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Front sway bars for a daily driver?

S

SurfXJSnow

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Charlottesville, VA
Im running a 98 XJ. 3.5" lift. 31" BFG's. Daily driver. Broke one of the links to the sway bar on a trail i had no business being on... So all i have is one link connected, the other one is broken.

What would you do? take the whole sway bar off? or spend 100+ and get some disconnects? I know alot of guys that run no sway bars front and back but id like more opinions on ride quality, safety.. etc.

Oh, and i live in colorado. alot of snow and wind if that makes any difference.
 
I like my sway bar. If your whole suspension is stiff enough, you can get away with no swaybars, otherwise I think a daily driver should have a front bar. I'm sure one of us can dig up a stock link for you, if you want one, otherwise disconnects do make a difference on the trail. Aside from flexing better, it also smooths out the ride to disconnect.

Fred
 
dude i have a 97 with 5 inches of lift and most of my daily driving is with the swaybar disconnected. disconnects are diffenetly worth the money.
 
Go for the swaybar disconnected. You only need one, I snaped the one on my 99 rodeo year ago. Driving her off road she run great. But on the hi-way I had to slow down on many turns. If and when thay go on my jeep I'm getting disconnected fast.

www.BlueXJ.com
 
I've got a 92 with 3.5". I took both mine out and although it does lean quite a bit, its not that bad at all. I've been on all highway road trips with it and have not had a problem. My front springs are quite stiff and I have an AAL in the back so that helps. Really nice not havin the bars off road though.
 
I would seriously get JKS swaybar discos and run with the bar connected on the road. The reailty is that it's a safety device and will help you to maintain control if you have to swerve to avoid an accident. Discos are not that expensive relatively speaking. Just my $0.02
 
I have a 98 with 3.5" lift on 33's. No swaybars. It's not a daily driver though. If it was, I probably would have kept the disconnects. Especially if you're dealing with windy conditions and winding roads. Here in FL, most roads are straight!
 
I ran stock disconnected on my 96 for six months before I put the lift in. THAT was a soft boat ride, I still haven't hooked up my sway bar because the Rusty's 3" coils are so bloody stiff it feels like stock with the links connected. I adjusted my driving habits but it hasn't been an issue at all, I have been driving without any sway bars for over a year and a half
 
Get the disconnects. I always run mine connected on the road. Adjusting YOUR driving style is one thing, but you can't adjust the driving style of those around you (i.e - at some point you will have to swerve to avoid an accident, kid on a bike, etc.)

Glen
 
When I had stiff springs front and rear I didn't have swaybars. When I put in the RE 4.5" lift it came with disco's so I put the bar back in. I am glad I did. I ran it disconnected once on the highway between a trail and the campground and I will never run without it again, the body swayed so much the Jeep was hard to control.
 
Listen to what everyone is saying. I bought the JKS quicker disconnects and I drove it on a curvy road with it disconnected. BAD CHOICE!!! Felt like I was gonna roll if I took a turn at any speed at all.

Just my experience. I have a 3" lift with full spring packs and coils FWIW.
 
I say screw it. Don't waste your money on disconnects. I have a set of JKS that I bought years ago and I've still never installed them. Depending on the day of the week I either DD my 96 on 32s and 3" lift with no swaybars and a rear locker to work, or my 99 with 6" of lift, 36s, no swaybars, locked to and from work. I've never wished I had a swaybar on the 96 with 3" of lift. There is one really sharp turn on the highway on a downhill at speed that I woudln't mind having a swaybar for the bigger jeep...but that corner is sketchy in a regular car too. I don't see what all the fuss is about having a swaybar. Try it out and see....you won't notice a difference. I usually keep to the speed limits....these are jeeps you know.
 
mjma said:
I say screw it. Don't waste your money on disconnects. I have a set of JKS that I bought years ago and I've still never installed them. Depending on the day of the week I either DD my 96 on 32s and 3" lift with no swaybars and a rear locker to work, or my 99 with 6" of lift, 36s, no swaybars, locked to and from work. I've never wished I had a swaybar on the 96 with 3" of lift. There is one really sharp turn on the highway on a downhill at speed that I woudln't mind having a swaybar for the bigger jeep...but that corner is sketchy in a regular car too. I don't see what all the fuss is about having a swaybar. Try it out and see....you won't notice a difference. I usually keep to the speed limits....these are jeeps you know.
Click to expand...
Sell your disconnects to the OP.

I ran barless with a 3" BB and it was OK, better when I got the RE coils, OK when the back got lifted to match. Got my discos installed and put the front bar back on. Much, much better having the bars on road. My vote is for sway bars. I've had to swerve to dodge stuff, but it was while stock and with bars connected. Knowing how it rode w/o them, I'd be scared to swerve around anything.
 
Buy the discos

or if you're short on cash go to the junkyard and pick up a new link.
 
I bought disco's (for the 2nd time) and installed them. I ran a few trails while connecting them back up after the trail. One time it started raining on us, so i skipped connecting them. I haven't hooked them back up since. actually, i sold them last week.
 
i dont like how my 89 handles without the front sway bar and when its disconnected i get too much body roll for my liking. i also dont trust the way other people drive. i drive conservatively, but that wont stop some other azzhole from cutting me off or doing something stupid.

so i just extended the stock end links by cutting threads on the ends of the stock endlinks and used threaded rod with thread coupling nuts to extend them to the length i needed. it cost about 10$.
 
Depends on the stiffness of the lift. My stock suspension I broke a front swaybar link on and took off the rear swaybar and had a ton of roll when I turned or when the wind kicked up. Now I have just the front swaybar connected with a much stiffer RE super ride lift and I can't get my '98 XJ to flex at all. Of course that's with the front swaybar still connected.
 
I would get disconnects.

I broke a RE disconnect in dec last year, and drove about 500-600 miles back w/o it and it was def noticeable. Disconnects aren't that expensive I picked up a set of Teraflex disconnects for $60 used that worked fine.
 
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