Yo folks,

I decided to change the bushings on my front sway bar in my 98 Sport. Unfortunately, when I was trying to take the nut off the top of the sway bar link, I snapped the link right at the top. This happened on both sides. There's still thread on the links, but not near enough to get the new nuts on there with the new bushings.

So I'm gonna order new links tomorrow, but in the meantime, I have no front sway bar at all (I took it off completely). How safe is it to drive for a few days? I've looked around and some people don't like taking it off, some people say it doesn't matter. I'm going to be doing quite a bit of highway driving over the next few days, and the new links won't be in till this Saturday at the earliest, most likely later.

 

I doubt you'll notice any difference on the highway. It really comes into play when you load up the suspension in the twisty bits.

 

So I should just be careful taking corners then?

 

At highway speeds, if you have to maneuver, swerve, from one lane to another to avoid hitting someone........body roll. So much so that you could over correct and actually cause your own accident.

You won't catch me without one.


Those who says it does not matter are idiots.

 

Front sway bar is needed on all Cherokees. Even the lifted ones use it around town and use disconnects off road. I won't say I've never driven around with it unhooked, but it's not recommended. You may be confused about posts deleting the rear sway bar. That one can be removed and in fact was deleted at the factory on some option packages. I would just park it, too many what ifs and you can't predict emergencies. 30 bucks a day to rent a car...

 

You'll be fine just drive careful.I've ran without any sway bars for 2 years.

 

Driveable, yes. Safe? Everybody has their own opinion, but I'd say no. Lets face it, high speed maneuvering? Our XJs aren't exactly the most nimble things on the road. Take out the front sway bar, and if you have to suddenly brake and cut the wheel... It'll get real squirelly real quick.

With you planning to do a lot of highway driving, if something happens, it'll happen at high speed. If you decide to go for it, air your tires up to proper street pressure, and leave plenty of room behind the guy in front of you.

 

I think it comes down to safety and it's always best not to assume on that subject. The OP posted for safety advice without a lot of detail on his Jeep. Even the nature of the question is pretty basic and points to a less experienced Jeeper. So I'm still thinking park it. You can take a lot of stuff off a Cherokee and it will still drive, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

Well I can give more detail. The front suspensions is original, apart from the track bar I put in last week. Rear suspension has new leaf springs as of two weeks ago. 4.0L, if that helps any.

The only problem with this is I don't have another DD for use. And I live on a farm, 45min away from my job. The next closest vehicle I might be able to use is our old 80 F150, and trust me, I wouldn't take that thing further than 30 klicks from the farm.

From all the opinions I've seen, if I do use it, should I just take it easy? Say, drive slower on the highway or something? Or is it that unsafe to drive that I should call it a day at work? (Which I might be able to do, who knows.)

I should really just buy a parts Jeep for when **** like this happens.

 

Below is an older pic before new wheels and tires and front control arms....etc....

It's not a matter of 'opinion', it's a matter of what works.

Those of us who have gone from a 25mm to a 28mm front bar have all noticed an improvement in handling. As soon as I figured out how I'm going to modify a 30mm bar from a WJ, that will me my next move in conjunction with a new bumper and front receiver for recovery.

Below is a 7/8 bar from a Blazer adapted to my MJ. No list, no lean, no wiggle......notta......I'll hit any turn you can throw at me, very flat in the turns. Huge improvement, very stable.

 

You will be fine, just dont do any abrupt turns, just take it a little easy until you can get it fixed.

 

x2

 

Ok so here's what I did. Managed to get to work safe this morning. Talked to a buddy in the city, I'm gonna park it at his place until I get the links. My brother is coming up to pick me up from work, so hopefully it'll be fixed by this weekend. Thanks for all the advice guys, it was very helpful.

 

I've been driving without one for a couple months now cause I broke mine off. I really need to get t fixed though.