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Swaybar dos and don'ts?

C

CutLaredo

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Colorado USA
What are the rules for driving without a front swaybar on the road? Is there any potential steering linkage damage? Has anyone driven without a rear swaybar? pros and cons?
 
No rules, just common sense.

There seems to be a continuing debate over the pros and cons, but the bottom line is that they were put there to control body roll.
Some models came without a rear swaybar; many remove it and notice no difference in handling.

The front however, IMO, is essential to proper handling and should be connected unless offroad.

A search should turn up some good debate.

John
 
CutLaredo said:
What are the rules for driving without a front swaybar on the road? Is there any potential steering linkage damage? Has anyone driven without a rear swaybar? pros and cons?
Click to expand...
I have both off, and it can get a bit interesting in curvy canyon roads. With the 4 inch lift and bad ball joints, it pays to be good with God, or don't give a damn, but I prefer my off roading to be MY choice, not just a matter of physics.... As stated before, common sense, know your vehicle, keep the speed down, (repaired the ball joints, helped a lot, no more 3 foot wandering, now more like 6 inches, side to side). :gee:
 
CutLaredo said:
What are the rules for driving without a front swaybar on the road?
Click to expand...

Simple rule: DON'T
 
had mine off 'till my quick dis. came in.......about a week
rear was still on....
3" rusty's with 1 3/4 spacer on top of the spring......
very little roll but did push in the corners......
after i put the disconects on it goes through the turns alot flatter

if you take them off go slow through any curves untill you get a good feel for it....
 
Why even risk it if you don't have to?

If you cant pay to play SAFELY you should'nt be out on the road.

I really dont care if you put your own life on the line it's your choice....if you wanna play that game, fine.....its the car full of kids that you plow into that I care about.

You can predict to some degree how your vehicle will handle in turns, but you can't do the same in emergency situations. (quick, hard turns, etc)

Unfortunately emergencies dont wait for you.

Spend the money and play it safe please.
 
I took the rear off about a year ago and never noticed that it wasn't there.

As for the front mine is currently disconnected due to a bent connection point on one side that won't allow me to re-connect it. I just haven't gotten around to bending it back. I would recommend that you not take the front one off. You get a little more body lean in turns which is no big deal, but I had to hit the brakes hard once and things got kinda' interesting for a second or two. Put disconnects on, disconnect off-road and re-connect on-road.
 
I don't run my front sway bar and will not tell you to run it or not too, but use common sense... Take it off drive downe the street to feel it out if you are really uncomfortable... put it back on. I drive only 10 miles each way to work on straight roads so it doesn't affect me.

shannon
 
Do's and Dont's hhhmmmm
Do take them off.
Don't put them on.
J/K
I have driven my XJ with no front or rear sway bars on for about a year now and yes it does handle different but just beware of it. The main reason I do it is because I wheel about every weekend and didn't like to disco the front all the time. but hell what do I know I also welded my rear end on my daily driver. So in short I would keep it on. DIG IT!
 
ok, so we'll use the seatbelt analogy...

its there. you don't have to wear it, but it can protect you and save your life. you be the judge of whats best for you!

brandon
 
Well put Shimmy. I believe it's all in how much you use your vehicle also. If you use it as a daily driver, you would probably want to go with discos. If it's strictly a weekend wheeler, then go ahead and take them out if you want. I don't use my XJ as my main transportation, but do use it 4-5 times a week and i don't have front or rear. You just have to get used to it and figure out if YOU feel safe driving it and if your going to be able to handle it if you do get put in a situation. Just remember that braking hard and fast or sharp turning will let you know they're not there.
 
shimmy said:
ok, so we'll use the seatbelt analogy...

its there. you don't have to wear it, but it can protect you and save your life. you be the judge of whats best for you!

brandon
Click to expand...

This is a bad analogy when talking about the front sway bar.

If you are a MORON and decide not to wear your seat belt - so be it. You'll put yourself through the windshield or impale yourself on the steering wheel or something. Well, you were being a MORON to not wear a selt belt - your problem. Oh, and thanks for being the reason why MORONIC air bags have been instituted. :)

Front sway bar is different. You have the potential to hurt someone else if (when?) you lose control of your vehicle in that emergency maneuver, therefore completely different, AFAIC. With the sway bar you were doing your part to keep your vehicle safe.

For the sake of completeness, in my country (Canada) we have public health care. If you don't wear a seat belt and survive you are costing me more tax money than is required to treat you. If you get killed while wearing a seat belt nothing would have saved you (don't start with statistics). If you survive with a seat belt, well you were doing due diligence so lets get you taken care of with our tax money.

But I don't have a really strong opinion on the matter. LOL

r@m
 
Root Moose said:
This is a bad analogy when talking about the front sway bar.

If you are a MORON and decide not to wear your seat belt - so be it. You'll put yourself through the windshield or impale yourself on the steering wheel or something. Well, you were being a MORON to not wear a selt belt - your problem. Oh, and thanks for being the reason why MORONIC air bags have been instituted. :)

Front sway bar is different. You have the potential to hurt someone else if (when?) you lose control of your vehicle in that emergency maneuver, therefore completely different, AFAIC. With the sway bar you were doing your part to keep your vehicle safe.

For the sake of completeness, in my country (Canada) we have public health care. If you don't wear a seat belt and survive you are costing me more tax money than is required to treat you. If you get killed while wearing a seat belt nothing would have saved you (don't start with statistics). If you survive with a seat belt, well you were doing due diligence so lets get you taken care of with our tax money.

But I don't have a really strong opinion on the matter. LOL

r@m
Click to expand...

i actually went up to Canada for a hockey game the other week... so i guess if you consider the way crazy canadians drive, you definitely want to keep the swaybar attached. Down here we drive defensively. i didn't mean the seat belt analogy to be taken so literally, but good for you.
 
I've had my front and rear off since about 2weeks after the day I bought it. I dont even remeber the difference. I daily drive my xj and wheel it as often as I can(nearly every weekend). I've had to do a few emergency manuevers and sure it's heart pounding but once you get used to it you'll know how to handle the vehical. I've also done fish tails around corners and gotten the rear drivers side wheel in the air and brought her back down fine as long as you're willing to accept the consequences if you mess up I say drive without them :p.
 
Stupid kids do stupid things! Hence I run no sway bars. Trail rig only, 15-20mins to the trail no prob. One of my buddies folowed me on the highway and said he thought I was gonna topple over just changing lanes. I dont notice it anymore. Since you posted this question you ought to run with it connected!


Alan
 
Stupid is as stupid does. Please remove yourselves from the gene pool as quickly as possible and maybe we'll put you up for a Darwin nomination. Just please don't hurt innocent others when you loose control in an emereancy manuever.
If in the time it takes to connect your front swaybar, you could make your brakes stop you 50 ft quicker, wouldn't you do it?
 
Yep, I'm all for "natural selection" as long as you don't impose your "bad genes" on someone else.

LOL

r@m
 
I believe that it depends alot on your vehicle. The more you lift, the more you need those swaybars. With my 2"BB i didn't mind not running sway bars. When I went to 6", my Jeep is all over the road without them. I have had 4 33" swampers on the roof rack and driven 275 miles down highway 6 to Moab. FYI - most hiker trails are in better condition than hwy 6. That was a big mistake.

Bottom line - swaybars increase safety and decrease offroad performance. If you want the best of both worlds buy disconnects or be willing to dis/reassemble the end links every time you wheel.

Jared
 
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