1979 300TD Can i get rid of my sway bar?

[meredith]

One of the hydraulic lines in my SLS blew a hole about 8 months ago. I naively drove the car around quite a bit since then. My rear suspension finally spat out any remaining fluid a few days ago and i realized I had to deal with this issue. I was debating whether or not to delete the SLS altogether and go with coils and some Bilstein HD's. I got it up on the hoist yesterday and found that the sway bar on the left side has come away from the subframe because of rust. That helped clear up the question as to whether or not i should fix the SLS, as the SLS valve is operated by the movement of the sway bar (right?). Yesterday I made and installed a delete plate and removed the pump. My question is if it's safe to just take out the sway bar altogether? I'm travelling and don't have the time, money or resources to get major repair work done on the subframe.

Thanks for any advice.

[Ara T.]

It wasn't doing much anyways being disconnected on one side was it?

[meredith]

That's what i figured. A bit dangerous even.

[Stretch]

Well you asked for any advice!

I think the SLS control vale is attached to the anti-roll bar but that isn't the part that actually raises or lowers the suspension. I understand that the shocks do that work.



The springs on a car with SLS fitted are shorter than on a car without. So if you just blank off the hydraulic system you'll have a saggy rear end.

I've read that some people have been toying with the idea of pressurising the system and just leaving the system pumped up - I don't know how successful these fixes have been. I think user kerry was talking about it about a year ago. Try asking him?

I'm a bit more concerned about the rust.

Do you mean rust on the trailing arm?

The bit that holds the suspension spring in place (see picture above)?

[meredith]

Thanks Army. The trailing arm looks fine. I ordered some custom springs and the Bilstein HD's so hopefully the ride height will be okay. I read some of kerry's threads. I wonder how that idea worked out?