Sway bars - keep or remove?

[Ratbert]

Scratch that I even said that.

Sidenote: I had an '83 CJ-7 that I did a spring over conversion on. Back then, they didn't even come with a rear swaybar. I used new OEM leafs for the spring over, and threw away the front sway bar. Yeah, it was a little more tippy on the street, but not terrible. Offroad, for its day, (mid 90's), it had pretty decent articulation for a leaf sprung Jeep, but not like the crazy stuff you see today!

Like I said, I need to watch those vids.
But I digress.... enough about my limited knowledge ?

Pretty damn cool Jeep!

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[Tncdrew]

Pretty damn cool Jeep!

Why thanks!
That was somewhere at the top of Cadillac Hill on one of the Rubicon trips.
Super fun times in that Jeep! Wish I still had it ?

That's when 35" tires were considered "huge"! ?

 

[Ratbert]

Why thanks!
That was somewhere at the top of Cadillac Hill on one of the Rubicon trips.
Super fun times in that Jeep! Wish I still had it ?

That's when 35" tires were considered "huge"! ?

Damn, I missed opportunities to get great shots like that when I did it.

 

[roaniecowpony]

My opinion is that even short on-road trips to trails that involve any speed over about 25 mph will be more precarious without the swaybars, especially with that tall lift.

 

[Mobboss]

That's some serious lift! What size tires are you thinking about going with bro 40's ?

It is quite large of a lift , but im pretty happy with it so far! I bought raceline beedlocks 17x9 and am going to start with bias super swampers 35s .

 

[Roky]

So i just installed a 4 inch lift , and wanted to hear everyones opinion of who has removed there sway bars or kept them? The rear one is gone don’t need it ( My opinion) but the front one im going back and forth on.

You can run the oem rear sway bar, no worries……it doesn’t hinder flex, and on some situations it improves articulation……..the rear axle is like Rodney Dangerfield, gets no respect… lol….

 

[Mobboss]

You can run the oem rear sway bar, no worries……it doesn’t hinder flex, and on some situations it improves articulation……..the rear axle is like Rodney Dangerfield, gets no respect… lol….

Lol thats funny ! How do you like your Fox shocks??? I am looking for some now and can’t decide.

 

[Roky]

Lol thats funny ! How do you like your Fox shocks??? I am looking for some now and can’t decide.

They’re great…. I use the crap out of the adjustments, lol…..been running them 4 years now…… no issues….

 

[Bocephus]

You'll be fine without the rear. For the front of my Willys, I found a perfect take-off Rubi swaybar in the marketplace. I chucked the electric actuator, and replaced with a manual actuator from EVO Manufacturing.
Best of both worlds, and fairly economical too ?

.... another option

Awesome option, sometimes tempted to mod my Rubi e-disconnect with the evo option.

 

[Tncdrew]

Awesome option, sometimes tempted to mod my Rubi e-disconnect with the evo option.

Would be a good way to get rid of the "e-nannies".... ?

 

[Roky]

Awesome option, sometimes tempted to mod my Rubi e-disconnect with the evo option.

This is actually a great option… if you get some dbl heim sway bar links like RK or Icon, then there’s no difference in articulation from connected to disconnected, despite the myth…… I did a study myself and there was virtually no difference……even if you use the MC links, (oem style) because of their length, there’s still no restriction in articulation. I just don’t like the way the bushing gets in a bind in extreme articulation…obligatory pics….

hooked

Unhooked

After I did this I did lengthen my links as I didn’t like how straight they were getting, don’t need inversion, makes for a bad day, lol…..

 

[Chrisbayridge1]

Wow, 17" further with the rear sways connected. The sound of his bumpers getting chewed up when they were disconnected was a bit disturbing.

"The More You Know"....

 

[SoK66]

IMHO you need some roll resistance or you'll end up with handling issues both on and off the trails.

With the JKUR you see in my avatar I tried using that electro-fail disconnect contraption for a couple seasons and the rig was all over the trail, tippy like drunken cow on roller skates. I removed it and disabled the electronics with an AEV Procal, installed a Teraflex Dual Rate bar and found the answer. Two stage settings, street and trail. The "trail rated" inner bar is about the same as Currie's Antirock. Adds stability while allowing the suspension to flex. After I discovered the rear bar and links were acting like limit straps I took a tip from the Metalcloak flex trailer guys and removed the rear bar entirely. I get a bit more on highway body roll but the trail flex im proved significantly. The JK is right where it needs to be and if I were setting up a JL I'd do the same setup.

 

[Ratbert]

IMHO you need some roll resistance or you'll end up with handling issues both on and off the trails.

With the JKUR you see in my avatar I tried using that electro-fail disconnect contraption for a couple seasons and the rig was all over the trail, tippy like drunken cow on roller skates. I removed it and disabled the electronics with an AEV Procal, installed a Teraflex Dual Rate bar and found the answer. Two stage settings, street and trail. The "trail rated" inner bar is about the same as Currie's Antirock. Adds stability while allowing the suspension to flex. After I discovered the rear bar and links were acting like limit straps I took a tip from the Metalcloak flex trailer guys and removed the rear bar entirely. I get a bit more on highway body roll but the trail flex im proved significantly. The JK is right where it needs to be and if I were setting up a JL I'd do the same setup.

Did you measure the before / after articulation when removing the rear sway bar? See the video that @OminousSkitter posted of the testing that was done with a JKU where he lost 17" after removing the rear sway.

 

[Whiskey Tango Foxtrot]

4" lift with no sway bar is inviting injury to yourself and others on the road, and if you get in an accident the insurance will likely cover nothing for such a boneheaded modification. If you do it, make it an off-road vehicle only and never drive it on road.

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