Front Sway Bar - Do I need it day to day?

[Jagged73]

So this past sunday made a week since I last disconnected my front sway bar and never reconnected it.

I know Im not "ruining" anything by not connecting it, but what I want to know is...


What if anything abnormal could I expect to experience without my swaybar attached?

- I already know about the increased articulation.

- Maybe its me, but seat of the pants wise, my rubi seems to be riding nicer...almost more cushy over bumpy DC roads.

- I have noticed that if I take a corner at high speed, if there is a bump of any kind the ride can get a bit squirrly, kind of like it hops to the side and leans a bit more than when connected.

- Because of the squirrly ness of my jeep in corners I have already been reducing my speed in corners.

So what do you say?

[Drew]

with short arms and a slight lift I don't think it's very smart. With my xj I didn't run one for a year and never really noticed. But that's with LA's

[kitesurferinva]

The big issues you'll see are:

1- cornering, esp at higher speeds becomes much more unsafe, due to the amt of body roll you'll get.

2- wind, your more likely to be effected by wind or passing trucks and such because the body will sway.

3 - bumps - you are very likely to have a very squirlly steering wheel if you hit a bump, esp at higher speeds.

4 - crown of the road - all roads have an arc to them to help w/ drainage, with the swaybar disconnected it will cause you to not track well, which means you very well could ware your tires down more quickly.

5 - braking, if you try to brake while turning, you are much more likely to roll, esp in an emergency situation because the body will have more momentum in what ever direction inertia has you going.

IMO , its not worth the risks to leave your sway bar disconnected, esp considering how easy it is to disconnect when you want articulation.

Sandy -

[RTFS]

I have to concur with Sandy. Street vehicles have had front anti-sway bars installed at the factory since the 60's and probably before that. Rear's came along later cuz they aren't as effective at reducing body roll. If they've been required on cars that long, there must be a good reason for it.

Driving without one may seem fine for the most part but consider this, Jeeps are prone to rollover anyway due to their high center of gravity. Without the front anti-sway bar it is more likely that a rollover will occur if the unforeseeable happens. For the same reason we wear seatbelts whenever we ride in a vehicle, it's not for what does happen, it's for what might happen.

Food for thought.

[02tj]

Its just not a good idea for you or for the saftey of others around you! Think of the mom w/ the car full of kids next to you on the rutted road in dc on a corner and highwinds! un-controlable!..................just food for thought.

[ImaJeep]

Yeah, what everybody else said.

I've done it twice. Years ago when my commute was less than 10 minutes. Most recently when one of the bolts for my quick disconnects vibrated loose. I drove it home and parked it until I could get a replacement bolt.

Why didn't that bolt get locktite?

[fryed_1]

I think if you know what to expect then you can compensate, but if you're not used to driving squirrely vehicles then don't.

I haven't had mine out for about 9months now. And yes, it tracks poorly unless you're in the middle lane. Tires wear quicker on the outside. And you get much more body roll.

But...

Since most of my vehicles in the last 5yrs or so have been junkyard specials and handled like a unicycle with a flat tire... I've been in some pretty bad situations and come out better than those around me if you know what to expect. I've had to swerve, rather harshly, at 75mph on the interstate and came out fine. The biggest thing is not to overcorrect yourself. Swerve but don't jerk the wheel back straight like it's a sports car. You can swerve in one direction just fine. It's when you quickly change directions that throws the rear end into a spin cause you're shifting the weight of the vehicle quickly from one side to the other instead of the middle to the side.

Will I end up putting one back in? I doubt it. Like I said.. you just need to be more careful in your driving. I leave 2x the room in front of me as before just in case, and rarely get the thing over 50mph on a non-interstate road.