rear sway bar disconnecting

My XJ is my DD and I tow a small boat with it pretty often so I don't want to remove it completely. Is there a way to fairly quickly disconnect the rear sway bar? I haven't done any searches yet so forgive my ignorance.

Honestly. they are extremely easy to remove. and re-install if needed.

Try pulling your boat just one time with it removed and see if you feel a difference. if you do, re-install it. but i am confident you will feel like everyone else... do they actually do anything back there?

You would be suprised at how stable the leaf spring setup is on an xj!

mine got thrown in the trash. the thing is so skinny it is practically useless with a lift anyway.

mine is sitting on my back porch waiting for someone to want one for free. Honestly I did not notice the change when I removed it and did my lift.

I think it's pretty much useless, heck, the UpCountry package available directly from Jeep did not come with a rear sway bar.

EDIT: might be wrong on that, was it the tow package? One or the other.

Thanks I only have a small 2'' BB under my XJ and recently have been towing it less and less. I'll give it a shot without.

kastein said:

mine is sitting on my back porch waiting for someone to want one for free. Honestly I did not notice the change when I removed it and did my lift.

I think it's pretty much useless...

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i agree. i have driven plenty of full leaf sprung vehicles with no front or rear sway bars and no excessive body roll...

SDHREDXJ said:

My XJ is my DD and I tow a small boat with it pretty often so I don't want to remove it completely. Is there a way to fairly quickly disconnect the rear sway bar? I haven't done any searches yet so forgive my ignorance.

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You can replace the bolts at the bottom of the sway bar links with 1/2 clevis pins, a couple of washers (one on each side) and a pin (should come with the clevis pin.) Rattles a bit but is easy to disconnect and reconnect without having to remove the whole bar from the vehicle. Pivot the rear sway bar on the bushings so it is out of the way and use a bit of wire to hold it. Add another 4 or 5 minutes to the process.

Before buying the clevis pins you should test for tire interference by removing those bolts and rotate the swaybar to make sure the ends of the swaybar don't rub on the tire. My rims have 3.75 back spacing so stick out further than most stock rims and the swaybar isn't close to the tire when it's disconnected and pivoted out of the way.

Has anyone considered mounting a front sway bar out back? With available axle-side mounts, it looked like it could be done pretty easy & discoed once you were at the trail (in record time)

But why? When i got my jeep i trailer a number of times (only a 12ft enclosed) shortly there after did a 2" budget lift and removed the rear. There was ABSOLUTY NO difference. Now when both are disconnected on worn out suspension parts.......... that is a whole other halloween story:wierd:

yossarian19 said:

Has anyone considered mounting a front sway bar out back? With available axle-side mounts, it looked like it could be done pretty easy & discoed once you were at the trail (in record time)

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I don't think a front sway bar would clear things very well in the back - if you look at a rear sway bar it has a funky bent pattern in the middle to clear the differential / fuel lines / shocks / other stuff. The front is pretty much straight across.

kastein said:

I don't think a front sway bar would clear things very well in the back - if you look at a rear sway bar it has a funky bent pattern in the middle to clear the differential / fuel lines / shocks / other stuff. The front is pretty much straight across.

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Fair point.

As for why...
Well, it sounds lame but - I've moved into a civilized town and I can see more pavement than dirt roads on a daily basis. Without a DD / go-cart in the budget, I'm fantasizing about making the Jeep a little more nimble.