Disconnecting sway bars

L

Lewis&Clark

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Going offroading in Hollister with a friend of mine who's done it a lot. I've not, this is my first REAL foray off the grid.

He suggested I get sway bar disconnects. How important are these on a T4R? He's coming from a Jeep Cherokee and doesn't know the 4R's at all. His Jeep only has one sway bar up front.

What would the impact be on sway bar disconnects in terms of day-to-day on-road driving?
 
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If you have stock suspension (even minus xreas) I wouldn't be removing the sway bar links at all. The suspension is too soft in my opinion, and you would see some pretty good roll from the front. The 4R only has 1 sway bar in front as well, but disconnecting the links would be too close to all of the moving parts. I only removed my sway bar on my last 4R after I installed an Icon lift, and wouldn't do it unless I had some stiff components.
 
Lewis&Clark said:
Going offroading in Hollister with a friend of mine who's done it a lot. I've not, this is my first REAL foray off the grid.

He suggested I get sway bar disconnects. How important are these on a T4R? He's coming from a Jeep Cherokee and doesn't know the 4R's at all. His Jeep only has one sway bar up front.

What would the impact be on sway bar disconnects in terms of day-to-day on-road driving?
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I removed mine after installing the 5100's and ended up putting the rear back on. It wasn't bad, but after my body lift and putting the 35's on it leaned pretty good. The front is long gone with no regrets though. It limits that IFS to much.
 
I ran w/o mine too with my OME suspension but travel trailer season is here so I have them back on.
 
I run no front either. Definitely improves front end flex as well as on road comfort, but at the cost of body roll. Doesnt bother me too much since the ride is so much smoother both on and off road
 
First off you can't just slap on Disconnects like you can a Jeep, our sway bars are so tightly bent around the frame that you risk having the sway bar dig into the CV axle or springs during flex.

If you're running a factory suspension set-up I wouldn't bother with taking off the sway bar at this point since with the factory suspension you probably won't gain much more articulation. Some guys like to do it for a bit more articulation when they put a lift kit on, but in my opinion the body roll is far too excessive for how I drive on the street (damn thing wallows like a Domestic truck without the sway bar) vs. how well the vehicle performs off-road with the OLW 2.5" lift I am running and their sway bar relocation brackets.

If you feel like reading up a bit, I did prototype a disconnecting sway bar design that for the most part worked (some stacking tolerances and minor mis-calculations rendered the prototype un-usable, but the proof of concept and overall design functioned perfectly.) I meant to correct the measurements and make a second prototype for the 4Runner, but a lot of things got in the way of it and at this point the project is on the back burner.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/138892-4th-gen-disconnecting-sway-bar-set-up.html
 
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I run without sway bars as well. It leans quite a bit on the highway but I've learned to adjust my driving (also running stiff ome 886 coils). I go wheeling enough to merit not having them on, helps the IFS flex a lot more.
 
Lewis&Clark said:
What's the effect caused by towing a trailer with no sway bars?
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More weight, pushes the truck around. When towing you want all the stability you can get. One of the reasons I put my rear back on, I need a trailer for work to haul my tools and equipment. When it's a play rig only I'll take it back off.
 
Lewis&Clark said:
What's the effect caused by towing a trailer with no sway bars?
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t-man said:
More weight, pushes the truck around. When towing you want all the stability you can get. One of the reasons I put my rear back on, I need a trailer for work to haul my tools and equipment. When it's a play rig only I'll take it back off.
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t-man nailed it, I just put them back on and the difference is significant. Much more stable especially in windy conditions.
 
can someone explain how removing the front sway bar improves handling both on road and offroad? I see how it would help off road but not on road handling. Thanks
 
chiahead52 said:
can someone explain how removing the front sway bar improves handling both on road and offroad? I see how it would help off road but not on road handling. Thanks
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Eh, on-road it depends on how your suspension is set-up. For the most part it doesn't really help you out though.
 
Ya, what blackworksinc said. Offroad it helps that your suspension is more free to move independently, but on road it will lean more and not be as nimble in corners. Takes some getting used to. It does help with hitting potholes though.
 
chiahead52 said:
can someone explain how removing the front sway bar improves handling both on road and offroad? I see how it would help off road but not on road handling. Thanks
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Yeah I wouldnt say it handles better in terms of cornering, but with stiff front coilovers like I have, it helps allow each wheel to move up and down over bumps independently which really makes the ride smoother down the highway. The same thing applies offroad
 
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