whats the effect of removing front and rear sway bars

I've seen a couple of built xj's for sale with the front and rear sway bar removed. How does this effect these on the street and on the trail.

Are they important for highway driving.

Are they important for highway driving.

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If you value your life...

this subject has been beat to death... do a search.


I drive with 4.5 lift 32's and no sway bars period and it doesn't affect me, but I don't drive like as A$$.

The rear swaybar is not needed - didn't even come on Upcountry XJs from the factory.

Trying to keep it after lifting is more trouble than it's worth - we had a club member destroy two rims b/c they were running the rear swaybar on a BB - the blocks were tall enough so that the swaybar ends caught the rims once in awhile - she went all day thinking the rear end was locking up on her, when the real problem was that @#*&$! swaybar.

The front on the other hand is required safety equipment.

XJack said:

The front on the other hand is required safety equipment.

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On tall XJ's the front swaybar can create a lot of undesirable characteristics, such as heavy snap around corners into a parking lot. Many of us choose to take it off and compensate with stiffer coils and shocks and longer control arms.

I don't run any swaybars because the front swaybar did nothing for handling at all. The lean that my suspension allows was well within the limits of the swaybar. I have fairly stiff rear springs in combo with long arms, and I can run the twisties with very little lean. I'm not racing, but I can easily maintain speed limits. Yet when I had the 2" OME kit, it was practically un-drivable without the front swaybar.

There are no rules to these things...it all depends on how you set up your rig. Don't remove a front swaybar for road use unless you understand how it interacts with the rest of your system, and when it will have positive effects and when it will have negative effects.

Nay

I haven't run a front or rear bar in a while on either my stock xj or my trail XJ. It dosent bother me much but as Nay said i understand what it does and i don't drive like a idiot. for most though i recomend keeping the sway bar an use dicos.

You guys can talk all you want about "But I don't drive like an idiot", "It's not a sports car", or whatever but what happens when someone else drives like an idiot(or Ass) in front of you and cuts you off? Are you guys confident that you could avoid an accident without running your junk off the road?


Jes

Jes said:

You guys can talk all you want about "But I don't drive like an idiot", "It's not a sports car", or whatever but what happens when someone else drives like an idiot(or Ass) in front of you and cuts you off? Are you guys confident that you could avoid an accident without running your junk off the road?


Jes

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exactly. you're not the only one on the road. bottom line: it effects the handling. when you can compensate, its fine. when you can't.....

matthew

How does this effect these on the street and on the trail?

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I would expect removing a swaybar would cause the vehilce to sway more, but thats just a wild-ass guess.

I put on a budget boost...2" spacers and adda leafs...just left the sway bars off. I drive better now because of it (slower) but I agree with above....if someone were to cut me off and I tried an evasive maneauver...I'd just flip over and then you'd be able to read my sticker on the windshield.

-Keith

Jes said:

You guys can talk all you want about "But I don't drive like an idiot", "It's not a sports car", or whatever but what happens when someone else drives like an idiot(or Ass) in front of you and cuts you off? Are you guys confident that you could avoid an accident without running your junk off the road?


Jes

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Bingo!! I used to not run swaybars, under the adage that I knew how to drive it, blah blah. Well that worked untill the day a woman in SUV on the cell phone nonetheless, deicded to enter the same space I was currently occupying. I do believe I lifted a tire or two and came to close to rolling it.

Seriously, whats 2, 5 or 10 mintues of your time to hook the swaybars back up after some wheeling to ensure you and your passangers safety?

Yes, toss the rear, it's almost pointless. But don't discard the front completely, at least get some disconnects or look up one of the articles on how to make the stock ones easier to install/remove for 4wheeling.

I have 3in of lift and 33's and no swaybars and i drive like an ass. There is a noticeable difference in the way it handles but you get used to it. Like tonight for instance i went ripping outta hooters after a Club meeting (www.peakempire.com) got the heep sideways and kept all 4 on the ground my buddy in front of me said it looked kinda crazy but I feel like I was in control the whole time.
josh

Dacula92xj said:

Like tonight for instance i went ripping outta hooters after a Club meeting (www.peakempire.com) got the heep sideways and kept all 4 on the ground my buddy in front of me said it looked kinda crazy but I feel like I was in control the whole time.
josh

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I hope you are joking. If not, let me be the first to say you are an idiot. Boy with actions like this i'll bet your club is just sooo proud of you.

Rev

railroadjeep said:

Bingo!! I used to not run swaybars, under the adage that I knew how to drive it, blah blah. Well that worked untill the day a woman in SUV on the cell phone nonetheless, deicded to enter the same space I was currently occupying. I do believe I lifted a tire or two and came to close to rolling it.

Seriously, whats 2, 5 or 10 mintues of your time to hook the swaybars back up after some wheeling to ensure you and your passangers safety?

Yes, toss the rear, it's almost pointless. But don't discard the front completely, at least get some disconnects or look up one of the articles on how to make the stock ones easier to install/remove for 4wheeling.

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You guys need to read my post again. It isn't about driving slow, or I know how to drive it...it handles *BETTER* without the front swaybar. This would not be true of *most* XJ's. I've had to do emergency maneuvers (deer avoidance) with no problems. It doesn't just flip because there is no front swaybar. I have attached and removed the damn thing at least five times, always believing that the swaybar should be making things better, and always ending up ditching it because it created unpredictable handling in certain situations and a lot of extra harshness in everything but interstate driving.

If your rig handles better with a swaybar, you should be running one (no, you can't test or predict all situations, but day to day driving over time gives a good comparison). Discos are easy enough. But there can be a point, at a certain amount of lift and certain size tires and certain suspension design, where the stock swaybar is unpredictable and has negative handling characteristics. Getting whiplash over uneven bumps just doesn't improve safety in my book.

I don't recommend that anybody remove the front swaybar. You shouldn't do it unless you think and feel that your rig handles better without it, and you have tested it in a variety of situations over a long period of time.

In any case, the big problem even for a properly set up rig is legal liability. You removed a component completely, and if you cause an accident, expect to get sued over it.

Nay

Nay said:

You guys need to read my post again. It isn't about driving slow, or I know how to drive it...it handles *BETTER* without the front swaybar. This would not be true of *most* XJ's.

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But you specifically noted that you compensated by running stiffer springs front and rear. Some lift springs are the same rate as stock, and I believe it has been commented in the past that Rusty's springs are softer than stock. If a lift is obtained without going to stiffer springs, it is not safe to run w/o the sway bars (which are properly called ANTI-sway bars.)

As to the comment that the rear does "almost" nothing and that the Up Country suspension doesn't use it, I would stress that in saying "almost" nothing ... that's not the same as "nothing." The Up Country package deletes it because the Up Country springs are stiffer than the stock springs. Using stock springs or springs with the stock rate, deleting just the rear anti-sway bar would have the effect of making the vehicle "plow" more (understeer) in corners.

Roll resistance should be achieved with springs and anti-sway bars. Trying to bring very stiff shocks into the equation can have unpredictable results, as well as a truly horrific ride when you crank those RS9000s up to "9" to compensate for soft springs and no sway bars.

Sorry, I should have clarified saying "almost". I know it was put there for a reason, but I didn't notice TOO much of a diffrence with it gone. Yes, if your going to be racing around like you in a vette', then you should probably leave the rear in.

IMHO, MOST (there, that sound better?) XJ's for safety should have the front swaybar connected. MY rig was too tippy while cornering at much of anyspeed for ME to feel comfortable driving on the street, let alone on the freeway, with out the swaybar connected.

I wouldn't say I drive like and ass, because I am being safe and staying within the limits of the vehicle, but I do drive fast. That is what makes me keep both my antiroll bars. Thay can cause problems though. A friend of mine had a Toyota pickup with an aftermarket rear antiroll bar for towing. He would drive it like a sports car all day long. During hard cornering it would lift the outside rear tire because of the roll stiffness wasn't matched to the front. The front had a factory antiroll bar and soft springs. It would dive real hard to the outside front about 4". The reaction in the rear couldn't match the front though. In order for that outside rear to travel up 4", it would have to take the other wheel up with it, picking it up off the ground. With stock springs, a Cherokee may have this very same reaction, but in the front. The back will roll, and the front may pick up the inside tire because it won't allow for that much side to side travel.