How important are sway bars?

[sidriptide]

i have to admit to not having reinstalled the front swaybar after the lift on my 87.... although its a lot more stable than i had expected it to be i know its not there and keep that in mind... sounds ignorant dont it?? i will put it back on soon.. both XJs have no rear swaybar anymore... hard to tell if it was a noticable change because it was being lifted at the same time.. better safe than sorry.... keep em if you do any street driving....

mike

 

[basalt51]

Sorry man, but I gotta call BS on that. I've never been in an emergency situation where I had time to think, "nah, I'm not gonna panic at all, I'm just gonna drive straight through this incident." Maybe your reaction times are better and your ability to stay come and resolved in an emergency are better than mine. But when shit happens, instinct takes over. Just my .02

Ary

Call BS all you want. I've done it before and I could do it again. Some peoples instincts are better than others

 

[Nay]

Eagle, I used to firmly believe in swaybars after having to perform an evasive maneuver on the highway w/o one. However, I believe that if the spring/shocks and overall setup are stiff enough, you can go without them. I've always hated my swabar, but viewed it as a necessary evil. It always makes the ride harsher and bounces the Jeep around like crazy when entering ramped up parking lots and the like. Now the Jeep is smooth. Like I said though, I did significantly stiffen the suspension, as well as widen it and add significant mass to the unsprung weight helping to keep the COG lower. As I drive the Jeep more at speed I may change my mind about this, since the Jeep has only been driveable with this setup for 3 days. So these are just my initial impressions.

Ary

Hah! Do a search. This sounds exactly like me. I have Bilsteins as well, along with very stiff rear springs and the stiffer 7.5" RE coils. My trackbar is raised several inches above the axle to go with D44 clearance steering. My front swaybar allows more lean than the suspension, plain and simple. I think my XJ at 8" of lift has less lean than my minivan. No swaybars, and I can run the twisties without white knuckles, even when my spare is on the roof rack.

I say this every time this post comes up: you cannot make generic claims about swaybars for highly customized suspensions. For out of the box lifts, like the 3" stuff, keep it connected. My XJ with 2" OME was downright frightening without the front swaybar.

But at 8" the swaybar was just awful. It counteracted postive suspension motion in many situations, e.g., taking a bump at an angle and causing massive snapping from side to side, and never did anything noticeable to mitigate negative suspension motions, e.g., limiting excessive lean, something my suspension does not have. Why anybody would engineer this into a suspension is beyond me...simply assuming that you'll somehow have better emergency handling based on predictable understeer...and assuming that predictable understeer is impossible without the swaybar.

These things are not simply slap on cures for every situation. I am not going to tell anybody to take off a swaybar. You need to assess this for yourself. Why you would remove a swaybar when your rig clearly handles better with one is beyond me, since discos are high quality and simple these days. Why you would run one when it exhibits almost entirely negative characteristics is also beyond me. YMMV.

Nay

 

[Nightside21]

Feel free to add to or correct me if I'm wrong.

If you have lifted your rig and are keeping your swaybar, I would suggest getting longer linkages between the axle and the bar. I remember reading that the swaybar will work best when the ends are perpendicular to the linkages. It makes sense physically. If the ends aren't perpendicular, then some of the push/pull force from the axle will push in towards the center of the bar, instead of just twisting it.

Also remember to do this to the rear one as well if you are going to keep it. Otherwise you're likely to feel the bumps are a little harsher, especially from high speed vibrations

 

[Nay]

Feel free to add to or correct me if I'm wrong.

If you have lifted your rig and are keeping your swaybar, I would suggest getting longer linkages between the axle and the bar. I remember reading that the swaybar will work best when the ends are perpendicular to the linkages. It makes sense physically. If the ends aren't perpendicular, then some of the push/pull force from the axle will push in towards the center of the bar, instead of just twisting it.

Also remember to do this to the rear one as well if you are going to keep it. Otherwise you're likely to feel the bumps are a little harsher, especially from high speed vibrations

Yes, your endlinks should keep the swaybar "arms" horizontal. The good setups are adjustable within a range, for example the JKS Gen II discos for a 6" lift may be adjustable via a threaded rod for anything from 6" to 10" of lift.

My previous comments apply to a properly set-up swaybar (horizontal "arms").

Nay

 

[Big Red]

Personally I dont run sway bars currently. I'm sitting at 8" with 35's... so I'm kinda up there. It has definatly changed my driving habits... now I'm alot safer all together. Havnt gotten a speeding ticket in a looong time. But I'm considering putting my front bar back on... just cause really. I'm fine with no away bar with just myself in the XJ, but once I get a load of peeps in there.... corners become mighty scary. :scared:

Yeah, I have 8" with 35" mtrs and have no sway bars and am used to running like this. It does take some getting used to though. My sway bar link broke off the axle, but now since I haved swapped out that axle for another dana 30 with an arb, I haven't hooked it up. I just use this Jeep for off-road, so it's not my dd. If it was my dd, I'd probably put the sway bar back on it. Otherwise I just drive carefully. I've gotten it up to 80 mph on the highway in straightaways and taken curves at 60 with no problems. Quick adj in steering could be a problem though.
Troy

 

[Adam Duncan]

I have 8" and 36's and I dont run either front or rear sway bars, they are both fully off my XJ. But, keep in mind both my front and rear springs are stiff. I really didnt notice AT ALL when the sway bar was connected or not, so, I just took it fully off, which is really convenient at the trail! You will just have to see for yourself if your ride is safe without them, and make the discision.