How essential is the rear sway bar on a TD5 D90?

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Si Click

Si Click

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In fitting a tank guard my son needed to remove the rear sway bar and two of the bolts sheared and will need drilling out before it can be refitted. He is tempted not to bother, but with a hard roof tent bolted on to a roll cage he has a lot of weight mounted high and he has a 2" lift running on 33s, so my feeling is that it may well be fairly vital in his case. Thoughts?
 
Anti roll bar was never fitted to all models of Defender. And wasn’t even available on earlier models.

However removing it can be an MoT failure if it was factory fitted.

Does it need it?

Maybe. It will lean more without it. And the setup sounds a bit odd. 2” lift and 33’s with a roof tent is rather mixed priorities. Big bore shocks (Terrafirma do some) and stiffer springs may counter the lack of the ARB. Probably easier just to refit tbh.
 
Refit it.
There was a guy on here some years ago that had his 110 “expedition prepped” they fitted larger tyres, a lift kit, roof rack with kit on, etc and on the way home he lost control of it and put it on its side.
It turned out they’d not fitted ARB’s
I guess it depends on how much weight you want to put on the roof.
 
IMG_20200401_175517a.jpg
300bhp/ton said:
Maybe. It will lean more without it. And the setup is a bit odd. 2” lift and 33’s with a roof tent is rather mixed priorities. Big bore shocks (Terrafirma do some) and stiffer springs may counter the lack of the ARB. Probably easier just to refit tbh.
Click to expand...

It is being modified to be a 2 person overlander and his shocks are the Terrafirma Big Bore Expedition shocks with HD springs. I haven't had the chance to look at it myself as we are not isolating together, but he assures me that the captive nuts need to be replaced and that to get at them he will need to drop the tank; hence why he is asking if it is really necessary given that a lot of Defenders didn't have them in the first place. I confess, I am with you lot; with the extra height and the weight of the tent and roll cage up top, he needs all the anti-sway help he can get.
 
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Two problems I see:-

1) insurance - would need to be a declared modification - which they might not like...

2) C&U regs / MOT regs ( as mentioned ).

Therefore, IMHO, essential it gets put back on.
 
Where are the captive nuts on the rear ARB?
Mine is attached by two U-brackets with four nuts and bolts on each, not captive and easy to get to.
The ends of the ARB are attached to the ball joints and they aren’t captive either, they are just ball joints.
 
lightning said:
Where are the captive nuts on the rear ARB?
Mine is attached by two U-brackets with four nuts and bolts on each, not captive and easy to get to.
The ends of the ARB are attached to the ball joints and they aren’t captive either, they are just ball joints.
Click to expand...

Aforementioned son here -
The foremost two bolts were captive when I removed it, the rear most were held in using odd bolts and nyloc nuts that were an absolute pain to remove trying to guess spanner size on a rusted nut that then would not budge. I'm now missing a couple chunks of knuckle and am sporting a blood blister to boot!

The issue is more that I would be replacing bolts rather than refitting with the originals. Whether I was going to write the car off driving to si clicks where we can actually do the work or not is more the issue.

I also have a faulty fuel sender (who doesn't!) So I may yet drop the tank to replace that anyway.

With there also being options to uprate the ARB (Terrafirma, or X-deflex if they reply to my email about their Td5 90 adapters) I wasn't in a rush to replace the ARB. Especially seeing as I had spent several hours swearing at the rusty bolts that were there already!
 
Fundamentally not especially difficult to replace. I could do it tomorrow, but if I do I'll want to replace it with new bushes and links at least, probably new bolts.

It'll stay off until I can order those as a minimum I think.
It's not as if it's going anywhere for the foreseeable anyway!
 
Hertz32 said:
Aforementioned son here -
I also have a faulty fuel sender (who doesn't!) So I may yet drop the tank to replace that anyway.
Click to expand...

Now that you have stripped the rear floor down to bare metal it might be worth cutting out a Disco-like access port for the fuel pump. Bolt a plate over the top and if/when you need to swap the pump life is much easier.
Does anyone happen to know the dimensions and position of the hole required?
 
Si Click said:
View attachment 204663

It is being modified to be a 2 person overlander and his shocks are the Terrafirma Big Bore Expedition shocks with HD springs. I haven't had the chance to look at it myself as we are not isolating together, but he assures me that the captive nuts need to be replaced and that to get at them he will need to drop the tank; hence why he is asking if it is really necessary given that a lot of Defenders didn't have them in the first place. I confess, I am with you lot; with the extra height and the weight of the tent and roll cage up top, he needs all the anti-sway help he can get.
Click to expand...
A friend over lands his 90 with a roof tent. 90 didn’t have ARB’s. He was running +2 Terrafirma shocks and springs. But it was dangerous on road. Way too top heavy.

He didn’t want to fit an ARB. Because the vehicle gets used for other things where the extra suspension flex is handy. He then went with the big bore shocks and some very heavy duty rear springs. When empty it does jack it up a bit. But loaded for over landing sits level. It will still lean, but no longer feels dangerous with the roof tent on.

But without the tent in it is useless off road and doesn’t flex at all. And rides badly. So as a compromise he swaps the springs over depending on what he is using it for.

I’d probably have gone for an ARB.

Another option X-Eng make a detachable anti roll bar. A little pricey. But allows you to have the best of both worlds. Very clever design too.
 
Not having the ARB fitted is not an MOT issue - not fitted not tesable. Also likely not an insurance one eithee considering not all Defenders came with one. Its also not really possible to know which came with them and which didnt. My 110 is an XS so should have them but does not.

As for dangerous dont be ridiculous. My caged 90 had no ARBs, on standard suspension, sure a bit wallowly but not dangerous.

My 110 has no ARBs, full cage and lifted but OME +2 springs with Koni HT Raid dampers. Also not worried about coming into corners at speed, even done some mild drifing... The ride is brilliant, better than a lot of Ders with ARBs ive driven! So not dangerous no.

I also do 350 miles a week to work, driven to Spain, France, Wales, Andorra and the Pyrenees. Never had a problem with handling...

See how it drives without it, if youre happy save your money. If not new bushes (super pro are brilliant) and new bolts.
 
300bhp/ton said:
Another option X-Eng make a detachable anti roll bar. A little pricey. But allows you to have the best of both worlds. Very clever design too.
Click to expand...

X-Eng now owned by Foundry4X4, market that as the X-Deflex which my son mentions. It is a great design and he would fit one without hesitation if they made one for TD5 D90. The website claims that one is in development, but X-Eng were bought in 2013 and I suspect that statement has been there ever since.
 
Si Click said:
X-Eng now owned by Foundry4X4, market that as the X-Deflex which my son mentions. It is a great design and he would fit one without hesitation if they made one for TD5 D90. The website claims that one is in development, but X-Eng were bought in 2013 and I suspect that statement has been there ever since.
Click to expand...

The 110 version can be made to fit. With some help from some blocks and a bit of welding!
 
Wasnt done by me but a mate whos a technophobe!

Next time I see him ill get some pics. However my understanding is the ARB will fit just needs to be spaced off the chassis about 30mm
 
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