A.Wilson013
New member
I did mine and a friends with it just sitting there without any issues... I can see how jacking from the center of the axle could relieve some stress though, I suppose?
Sway Bars or No Sway Bars...
- Thread starter Charlene
- Start date
I did mine and a friends with it just sitting there without any issues... I can see how jacking from the center of the axle could relieve some stress though, I suppose?
I have no front sway bar and extended links in the rear which I leave on all of the time. It drives great on and offroad. Ditching the front swaybar makes a huge difference offroad. It's not so much the extra compression. It's more the fact that the tires seem to follow the terrain so much better, therefore giving more traction.
All this being said, my truck has a very wide stance, only about 2.5" of lift, nothing on the roof, and lots of low added weight in the form of full skids, sliders and plate bumpers front and back. In my opinion, this makes a bigger difference on and offroad than running swaybars or not.
I can never understand how people are comfortable driving a super tall truck with 6" of lift and 200 lbs of shit on the roof. It's dangerous on and off the road. And for what it's worth, I've rolled one 4runner so I know first hand how easy they are to roll in the right circumstances.
All this being said, my truck has a very wide stance, only about 2.5" of lift, nothing on the roof, and lots of low added weight in the form of full skids, sliders and plate bumpers front and back. In my opinion, this makes a bigger difference on and offroad than running swaybars or not.
I can never understand how people are comfortable driving a super tall truck with 6" of lift and 200 lbs of shit on the roof. It's dangerous on and off the road. And for what it's worth, I've rolled one 4runner so I know first hand how easy they are to roll in the right circumstances.
Don't worry snivilous, Moroney167 and I are good friends and he's just jealous of my banged up 4Runner while his is near showroom clean :fencing:
Back on topic- OP, I would look into extended links and try that out, it's got to be the best of both worlds.
Charlene
New member
I already have some links I can use for the rear I just need a few more things but what should I do about the front? Should I just stick with the stock length or should I get some aftermarket ones for those as well. I'm thinking that I could use the same Energy Links for the front and rear.
SpidermanGeek
New member
I've never driven my Runner with Sway bars on. The guy I bought it from had taken both sway bars off. He gave them to me, but some of the hardware is missing/broken.
I'll be doing the same as [MENTION=63487]A.Wilson013[/MENTION] to mount them back on, but it's gonna have to wait until the fall I think. (I'm broke from buying the rig and tranny oil cooler/trans temp gauge).
But, I don't DD with it and when I do take it somewhere, it's usually in town. I don't do much highway, so I'm not overly worried about the safety aspect.
With summer almost upon us, I also tend to ride my motorcycle more, so the runner sees even less road use.
I'll be doing the same as [MENTION=63487]A.Wilson013[/MENTION] to mount them back on, but it's gonna have to wait until the fall I think. (I'm broke from buying the rig and tranny oil cooler/trans temp gauge).
But, I don't DD with it and when I do take it somewhere, it's usually in town. I don't do much highway, so I'm not overly worried about the safety aspect.
With summer almost upon us, I also tend to ride my motorcycle more, so the runner sees even less road use.
Andy in Pa
New member
I left my front sway bar on (all factory), but removed the rear and didn't like the extra sway in the corners. This is with 3" suspension lift, 1.5" body lift and 33's. I have since put the rear back in with poly sway bar bushings and aftermarket rear sway bar disconnects. I am thinking of removing the front and trying that, but haven't yet. That is my next step...
slapdappy
Banned
meh. i have no skin in the game and no reason to crap out false claims. I'm relating my very own actual on pavement experience - around town, on the highway, with just me, while towing 1000lbs of sled/trailer plus 400 lbs of people and 250 lbs of luggage - with front connected and rear removed.
Again, the air bags I have may be a variable, whether pumped up to 30 lbs or deflated to 3 lbs.
The front and rear sway bars were disconnected? or just the front? I noticed a substantial difference (wallowing) with both the front and rear sway bar disconnected or with just the front disconnected. With just the rear disconnected there has been no appreciable degradation of the handling.
All I have is a 1" body lift. Maybe your substantial suspension lift is a contributing variable between our vehicles different behavior.
You keep the rear sway bar connected all the time, on and off road?
Is the front connected on road, disconnected off road?
weekendclimber
New member
I would go with some heavy duty ball joint links like this for the horizontal connection: McMaster-Carr
I have not used these, but they will be more than enough to handle the loads produced (source: work at an engineering firm). As an aside, once I put the rear lift on my rig I'm going to go this route, but I haven't been able to find a thread size for the ES links. If you have a chance at some point to find out what they are, please share.
Cheers
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Charlene
New member
I'm wondering if I could use one of those ball joints for my energy links instead of a eyebolt. That would allow a lot more rotation and flex.
Nelsonmd
New member
Brian's post seemed a little dramatic, but he's absolutely right. Don't dismiss it because it seems too severe. The sway bars are about control, not comfort (though they improve comfort too). Control is absolutely a safety feature, though I am not sure if the sway bars apply to the federal law prohibiting the disabling of vehicle safety features.
If you are mostly on-road, then plain and simple, don't remove them. Lots of guys may tell you they took their's off and haven't looked back or don't notice any additional body roll, but the fact of the matter is that regardless of their perception (or lack thereof), they are experiencing more body roll and less control, especially on the highway. Remember, additional body roll = less control. Comfort doesn't enter into the equation at all. And regardless of airbags, or any other factors that may play into it, if they removed their sway bars, then they lost control from how much they would have if they left them on.
If you off-road alot, then either just take the time to disconnect them, or buy quick disconnects. If the quick disconnects are too expensive, then you can't afford the convenience and will either have to wheel with them connected (not the end of the world...) or disconnect manually (also not the end of the world). For the price of some of the custom disconnect sets around here, I could buy an air tank, compressor, and an air rachet to take those stockers off quicker than the manual disconnects even. Thta's a question of marginal benefit that only you can answer for yourself.
If you're looking for low maintenance, then I would agree that it sounds like extended links are your best bet. You mentioned in your original post that your worry is that they look like they are about the snap when you flex, so solve that problem without causing other more severe problems.
If you are mostly on-road, then plain and simple, don't remove them. Lots of guys may tell you they took their's off and haven't looked back or don't notice any additional body roll, but the fact of the matter is that regardless of their perception (or lack thereof), they are experiencing more body roll and less control, especially on the highway. Remember, additional body roll = less control. Comfort doesn't enter into the equation at all. And regardless of airbags, or any other factors that may play into it, if they removed their sway bars, then they lost control from how much they would have if they left them on.
If you off-road alot, then either just take the time to disconnect them, or buy quick disconnects. If the quick disconnects are too expensive, then you can't afford the convenience and will either have to wheel with them connected (not the end of the world...) or disconnect manually (also not the end of the world). For the price of some of the custom disconnect sets around here, I could buy an air tank, compressor, and an air rachet to take those stockers off quicker than the manual disconnects even. Thta's a question of marginal benefit that only you can answer for yourself.
If you're looking for low maintenance, then I would agree that it sounds like extended links are your best bet. You mentioned in your original post that your worry is that they look like they are about the snap when you flex, so solve that problem without causing other more severe problems.
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GVL
New member
Took both off with the intentions of replacing all the links with longer ones but took it for a spin (offroad) and absolutely loved the way it felt so ended up tossing both of them in the rafters - much more comfortable on the trail and makes driving more fun IMO.
My rig is a dedicated workhorse and fun-mobile so only sees limited highway. When I do need to travel I just drive it like my old VW bus and pay a little extra attention to my surroundings. If this was a DD I would have returned the longer links and invested in 4 quick disconnects for trail time. Just my opinion and would never recommend it to anyone if you didn't completely safe with it.
My rig is a dedicated workhorse and fun-mobile so only sees limited highway. When I do need to travel I just drive it like my old VW bus and pay a little extra attention to my surroundings. If this was a DD I would have returned the longer links and invested in 4 quick disconnects for trail time. Just my opinion and would never recommend it to anyone if you didn't completely safe with it.
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BrianSD_42
New member
I'll admit my post seems a bit dramatic but it is to make the point that you only really really need the sway bars when something happens on the road and you have to swerve so hard that you may nearly lose control of the vehicle even with the sway bars on. It is those kinds of maneuvers where you really need a sway bar, not the other 99% of driving time on the highway.
I leave mine on for all highway driving and take the front off sometimes when I go off-roading.
Actually my sway bar is off this week because I had to order new sway bar bushings and brackets after one fell out while I was on a trip last weekend.
I drove home without the sway bar but I plan to re-install it this week.
One last thing ... I have been in a situation when I had to swerve so hard I nearly lost control of the vehicle, luckily after much drifting I was able to regain control. In that case both sway bars were installed. You don't want to be in that situation but since it is not something you can prevent it is best to leave all the safety features installed on the truck so at least when it does happen, you will have a much higher chance of making out ok.
I leave mine on for all highway driving and take the front off sometimes when I go off-roading.
Actually my sway bar is off this week because I had to order new sway bar bushings and brackets after one fell out while I was on a trip last weekend.
I drove home without the sway bar but I plan to re-install it this week.
One last thing ... I have been in a situation when I had to swerve so hard I nearly lost control of the vehicle, luckily after much drifting I was able to regain control. In that case both sway bars were installed. You don't want to be in that situation but since it is not something you can prevent it is best to leave all the safety features installed on the truck so at least when it does happen, you will have a much higher chance of making out ok.
Moroney167
New member
Attachments
D Farms
New member
so here is my theory, when going around a corner, the momentum of the car is tangent to the curve, this causes the body to roll.
Without sway bars the wheels on the outside of the curve tuck into the fender wells and there is more force on the wheels, the inside wheels extend down from the body and there is less force on the wheels.
With sway bars, the outside wheels are tucked into the wheel wells, the inside wheels are actually being pulled into the fender wells by the sway bar, which makes the body ride flat. in comparison to without a sway bar the inside wheels have less traction because the sway bar is applying and upward force, however the mass of the vehicle is more centered and in a fishtail like situation will be easier to control.
Without sway bars the wheels on the outside of the curve tuck into the fender wells and there is more force on the wheels, the inside wheels extend down from the body and there is less force on the wheels.
With sway bars, the outside wheels are tucked into the wheel wells, the inside wheels are actually being pulled into the fender wells by the sway bar, which makes the body ride flat. in comparison to without a sway bar the inside wheels have less traction because the sway bar is applying and upward force, however the mass of the vehicle is more centered and in a fishtail like situation will be easier to control.
I took the front completely off. I used the front's links on the rear sway bar because they're about an inch longer. Better articulation off road, but lots of body roll on road with my suspension setup. Honestly, I think it's pretty dangerous to run without the anti-sway bar...which I'm sure I'll find out in an "oh $h!t" swerve situation on the highway.
I tried running with the rear sway bar off also. I didn't notice much difference, but then again I only went out for a 10 minute test drive with it off. If you off road a lot, I'd say taking off at least the front will do you good. If you don't, I'd leave them on. My $.02.
I tried running with the rear sway bar off also. I didn't notice much difference, but then again I only went out for a 10 minute test drive with it off. If you off road a lot, I'd say taking off at least the front will do you good. If you don't, I'd leave them on. My $.02.
Santana-911
New member
Can anyone provide a link for the "quick disconnects" for the front sway bar.
Charlene
New member
Hey it's a fellow Las Crucen! @MStud sells some on the T4R Items buy and sell page. I would get some but they are pretty pricey but look worth it. Other wise based on everyones input I will definitley keep my sway bars on and use my Energy Suspension links for the rear using [MENTION=63487]A.Wilson013[/MENTION] write up.
floatingkiwi
Member
Ya don't need em. Just remove one link from either side and you'll find the geometry is such that the bar wont hit anything at full extension/droop either side. You can easily check by running each side up a sharp bank and have a look underneath.
Rear bar - if you remove one link the bar will try to bury itself into your chassis when offroad. It doesn't seem to limit articulation on a stock/2" lift setup.
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