Disconnecting sway bars - front? and/or rear?

[BrianSD_42]

I agree. It depends on the trails though. If I was going over some serious rocks I would definitely remove the front sway bar. THere is 0 need to remove the rear - ever. Anyone who doubts this can look at the pics in my thread where I show full flex with the rear sway bar still connected.

 

[BrandonF]

One of my rear end links snapped the last time I flexed the rear end out and since then, I've just been driving with one end connected. I haven't noticed any difference and I'm wondering whether I should get rid of it altogether or buy new longer end links.

However, last summer, right after I purchased the vehicle, it developed a scary side to side swaying in long, high speed corners (Think sea to sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler for those of you who know). I got under the vehicle and found that one of the front sway bar mounting clamps was hanging by one bolt and therefore useless. Being only attached to the frame on one side, it totally messed up the on-road handling and was downright scary in high speed highway corners.

Now I'm not sure what it's like to drive with no front sway bar at all, but from the comparison I stated above, the front sway bar has a MUCH greater effect on our 4Runner's handling than the rear.

Brian, what is a good solution for extended rear end links with LC 7.5 wraps? I have heard stock 2nd gen links work well?

 

[Dinabox]

From my experience the front sway bar is the safest to remove for street driving. Removing the rear on mine causes serious body roll, like unsafe body roll for street driving. With the eibachs up front and the bilstiens on the 2nd notch they're plenty stiff to remove the front. It rides better without it IMO. If you want longer links for the rear, just use front links in the back, they're like 1/2 -3/4 in longer than the rears. Or build some like user [MENTION=54438]trailmix[/MENTION] did.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Yes but it doesn't turn it into a solid axle or anything that dramatic.

I don't think there is much evidence to support the claim or theory that removing the sway bar will provide a smoother ride over bumps.

I'm interested in hearing about peoples experiences obviously but I think shocks and springs will make the difference not sway bar.

When I first installed my SS 1.2 kit back in 2007 I thought the ride was amazing and I had the stock sway bar installed. I only removed the stock sway bar after I broke a end-link when wheeling in Anza-Borrego. I drove around like that for awhile and eventually adjusted my front shocks up one notch to make up for the extra weight from my new bumper and skids. At that point the ride became a bit stiffer but still decent.

I never felt that changing the sway bar in or out (which I have done several times) had any effect on the ride quality "over bumps"

- Just my 2 cents ... :heh:

I understand what youre saying. The shocks and coils will make the most significant difference in handling, absolutely. Simply having the right spring rate/rebound for the vehicle weight will produce the "smoothest" ride, if thats what someone is looking for.

But thats not to say that the sway bar is not also a factor in how the IFS absorbs bumps. Less of a factor then the suspension itself, but still a factor. Theoretically it HAS to affect the ride. Thats what its there for. While the primary purpose of linking the two sets of swing arms is to reduce sway, that link also means that when one tire hits i.e. a pothole, that side cant acticulate independently. It will be absorbed in part by the sway bar, which acts almost like a leaf spring (accept that it twists more than it bends).

Im sure this is stuff you already know though. It seems like youre saying that while in theory removing the front sway can affect handling of bumps, you didnt see any practical difference in your ride, which I can believe. I think I might experament with this for myself to see what happens

 

[Jedrattle]

I am fairly new here....so forgive me for this question...

Anyone make a quick disconnect for these things?

I think that I would like to disconnect the front while off road and leave the rear connected to help with body roll. I have some hard core straight axle rigs. I am having a hard time with the body roll while off road in my runner. I know it's because the IFS can't move like a built crawler (what I am used to) but I want to get every bit of suspension movement out of the front end possible.

My runner is my DD. Every tank of gas sees around town, freeway, and mountains roads driving. I drive pretty fast so I will not be without swaybars on the street.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I am fairly new here....so forgive me for this question...

Anyone make a quick disconnect for these things?

Hello and welcome to the site.

Yes there are many types of aftermarket or homemade quick disconnects.

I have Stick Figure's design. I would hardly call any of the models quick disconnect more like easier disconnect.

Anyways ... Use the link in my Signature to do an advanced search for keywords "quick disconnect" or "sway bar links"

 

[Shibby!]

I disagree with this statement but only in part. By removing the swaybar you are allowing the other tire to articulate further down and POSSIBLY gaining traction. The advantage may be marginal at best but it could be the difference between making pulling winch cable or not. (Which I hate)

I agree with this. A tire in the air spins, a tire somewhat touching the ground may be the difference.

I only have my rear disconnected. Never tried disconnecting the front. Handles fine on the road and pretty good off-road.

Keeping the front connected will affect the bump absorption all the time. It will increase the spring rate by causing both springs to move rather than one (provided one wheel hits the bump and the other doesn't). Straight line, turning, offroad, etc. It's all affected.

I wouldn't mind trying my front disconnected because I'd like a bit more plush of a ride, however emergency procedures on the highway are already affected enough with the rear being disconnected.

As a added bonus though, I swear this vehicle gives me more notice and more control of sliding mid corner on ice covered highways with the rear disconnected. Few mountain passes I've had the rear step out gradually mid corner in a controlled slide. Nothing scary at all. I'd like to attribute this to the rear sway being off, but I can't physically explain how, because without traction the vehicle shouldn't yawn allowing the one tire to spin up prior to loosing all traction... Weight bias could be the key though. Weight transfer, the outside tire gains traction while the inside tire loses it, giving you warning before the rear gets ahead of the front....

 

[Clownmeat]

I took both of mine off and placed them nicely in the trash. Does much better on the trails. Also when cornering aggressively on the street you can lift a front tire off the ground and it makes a neat chirping sound when the tire sets back on the road.

 

[white_n_slow]

Without getting too much into the debate, I'll just say this to the OP:

It only takes a few minutes to disconnect either one. Try just the front, just the rear, and both. Drive on each setup for a few days and hit a local trail so you get a feel for it. Then just pick whichever one you like.

On all my previous toyotas (all solid axles) the sway bar was the first thing to go. On my '97, I disconnected both expecting a softer ride and really got a lot of slop in the suspension and body roll. This is what I run (I don't have disconnects, just a wrench) and I like it this way:

street and regular trail rides: both connected
harder wheeling: both disconnected, tires aired down

 

[Mr. B]

Without getting too much into the debate, I'll just say this to the OP:

It only takes a few minutes to disconnect either one. Try just the front, just the rear, and both. Drive on each setup for a few days and hit a local trail so you get a feel for it. Then just pick whichever one you like.

On all my previous toyotas (all solid axles) the sway bar was the first thing to go. On my '97, I disconnected both expecting a softer ride and really got a lot of slop in the suspension and body roll. This is what I run (I don't have disconnects, just a wrench) and I like it this way:

street and regular trail rides: both connected
harder wheeling: both disconnected, tires aired down

I've disconnected the front on my IFS, and although it helps, its not impressive and not much to be like, "ho shit wait up guys, i need to disconnect my front first" when on a trail kinda thing. However, I just swapped my 891's in the rear for Toytecs new Superflex springs, and man, removing those endlinks made that bad boy FLEXXXXXXX!! I'm gonna see how it feels on the road possibly this weekend and report after a few days.

 

[Kanger328]

I took both of mine off and placed them nicely in the trash. Does much better on the trails. Also when cornering aggressively on the street you can lift a front tire off the ground and it makes a neat chirping sound when the tire sets back on the road.

I LOL'd

 

[Atrox Caeda]

After lots of trial and error I have ended up with the front disconnected (bar is completely gone) and rear connected. Main reasons I like the current set up:

1) The way the front end feels disconnected; I know you can argue that it does or doesn't make a difference, my perceived feeling is that it has a "different" ride profile which I like in connection with the rear set up.

2) Having at least the rear provides enough stability on regular roadways that it doesn't feel dangerous, unlike if rear is disconnected also and as long as you have longer links having the sway bar will prevent a lot of over articulation if you have a stock bumper or pan hard.

Some things to consider: Where is the weight on your vehicle? Mine tends to be kind of high seeing as I have a spare tire and rack on the roof. That is all located over the rear axle so it is important that portion of the vehicle is stabilized at least a little to mitigate excessive body roll. This is also my perceived feel for the vehicle and in no way has any scientific backing to say it's the best... just what I like the most.

 

[Mr. B]

2) Having at least the rear provides enough stability on regular roadways that it doesn't feel dangerous, unlike if rear is disconnected also and as long as you have longer links having the sway bar will prevent a lot of over articulation if you have a stock bumper or pan hard.

Some things to consider: Where is the weight on your vehicle? Mine tends to be kind of high seeing as I have a spare tire and rack on the roof. That is all located over the rear axle so it is important that portion of the vehicle is stabilized at least a little to mitigate excessive body roll. This is also my perceived feel for the vehicle and in no way has any scientific backing to say it's the best... just what I like the most.

I'm glad you bring this up. By any chance do you have extended rear links? If so, could you measure them please? Mine appear to be stock...

Weight in the runner are always in the back, or in cargo. When I camp/fish the seats go down and i really put the load on it.

 

[Atrox Caeda]

I'm glad you bring this up. By any chance do you have extended rear links? If so, could you measure them please? Mine appear to be stock...

Weight in the runner are always in the back, or in cargo. When I camp/fish the seats go down and i really put the load on it.

Factory length for rear sway bar links is from center of ball joint to end of bolt: 6"
Keep in mind if you leave the factory ones on everything seems to work ok, except that the steel washers from the factory are not strong enough and you will eventually blow one side or the other. Either reinforce with a stack of washers or get appropriate length links to prevent wear happening on the frame mounts. I used the washer trick for a while until I located some longer links with no issues. I got links that were about 3 inches longer which is about what the lift in the rear is. I think they were off a Ford or something. A friend had them lying around.

 

[white_n_slow]

I've disconnected the front on my IFS, and although it helps, its not impressive and not much to be like, "ho shit wait up guys, i need to disconnect my front first" when on a trail kinda thing.

My tire deflators take about 5 minutes to work, so I usually just do the swaybars while the tires air down.

 

[JayRolla]

I also run front removed with rear connected and SS extended sway bar mounts. I originally used too keep just one side connected on the front so that you get both worlds, extra flex an still would put pressure down for good traction but after breaking a few links I decided too call it quits. I have broken two sets of stock links, Im guessing it just wants them disco'ed anyways.

 

[TE+6]

This belongs here:


:hand:

WARNING TO ALL: :AK47:


I removed my front sway bar and ran without it for about 3+ years; this was just after I installed my SS 1.2 kit.

Eventually I noticed that my truck had A LOT of lean when going around corners. It was quite dangerous feeling. I even had a new steering rack so it wasn't that.

Last summer, about 3+ years after the removal I decided to re-install the sway bar with some extended links from StickFigure. On the same day I also re-did my rear shocks which had < 40k miles on them (same shock just new).

I expected a difference but wow ... what a difference. It handled great and at the time I attributed 90% of the new stiffness around corners to installing the sway bar. I did the shocks as a precaution since I would be down there anyways.

That was about 6 months ago. I have been driving around quite happy with the new shocks + sway bar ever since.

Update to about 3 weeks ago when I removed the front sway bar links to go off roading in Coral Canyon near San Diego. I removed them in my driveway and drove about 1.5 hours out to the trail. Then I left the sway bar off for a week before putting it back on.

TO MY SURPRISE ... this time the truck had nowhere near as much lean around corners as it did before I replaced the shocks and installed the sway bar back on. So to recap: sway bar is now off and the truck doesn't lean as much as before ...

So what does this mean? It means the shocks wore out with less than 40k miles on them by running without a sway bar. Now they were not totally* worn out but enough so that I could notice the difference around turns.

The shocks were Toyota LC rear shocks from my SS kit. I highly doubt they should have gone bad (loose) after only a few years under normal usage BUT they were far looser feeling than new shocks.

My current theory is that by removing the front sway bar I put additional stress on the shocks and they went bad far sooner than expected. To me this makes sense since the 4Runner was never designed to be run without a sway bar and shortened shock life is plausible side affect of removing it.


:bolt:

:hand:

Where did you find the extensions? I just put 3" coils and my sway bar is rubbing agains the coils. I just cant find any links extenders or longer anywhere.

 

[TE+6]

Where did you find the extensions? I just put 3" coils and my sway bar is rubbing against the coils. I just cant find any links extenders or longer anywhere.

 

[TE+6]

Where did you find the extensions? I just put 3" coils and my sway bar is rubbing agains the coils. I just cant find any links extenders or longer anywhere.

 

[Jason B]

From my experience the front sway bar is the safest to remove for street driving. Removing the rear on mine causes serious body roll, like unsafe body roll for street driving. With the eibachs up front and the bilstiens on the 2nd notch they're plenty stiff to remove the front. It rides better without it IMO. If you want longer links for the rear, just use front links in the back, they're like 1/2 -3/4 in longer than the rears. Or build some like user [MENTION=54438]trailmix[/MENTION] did.

So, last week I rotated tires and noticed both of my front end links were broken that hold the sway bar. After reading on here quite a bit it seems many have removed them, (the front only) for a better ride. Is that the consensus? I don't do any off roading, just street, and want the best ride. Suspension is stock, besides the HD Bilstein's.