Rear sway bar removal test!!

I just saw a report on the removal of the rear sway bar that was tested on a few XJ models. To sum up the story, Upper 80's models, mid 90's models and the last model of 2001 were all tested.(this test excluded the up country model due to no sway bar coming out of production). All of the vehicles were tested in lateral force at certian speeds going around the same bend left then right.(speeds started at 55mph). The later models had little difference with the sway bar on or off. The mid 90's models showed definate handling reduction and speed had to be reduced to lessen the body roll. The newest models showed the most difference in body roll hitting the bends and experienced "the death wabble" at the designated 55mph and had to slow down to 40mph but test subjects felt it safer at 35mph which resulted in a 20mph drop!! With the speed having to be reduced this test confirmed that on normal driving conditions, any model equiped with the rear sway bar (sport model) will suffer in ride quality when cornering and is more subjectable to the death wabble and unstability!!

I wish i payed attention to the people who ran this test but i missed it. It resembled something like "car & driver"

Adding in my .02 the removal of the sway bar for offroading is obviously a major plus for articulation but for most daily drivers it is not sugested. Time to make rear quick disconnects as well!!

Hum....I wonder if they put new springs on all of the vehicles so they wouldn't have age and saggy springs working against them. Everybody knows XJs have weak springs that sag over time. If they didn't do this then the test would be invalid. Same to be said for the so call death wobble problems. Did they go through and replace all the suspension parts? Bushings,Wheel bearings,TREs and controll arm bushings? I bet they didn't.

I would challange ANYONE on this board to show me any kind of reason why the rear sway bar would cause death wobble. Thats just stupid logic.

The XJ's tested were all stock and inspected. They all apeared to be brand new, no undercarrage rust, no wear and tear! If u ask me id say they dam near rolled off of the assembly line. (hey, its just what i saw).

As an owner of a mid '90s model that did not come with the up country package, I don't believe a word of it.

I took mine off and haven't been running a front one for about 2 weeks. Even with soft front springs/shocks and no sway bars I feel comfortable driving it. If fact I've decided that I may just ditch the front one all together.

G, I realize you are considering discos for the rear and are leary of ditching it all together. Why not just remove it and try it? It's a piece of cake to take off. If you don't like it put it back on.

BIG-G said:

The XJ's tested were all stock and inspected. They all apeared to be brand new, no undercarrage rust, no wear and tear! If u ask me id say they dam near rolled off of the assembly line. (hey, its just what i saw).

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Explain to me how you get a mid 80s XJ, a 90s XJ and an almost new one to "just come off the assembly line" You think they have these jeeps sitting around for 25 odd years just waiting to do a test like this? Also I wanna see a link to this site or something validating what you say. Seems odd to me that a mag like Car and Driver or the like would waste money on seeing if jeeps handle better with or without swaybars attached. Maybe in JP or something but even then I doubt it.

Try harder next time....we might almost believe you.

Spobi!

DrMoab said:

Explain to me how you get a mid 80s XJ, a 90s XJ and an almost new one to "just come off the assembly line" You think they have these jeeps sitting around for 25 odd years just waiting to do a test like this? Also I wanna see a link to this site or something validating what you say. Seems odd to me that a mag like Car and Driver or the like would waste money on seeing if jeeps handle better with or without swaybars attached. Maybe in JP or something but even then I doubt it.

Try harder next time....we might almost believe you.

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I ment the vehichles "looked" new, in other words kept up good & garaged. As far as not believing me; hey thats fine but thats what i saw. The program was followed up with a rock crawling event and was aired on one of the speed channels on my digital cable. Sorry if im not specific, i was consentrating on my steak dinner!!

BIG-G said:

I ment the vehichles "looked" new, in other words kept up good & garaged. As far as not believing me; hey thats fine but thats what i saw. The program was followed up with a rock crawling event and was aired on one of the speed channels on my digital cable. Sorry if im not specific, i was consentrating on my steak dinner!!

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You never said if they put all new springs on the jeeps? No? not a fair test then.

As far as this whole rear sway bar removal goes, maybe i need to clarify a VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL......My 1 year old daughter is buckled into her seat in the rear and if for some rare chance i get any wabble or body roll, my wifey will put my balls in the blender!! You gotta weigh out the facts and i do agree with her that despite the extra flexing i will get offroading my XJ, its still mainly used as my DD hence the idea of fabing up rear disco's as well as fronts!

BIG-G said:

As far as this whole rear sway bar removal goes, maybe i need to clarify a VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL......My 1 year old daughter is buckled into her seat in the rear and if for some rare chance i get any wabble or body roll, my wifey will put my balls in the blender!! You gotta weigh out the facts and i do agree with her that despite the extra flexing i will get offroading my XJ, its still mainly used as my DD hence the idea of fabing up rear disco's as well as fronts!

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I understand the fact you want to keep your kids safe. But consider this. Do you think that Jeep would even think of keeping them off the upcountries if they thought that there was even the slightest chance of it making the jeep unsafer? No way....They have too much liability to let something like that go.

The plain and simple fact is that the rear sway bar does nothing but make the jeep more uncomfortable going through dips and speed bumps.

As far as death wobble goes? Again I ask you....How in the world could removing the REAR sway bar affect a problem that comes from the FRONT end? It can't, it doesn't, it never will be.

Make your sway bar disconnects if you want. But you are just wasting time and effort on something that isn't going to make you any safer.

*Sigh*...

I'm calling SPOBI on this as well.

BIG-G said:

The program was followed up with a rock crawling event and was aired on one of the speed channels on my digital cable.

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Probably 'Extreme 4x4' or whatever it's called.

I'm not going to reiterate the points either I or anyone else made in the last thread regarding this issue, so I'll just summarise:

- Remove the swaybar if you want to.

- Leave the swaybar in place if it makes you feel better.

- Somewhere in the other thread I saw a basic recipe for homebrew discos. If it sounds appealing, make some or find someone who can make them for you.

Seriously, hearing what effectively boils down to 'they said it on TV so it must be true' means squat until you've actually tried it and can offer an informed opinion.

All it did to mine was make the ride more comfortable on bumpy roads. It didn't make it less stable, and I loved it so much that I got rid of the front bar. That made a huge difference, and it keeps me driving safer and less twitchy, while enjoying a much smoother ride, especially on those occasional diagonal entrances to certain strip malls and stuff like that

Body roll angle has little to do with the actual roadholding ability. Frt. to rr. balance can affect over/understeer as can many other factors. Removing the rr. swaybar has the effect of lessening rr. roll stiffness which generally changes handling toward understeer. Basically, your set on your idea, so do it. Myself, both frt. and rr. swaybars came of my Jeep when it six months old and are lost in the garage somewhere.

If you REALLY want to make disconnects for it, all you have to do is replace each of the two bolts that connect the bar to the mount on the axle u-bolts with some hitch pins. Use a washer on each end of the hitch pin and a cotter pin to hold everything in place.

I still don't think it's worth it. Like I mentioned before, I ran no sway bar on my stock 95 and I had no problems with it. I seem to remember you saying you had a lift in your's? If you do, it will have stiffer rear springs, even if it's just an AAL, that will make up for not having the sway bar in place.

If you really don't believe the testimony of all of us, try it yourself. Let the bolts soak for a couple days and it's probably one of the easiest things to remove on your XJ. Try it for a week or two, if you really think you need it, reinstall it.

Yeah i agree with all of u guys but i gotta give the wifey some solid info to make her comfhy with it. I will most likely take it off and just hide it from her and i'll see how it does. Thanks guys for all the responses! It IS appreciated!!

i dont see how an axle supported by leaf springs can develop death wobble under any conditions...especially with fixed wheels(no steering componets) so if you ask me thats the stupidest shit ive ever heard

i wouldnt suggest removing your front sway bar if your dont want body roll... but my rear has been removed and fron disconnected and stayed that way ever since the lift....

at no point in my driving did i fear for my life or my passengers, actually i kind alike the body roll... as xjJ33p3r stated... a much smoother ride

Death wobble (That's wobble, not wabble - Grammar lesson for the day) by removing the rear swaybar??? I'd have to agree with the others and say highly unlikely... I'm keepin' my front swaybar for DD duties, I hated the roll with it removed on my old rig.... Isn't there someone who rolled there XJ in a parking lot without a front swaybar??

Will.

xjwillyb said:

Isn't there someone who rolled there XJ in a parking lot without a front swaybar??

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Now that I have GOT to see pics of! I did have a friend manage to roll her car in a Wal-Mart parking lot, but it was just because of really bad ice and a hill dropping away from the lot....

If you think of the name of this show, let me know.

I DVR all the truck and import tuner shows (even the crappy ones) and watch them when I can. I've caught all the recent episodesbof Extreme 4x4, Trucks, and the show on Speed (ugh, name escapes me, I hate the host guys, but they do some tech stuff other shows don't do.... )

I keep an eye out for anything Jeep related, so I'd like to catch this test.

I removed the rear bar on my 01 and while the difference was not huge it was slightly noticeable. More body roll going around sharp curves and not quite as stable a feel in certain situations on the interstate at 70+mph. After about a month I put it back on, but it's my DD. If I ever upgrade to stiffer springs it'll probably come off for good. As for the front I think you've got a death wish driving without one. Just my .02.