Electronic Sway Bar Disconnect: Reliability

I think only time will tell and some may have issues and potential recalls. I dont personally know of any other vehicles that have this option. I have a little more faith in Ford though than I do Jeep as Jeep is basically a Fiat now and the last thing Fiat is known for is reliability on any of their vehicles. The Ford one is different and has been tested so here's to hoping.

One thing that gives me pause on the reliability aspect with Ford (in regards to the ESBD) is the 4x4 "on-the-fly" back in my '03 F-150. When it was still less than a year old it failed on me. I had switched into 4H at low speed and didn't realize it had stripped the gears out of it when it engaged. Then I almost got stuck in my driveway and was wondering why. My buddy was watching the front wheels and told me neither were spinning. It was a warranty repair but I never again used it "on-the-fly." Ever since then I always came to a complete stop before engaging into 4H to prevent another incident like that from happening to me again.

I know that was a long time ago, but I've not forgotten it.

It's just that when I hear Ford talk about using it's new ESBD "under load" I can't help but remember their 4x4 "on-the-fly" failing me in my F-150 years ago. Combine that with Jeeps ESBD which requires it to be stopped and on even ground before using it and they're, apparently, failing more than they should.

That's why I am curious to know if any other vehicles have a similar system and how they hold up.

It's not a deal breaker or anything to me, but I am genuinely curious about it.

To really have any educated guesses to reliability, you would need to see how it functions internally and what moving parts are taking the load. It's obviously not the same design as Jeep's so hopefully they learned what not to do.

SandboxGeneral

I'm curious what experiences folks have had with Jeeps and their ESBD components. I've heard that the Jeeps have a long term reliability issue and that they tend to go bad more often than one might think.

Chris, from his YouTube channel Venture4wd, has had his go bad more than once. In his latest video from last week he goes into a dealership to inquire about repair and was told the cost would be $2,100 to replace it.

Skip to 14:19 to get to the ESBD part.


My curiosity is about how many people here have had or know of people with the Jeep ESBD and had problems with it.

Also, are there other vehicles out there with an ESBD and what are their reliability experiences?

I wonder how reliable the Ford ESBD will turn out to be over time and whether the technology in general would be worth the extra cost to include in the price of the vehicle (i.e. Sasquatch) versus lifting your Bronco aftermarket and adding a manual SBD.

I have the same worry. AS cool as the ability to do this "under load" is, I am sitting with my slide rule (LOL :LOL:) estimating the amount of force that will be loaded and then released.

I thought the Bronco has a hydraulic disconnect not electric. That is how you can disconnect under load?

Jakob1972

I thought the Bronco has a hydraulic disconnect not electric. That is how you can disconnect under load?

Yes, Ford's is hydraulic which is a much beefier system which is why it can disconnect under load. Not even close to the same system Jeep uses.

MadMike

Yes, Ford's is hydraulic

Well that makes me feel better knowing that. :cool: Hydraulics no doubt should be much stronger and reliable.