So first was the sway bars. Thought I would die if I removed them. When I did get the courage to remove them I was surprised to find out there was little handling difference with or without them. Needless to say they are gone, good riddance.

Second was my welded 8.25 Daily driver. I was told and I was scared into believing that the welded rear dif would be horrifying in wet snowy, frozen slick conditions. Was dreading that day. Well today it came. And it handles just fine. More predictable than before.


Any jeep horror stories got you down??

 

Swaybars and welded or an auto locker out back.

 

wait, how does the welded 8.25 actually do on your DD? I drive mine a lot and figured it would be a horrible idea. If it's not too bad I might go ahead so I can just buy a locker for my 8.8

 

Subscribed....

1st one...

D35 with a lunchbox locker on aggressive 33's... wheeled it hard... lotsa loose rocky hillclimbs here in the NW... zero issues... even sold it to my friend when i went to an 8.8.... he just threw it under his rig and ran it even harder w/ 33's as well... and guess what... we never broke it with our auto trannys.. BTW we don't *****foot around.....

 

I agree..

A welded or in my case a mini spool in my 8.8 has been considered suicide by many folks who travel icey/snowy passes here in NW.. well I'm here to say it's not bad at all... I just am cautious in my driving as any of us should be in a lifted rig on the rd w/ lockers etc... if you have common sense you will be fine even in a rig that doesn't handle that great in the summer LOL....

 

I was worried that I would be extremely tippy with a 6.5" lift and a tire on the roof- Not soo much. People make it sound like you will roll going 20 around a corner... I can take corners and such much faster than I would have imagined and have yet to roll this one. (have rolled an old Toyota car and plenty of atvs)

Also that the IRO "weak 10mm bolt" would break and my axle would fall off after reading such things on here... Has not happened in 140,000 miles including a lot of abuse lol.

 

Also... in regards to the 8.8 rear end.. you would destroy your axle if u didn't drain the fluid and remove all the eternals before you welded the tubes to the pumkin... we didn't even really heat up the cast that much either... the axle is running awesome in my old rig... it gets abuse i couldn't have thought up myself... and we didn't do anything... ran a 1 inch bead on one side, ran one on the other and there ya have it

 

It's funny reading about folks ditching the sway bars in their DDs and then claiming they hardly notice any difference. It's just proof that you have no idea what they do. But you will. The first time some ***wad turns right on a red in front of you and you have to avoid hitting them, you'll know. The first time you encounter a 6x6 in your lane on the freeway, you'll know. The first time a kid or a deer darts out from behind a car right in front of you... you're getting the idea.

The sway bar is designed to absorb the transfer of energy from one side of your truck to the other. When you heavily load one side like you would in an [involuntary] evasive maneuver and then quickly correct, the sway bar absorbs the energy that would otherwise be transferred to the opposite side. No sway bar and all of that kinetic energy is passed straight through. Everybody has these moments at one point or another and the sway bar is there to protect you and those around you. Some day you will have a horror story to tell and you'll remember this thread as you slide down the highway on your roof. Explaining the missing sway bar to your insurance adjuster will be the least of your worries. Go buy quick disconnects and be safe.

 

^+1

I have driven around without my sway bar and although I admit there wasn't too much difference under Normal driving, if I was in an "OH S**T MOMENT" I would want the sway bar. And really how hard is it to unhook your sway bar when your at the head of a trail? It's not!

 

This one time, I had blocks.

 

Take the doors off and it folds in half.

 

Or on a good flex the windshield pops out.

 

I don't like leaving room for speculation. I have had those "oh CRAP!" Moments

I have even tried to pitch the jeep sideways on dry pavement. Needless to say it passes the test.

But thread is not for debates, its to share horror stories.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Agree. I was just lookin' out for my fellow Jeep pilot, I don't want to debate.

I suppose my averted horror story is the AutoZone (Duralast) CPS. I learned (after installing) that they were total crap and would instantly leave me stranded. That was 18 months and 20,000 miles ago. I'm still avoiding the Airtex fuel pump, though.