s or 2500HDs and that he'll give me a call back about what can be done.



So Im hoping we can draw a lot of phone calls to Sway Away (818-700-9712) to get them to start making them again!

 

[RamRod]

Good idea, I'll look into this product. Never heard of it before


Sent from handheld smoke signal device

 

[06 H3]

I have a buddy who works for swayaway and they are just 25 miles from where I live and about 5 miles from where I work.

Swayaway seems like a cool company. Get some people together and if you want I will speak to them. Swayaway torsion bars are expensive so if you wanna do this you need SERIOUS buyers. If you guys want me to speak to them I can but I dont wanna look like a jackass when I say I have 25 people lined up and only 2 come through.

Bebe ran them and loved em. From what I have heard all the people who have run them liked them. Its like changing out a coil spring. different handling characteristics they are good for people running bumpers and winches.

 

[06 H3]

Last I saw they run $465 and another time was around 600 bucks. You can go a cheaper alternative and go with alpha torsion bars but from what I read they arent as stiff as the alpha bars.

 

[Best4x4]

Nevermind lol I wanted em for the Alpha lol.

 

[silvrzuki77]

I have a arb and before that a BA bumper on my Alpha T. I didnt notice any negative effectives and do not have any issues.

 

[Best4x4]

I don't have issue's but the extra weight of nearly 375LB makes it seem mushy.

 

[silvrzuki77]

375lb???? What heck do you have up there! Arb by itself is only 150lbs plus maybe 60# for my 12k# winch.

 

[silvrzuki77]

I had talked to the sway away guys at the Mint 400. They said because of the low demand if I wanted a pair of torsion bars $1100! But if I got a group order together it would be cheaper. I was turned off of them at that point.

 

[06 H3]

yea, I dont blame you. I wanted some 2.5 remote resi shocks 14in travel and was told I would be getting hooked up with a good price and left because I could buy fox's or kings for cheaper.

 

[Best4x4]

M8000 Winch with 100ft steel line and 48inch extreme hi lift jack. It add's up fast!! I was told 200+ for the ARB. If it's less wooohoo lol

 

[silvrzuki77]

Nope 150 I weighed mine

 

[Best4x4]

So 75LB less than I thought not bad!

 

[Mb30sdl]

I have ARB with 10 or 12 k winch, didn't notice much difference before or after install.

 

[Aggie H3T]

I too have an ARB and run an 8k winch and lights. I can feel that the extra weight is up there in front, but the handling is still good enough to leave things "as is".

 

[zefrum]

Im confused about the sway away bars then -I've heard they are stiffer than Alpha tbars, a sway away rep said they are similar to H2s/2500HDs...?

Having springs that can handle an extra 150lbs would be nice and I think would keep my truck's (Alpha T) handling NYC passenger and jay walker polite.

 

[amrg]

Im confused about the sway away bars then -I've heard they are stiffer than Alpha tbars, a sway away rep said they are similar to H2s/2500HDs...?

Having springs that can handle an extra 150lbs would be nice and I think would keep my truck's handling NYC passenger and jay walker polite.

The Alpha is probably a 100# heavier than an I5 (it has a V8 and a cast Iron diff, I5 has an Aluminum one). So if you have an I5 and need to get springs to handle an extra 100#, get the Alphas and you're set.

 

[Best4x4]

09+ I5 Adventure models have cast iron front diff's.

 

[amrg]

09+ I5 Adventure models have cast iron front diff's.

Thanks, I wasnt too sure about that one!

 

[Best4x4]

No biggie, I only know because I hunted 09's down, but ended up finding a cleaner 07 H3 for my wife.

 

[skippy]

i have the ARB bar and there has been no problems with sagging or handling

it is like women and high heels! don't care about anything else but **** they look great!

 

[4speedfunk]

I saved almost 30 pounds by switching to a synth winch line. Its not only the dead weight of the bumper...its amplified because its hanging two feet out in front of the axle centerline. Some people find the extra weight a problem. Personally, I never had much concern with the torsion bars handling the extra weight...I was more concerned with total vehicle weight and getting hung up on the trails. I thought the BA was too heavy. I'm sure the ARB is even heavier.

Several times I've gone wheeling with loaded-down H3 war wagons (guys with every possible doo-dad they could find). They are clearly handicapped in soft sand, deep mud, and big rocks. I'm convinced its due to all the crap they hang on their trucks! Hummer guys seem addicted to gear, more so than any other group I've wheeled with. Seriously...I know guys that show up at the Badlands weighing over 6000lbs. Its a wonder they can even get out of the parking lot!-LOL Alpha or 5-cyl...horsepower is useless when you're buried. If you really want to see what the H3 can do...take all the crap off it and get as lightweight as possible. Every 100 lbs you remove will get you another 100 yards up the trail. I'm making some one-off alum bumpers for this reason.

I'll admit....I'm toast if a deer runs out in front of me! Everything is a trade-off.

 

[amrg]

I'm making some one-off alum bumpers for this reason.

How much weight do you reckon you would save? My wheeling is mostly sand based and Im interested in a light weight winch bumper? Any timeline and price for those?

 

[cgalpha08]

I saved almost 30 pounds by switching to a synth winch line. Its not only the dead weight of the bumper...its amplified because its hanging two feet out in front of the axle centerline. Some people find the extra weight a problem. Personally, I never had much concern with the torsion bars handling the extra weight...I was more concerned with total vehicle weight and getting hung up on the trails. I thought the BA was too heavy. I'm sure the ARB is even heavier.

Several times I've gone wheeling with loaded-down H3 war wagons (guys with every possible doo-dad they could find). They are clearly handicapped in soft sand, deep mud, and big rocks. I'm convinced its due to all the crap they hang on their trucks! Hummer guys seem addicted to gear, more so than any other group I've wheeled with. Seriously...I know guys that show up at the Badlands weighing over 6000lbs. Its a wonder they can even get out of the parking lot!-LOL Alpha or 5-cyl...horsepower is useless when you're buried. If you really want to see what the H3 can do...take all the crap off it and get as lightweight as possible. Every 100 lbs you remove will get you another 100 yards up the trail. I'm making some one-off alum bumpers for this reason.

I'll admit....I'm toast if a deer runs out in front of me! Everything is a trade-off.

Hey that's me!!! I've got a lot of weight and sometimes I think I should get ride of it. But every time some yahoo rear ends me or hits my front end I have 0 damage and they have 2gs worth haha

 

[backcountryislife]

For those feeling they need to mod to carry another 180 lbs, have you thought about letting dampers do the work rather than adding more spring? Adding preload to the torsions will get you to where you need to be height wise, but clearly the weaker spring and stock damper will let it cycle too fast, but if you bumped up comp damping, that issue should go away completely.

If you're adding a bunch of weight, and ONLY changing spring, but not damper, you're bound to have a ride you're not fully satisfied with. Added weight needs added damping to resist that weight better.

Even if you simply got any shock that is rebuildable, and found out what oil it runs, if it's running 7wt, put 10 in it... if it's running 10wt, put 15 in it. (keep in mind that adding thicker oil bumps up comp & rebound, where a good shock guy can add comp in about 15 min per shock, we call it a poor man's revalve) This is MUCH easier than swapping out torsions. I'm not saying NOT to do the springs, but doing JUST the springs is a poor solution.