Sway Bar On or Off?

Pikeman

Pikeman

New member
Ok so I was under my truck the other day and notice that my sway bar bushings are torn and parts missing. I have read on some other sites that people remove them entirely once they go to the Coil-overs with minimal on-road affect, but in pics looks like they drop a little better. I am flipping the coin if I want to do the bushing replacement or take mine off.

1.Have you taken yours off?
2.If you off-road a bit did it help at all?
 
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I highly recommend leaving them on there for stability when on the highway in case you have to swerve to miss something, or get broad-sided with a gust of wind or something. I always disonnect them while I am offroad, but wait until I acutally get to the trail before doing so and then reconnect before getting on the highway. The bushings for those are under $2 each. I know some take theirs off totally and leave them off, and that is up to the individual, but I think you are risking some safety issues in doing so, especially if it is a daily driver.
 
If we are talking about the front sway bar, I remove the top nut and bushings on both connecting bar links, grab the actual sway bar and rotate it backwards until both ends clear. Make sure you also remove the bushings that are under the sway bar connecting end. I then lay the bar links backwards and zip-tie (large heavy duty one) them to the axle, arm, or whatever it is right behind them, leaving a little slack for movement. THis has worked fine for me so far.
 
hey do they make addco's for the runners that would work with a 3 inch lift? i've been thinking i want some after market sway/roll bars and needed to know if they made them to go with a lift on the runners.
 
theizzardking said:
hey do they make addco's for the runners that would work with a 3 inch lift? i've been thinking i want some after market sway/roll bars and needed to know if they made them to go with a lift on the runners.
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I am not sure, that is not anything I have researched or checked out. Maybe someone else can answer that one.
 
Leave the sway bars on. If you want a bit more flex when wheeling then disconnect the front, but you DONT want to drive a coil sprung vehicle on the freeway without sway bars.
 
I leave my front swaybar disconnected but that's because I'm the laziest man I know and I don't have a family to take care of. No question it is significantly more dangerous without the front swaybar connected. With my rig I think it roughly doubles the chances for a rollover on the pavement with them disconnected. I have a 2nd car that is my daily driver and I don't drive the 4Runner much unless I'm on the way from or to a trail. When I first disconnected mine I took it for a test drive and immediately noticed a lag in the response when cornering. Emergency maneuvers are more like grit your teeth and pray rather than a quick evasive action. Going down a mountain road into a curve I stepped heavy on the brakes and could feel the rear tire lift loose traction and lock up. The smoke from my tires verified that after several brake tests. You also get a lot more body roll when traveling up and down the mountain highways. I actually keep and eye on my my clino when I'm cornering but I'm kind of a freak and like the thrill of pushing it. So it's a good thing I'm not a father because I'd be constantly saying do as I say and not as I do.

Try it out for yourself. With the front swaybar disconnected test out the difference in small increments so you don't roll your rig.

My two cents are to spend the $90 for Wab Fab's quick disconnects or bring a wrench and save the bucks. Those bushings are cheap, get new ones for sure if you are going to keep your front swaybar. You might also consider getting longer end links for your front swaybar. That will afford you some more flex without having to disconnect your swaybar.

I kept my rear swaybar connected after lengthening my rear swaybar endlinks because I can get full stuff with them connected.
 
I agree with everyone above.

I would HIGHLY recommend to leave them on. A couple months ago my friend had to swerve to avoid getting hit by an idiot who didn't know what he was doing. Had he not had that sway bar, he probably woulda rolled over his 99 and things would have ended much, much more worse than they had ended.
 
Another issue to consider is the liability. If you have no sway bar, you hit someone due to uncontrollable sway or swerving and heaven forbid cause serious or deadly injuries, and their insurance finds out that you removed a safety component from your vehicle, ....., guess what? I just think anyone is really taking a chance on safety and liability for about 10 minutes of inconvenience of disconnecting them maybe once a month or even less.
 
glenyoshida said:
My two cents are to spend the $90 for Wab Fab's quick disconnects or bring a wrench and save the bucks. Those bushings are cheap, get new ones for sure if you are going to keep your front swaybar. You might also consider getting longer end links for your front swaybar. That will afford you some more flex without having to disconnect your swaybar.

I kept my rear swaybar connected after lengthening my rear swaybar endlinks because I can get full stuff with them connected.
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Did you fab your own longer endlinks, or can you recommend a manufacturer. Now that I have the LC coils in the rear, longer rear endlinks sounds like a good idea.

Now I also see how you get such massive flex and snap CV's while wheeling! I had no idea you were running disconnected...
 
Wow, everyone is quite opinionated. But since i took mine off i don't feel like it is a threat of rolling over, I just think that it should be looked at the same way as lifting. If your gonna lift it, your going to have a HIGHER chance of a rollover, so give yourself more space, pay more attention, and learn not to make sudden movements of the steering wheel, especially at high speed. Just like the lift, the sway bar will make your nose dip a little more than normal when cornering, So be cautious until you get the feel for how your truck handles differently. I am totally used to my front sway bar being absent all the time, and dont see it as a problem. Unless your driving your 4runner like a Supra, I'd say take it off and enjoy the greater off-road capability of your machine.
 
CSL said:
Did you fab your own longer endlinks, or can you recommend a manufacturer. Now that I have the LC coils in the rear, longer rear endlinks sounds like a good idea.

Now I also see how you get such massive flex and snap CV's while wheeling! I had no idea you were running disconnected...
Click to expand...

Glenn, i know that i got some rear sway bar adjustment brackets in my kit from Sonoran Steel, and i was looking at his site, they werent listed under individual parts but it was still listed under the 1.2 lift kit, I would give steve a call and see if he cant sell you some for cheap, It would probably be a lot easier than finding longer end links.
 
Pikeman said:
Ok so I was under my truck the other day and notice that my sway bar bushings are torn and parts missing. I have read on some other sites that people remove them entirely once they go to the Coil-overs with minimal on-road affect, but in pics looks like they drop a little better. I am flipping the coin if I want to do the bushing replacement or take mine off.

1.Have you taken yours off?
2.If you off-road a bit did it help at all?
Click to expand...

1) yes, just the front. on the 99 I had it off for 5 years, on the 04 its been off since I got it in Dec. both rigs are my daily driver.
2) YES it help ALOT, it allows the front to travel more, giving you better traction off road.
 
CSL said:
Did you fab your own longer endlinks, or can you recommend a manufacturer. Now that I have the LC coils in the rear, longer rear endlinks sounds like a good idea.

Now I also see how you get such massive flex and snap CV's while wheeling! I had no idea you were running disconnected...
Click to expand...
Yep, Just cut my stock end links and welded in a piece of steel to extend it. If you want to clean, cut and taper your end links and extension piece I'll TIG the extension in for you. Basically if you get it prepped I'll weld it for ya.
 
glenyoshida said:
Yep, Just cut my stock end links and welded in a piece of steel to extend it. If you want to clean, cut and taper your end links and extension piece I'll TIG the extension in for you. Basically if you get it prepped I'll weld it for ya.
Click to expand...

i haven't looked at how these are put together but do you think it's possible to cut the ends off drill and tap a hole on either end of the cut off piece and throw some high grade threaded rod in there for an adjustable sway bar?
you get what i'm saying?
 
www.wabfab.com, they have adjustable length end links and disconnect end links for the front. There was another cool trick to do on another website to make your own with threaded rod but it would work with the way our end links connect.

I think i have decided based on what I read in similar threads on TTORA and here that I will leave tehm on and get teh disconnects. Mainly because having my kids with me 50% of the time and how noone pays attention here in Cali.
 
glenyoshida said:
Yep, Just cut my stock end links and welded in a piece of steel to extend it. If you want to clean, cut and taper your end links and extension piece I'll TIG the extension in for you. Basically if you get it prepped I'll weld it for ya.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Glen. I will likely take you up on that offer sometime. Maybe I can get you to weld a panhard drop bracket in place too?! I'll bring beer, or steaks, whatever your preferance may be.

So for 5" over stock in the rear, what...maybe a 3" extension? (Figure you don't want too long)
 
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