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I'm thinking about making some swaybar disconnects, but since their purpose is to keep the jeep from leaning and yawing on the highway, does disconnecting them offroad mean that you are more likely to do a slow speed roll?
Likewise with the back ones. Many people say to just take that sh*t off permanently, but will that make me more likely to roll? I have a 2 in lift and stock tire size.
It's not going to make much difference in slow-speed maneuvers, and the articulation that you gain from disconnecting outweighs any drawback from body roll in those situations, IMO.
I've been lazy after wheeling on a couple of occasions and left the front disconnected on curvy 60mph+ 2-lane highway back to my house, and let me tell you the front swaybar makes a huge difference in that scenario. I would never recommend anyone permanently remove the front swaybar. However, the rear bar is all but worthless, and especially so if you're using rear springs that are higher-rate than stock. Remove it, throw it away and be done.
Last edited by Tbone289; Jan 17, 2018 at 04:59 PM.
Installed a 3.5 in. lift and have never connected the front sway bar with the rear removed. Although it sways a little, the leaf springs in the rear really keeps it pretty stable. I’m on 2 lane roads that I rarely get over 40mph. If going 70 on Highway, a quick maneuver might get hairy. I had to use the XJ today for work since it snowed last night with no problems without them and about 20lb of air pressure in 33s
I havent had any sway bars connected for a year now. Honestly, I cant even tell they arent there. It depends a lot of what suspension setup you have. My buddy also runs no sway bars and his feels like its going to flip over on turns. Its quite scary actually. But yes, at the end of the day, its safer to run the front sway bar over none.
Rear one on mine has been gone for years. With front Q/D's it's unhooked most of the time. I towed a large dual wheeled U-Haul loaded to the hilt at interstate speeds at times with it disconnected. Never again!
... does disconnecting them offroad mean that you are more likely to do a slow speed roll?
I would argue that disconnecting actually makes the vehicle more stable offroad. It allows the front axle to articulate under the body. The rear will conform to the terrain because the spring rate in the rear is greater than the front, so it takes more weight to move the rear springs than the front.
I guess without a sway bar you could get into a situation where the vehicle could sway too quickly and cause the high side of the vehicle to "unload" and roll where it wouldn't have with a sway bar but it would take a pretty extreme situation to cause that.
At the end of the day, if your center of gravity is higher than the roll center, you're going over, sway bar or not.
Originally Posted by xjnm
Likewise with the back ones. Many people say to just take that sh*t off permanently, but will that make me more likely to roll? I have a 2 in lift and stock tire size.
Yes, it will make you more likely to roll, slightly. Just about everybody (myself included) agree that removing the rear sway bar is unnoticeable and makes a negligible difference. It is recommended to leave the rear sway bar in place if you tow a significant amount of weight.
The front, on the other hand, should be connected. Many people will tell you "I haven't had mine on for so long and I'm fine blah blah blah" but one aggressive swerve at speed could be catastrophic (see above).
Personally, I just recently rigged a bar on mine after not having it for almost two years. I was very surprised at the amount of stability I got back after hooking it back up. Even a friend of mine said "Wow, this thing drives great with the sway bar hooked up!"
When I didn't have one I always said I'd rear end somebody before swerving out of the way. Moral of the story: remove the rear, get discos up front.
Looks like the Jeep that rolled still had the sway bar in it. You can see it poking out from under the bumper. Not saying that it was hooked up but pretty good chances it was hooked up and still rolled. Sway bar or not, we are still talking about a lifted XJ... its got a good chance its going to roll no matter what. These things arent sports cars.
I would argue that disconnecting actually makes the vehicle more stable offroad.
Yes, it will make you more likely to roll, slightly. Just about everybody (myself included) agree that removing the rear sway bar is unnoticeable and makes a negligible difference. It is recommended to leave the rear sway bar in place if you tow a significant amount of weight.
The front, on the other hand, should be connected. Many people will tell you "I haven't had mine on for so long and I'm fine blah blah blah" but one aggressive swerve at speed could be catastrophic (see above).
Personally, I just recently rigged a bar on mine after not having it for almost two years. I was very surprised at the amount of stability I got back after hooking it back up. Even a friend of mine said "Wow, this thing drives great with the sway bar hooked up!"
When I didn't have one I always said I'd rear end somebody before swerving out of the way. Moral of the story: remove the rear, get discos up front.
Ok I see what you mean about the front because it allows you to articulate more instead of flexing out.
If the rear one makes a negligable difference, then why take it out at all?
And when you say that it made a huge difference hooking it up after 2 years , does that mean the front or rear?
Originally Posted by samiam
Instagram today. Said he tried to miss a dog.
Haha yeah that's whats flashing through my mind when I think about taking off the rear one. I do have brand new springs and shocks in the rear tho...
I havent had any sway bars connected for a year now. Honestly, I cant even tell they arent there. It depends a lot of what suspension setup you have. My buddy also runs no sway bars and his feels like its going to flip over on turns. Its quite scary actually. But yes, at the end of the day, its safer to run the front sway bar over none.
So I have new shocks and springs on the back and pretty new on the front. Does that mean back ones are less necessary?
Originally Posted by samiam
Although it sways a little, the leaf springs in the rear really keeps it pretty stable.
Yeah, It seems like the combination of shackles and U bolts makes it stiff side-to-side
I am not arguing for or against sway bars, as I believe that is personal preference. But having body roll does not make a vehicle unsafe. Driving like an idiot makes a vehicle unsafe. 99.9% of the time if you have to swerve so hard that it flips your vehicle YOU WERE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE ROAD AHEAD. I see off-road race vehicles and prerunners all the time that corner on three-wheels with tons of body roll and they are not in danger of flipping because they know how to drive. Here are a couple of pics as an example.
Sway bar disconnects=roll over?
