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Swaybar or not?

jp0863

jp0863

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
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Location
clovis, ca
After the lift, axle swap, etc, I left the swaybar off. The front end seems a little "loose" as I drive. Hard to describe really, but my question is, does the swaybar add any rigidity to the front end other than for sway? Does it act as a trac bar to some extent?
 
jp0863 said:
After the lift, axle swap, etc, I left the swaybar off. The front end seems a little "loose" as I drive. Hard to describe really, but my question is, does the swaybar add any rigidity to the front end other than for sway? Does it act as a trac bar to some extent?
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It does. And more so on lifted trucks.bushings are made to have some give and they do give sideways.
The only thing that prevents that is the solid attachment at the axle/ spring connection.
Check that your ubolts are strsit and tight.
It will help stiffen things.
 
I don't like the way my Burb rides without it, too soggy around curves and turns. I bought the disconnects for it, they work great.
 
Thanks. I kinda figured that, but helps to run it past the people who have done it before.
 
I'm only running a 4" Rough Country ez ride lift with one leaf removed from the pack, helped remove some of the harshness they had. But definitely does ride more controllable with the bar attached.

I even had a friend in front of me once while we were driving out to the lake, I had not gotten around to reattaching the disconnects yet, he saw the truck in his mirror around curves and got on the radio asking if my truck was ok. I said yeah, asked him why he asked and he told me it looked like it was leaning way too much. it was that noticeable.

A lot of guys on here don't run them, will advise that you don't need them, but then again, most of those guys are running a 6+ inch lift, those springs are a lot stiffer and tighter, not allowing for much sway.
 
4xcrazy said:
I'm only running a 4" Rough Country ez ride lift with one leaf removed from the pack, helped remove some of the harshness they had. But definitely does ride more controllable with the bar attached.

I even had a friend in front of me once while we were driving out to the lake, I had not gotten around to reattaching the disconnects yet, he saw the truck in his mirror around curves and got on the radio asking if my truck was ok. I said yeah, asked him why he asked and he told me it looked like it was leaning way too much. it was that noticeable.

A lot of guys on here don't run them, will advise that you don't need them, but then again, most of those guys are running a 6+ inch lift, those springs are a lot stiffer and tighter, not allowing for much sway.
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It's not the sway that is the problem I talked about but the side shift.especially with taller lifts that are stiff enough to prevent sway.
 
I'm one of those who does not use a sway bar, rig specs in sig. With the exception of body roll on highway on/off ramps I have no issues without it. But I can cruise that truck down the highway without hands on the wheel and go over expansion joints while the truck continues to track in a straight line. No constant correcting of the wheel and no death grip while going over bumps. Made for a comfortable daily driver at the time.
 
after doing my 3" alcans I drove about a week or so with no sway bar. It went straight fine which is what it should do. sway bars are for body roll more than for anything else. Body roll in turns with out it in my burb was to the butt pucker level around town. I didnt like it at all. hooked mine back up and its awesome now.
 
I am currently installing a sway bar in the front of my Tahoe. It wallows pretty bad on the highway with 52" front springs when you hit a bump on one side but not the other and leans like crazy around corners.

I put a super stiff 1.5" sway bar in up front with a smaller sway bar run inside of it. I can disconnect the outer sway bar from the inner lower rate bar pneumatically using my OBA. I am suspecting it will make my truck a lot more comfortable to drive at speed and give me a lot more stability offroad (it leans on side hills) without loosing any articulation.
 
496truck said:
I'm one of those who does not use a sway bar, rig specs in sig. With the exception of body roll on highway on/off ramps I have no issues without it. But I can cruise that truck down the highway without hands on the wheel and go over expansion joints while the truck continues to track in a straight line. No constant correcting of the wheel and no death grip while going over bumps. Made for a comfortable daily driver at the time.
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This is my experience as well. Took mine off and scrapped it out, these arent race cars and shouldnt be driven like one.
 
Well I can tell with or without!

Street driving = sway bar = much better!

Off Road = no sway bar = much better!

That's if you have suspension that actually has ride, not so stiff you teeth jar.
 
badmix said:
This is my experience as well. Took mine off and scrapped it out, these arent race cars and shouldnt be driven like one.
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Speak for yourself :D Mine has race car numbering on it and is driven like one :pimp:

And no, wet sponge has too much road feel. More like soggy noodle.
 
Most lift springs are stiff enough that the vehicle still tracks OK with no swaybar. If you see a lot more than just body roll without it, you should check out the front end. Have someone steer (in park) while you watch the front end parts. There is an amazing amount of movement, much of it where you don't want it. Make sure the steering box isn't moving much (i.e. frame flex) and that the front eye of the DS spring is not dancing around (I have seen them move a whole inch). Also check for the shackles tipping side to side. When everything up front is tight, the sway bar will mostly just affect body roll and also add a little stiffness to the ride. However, with push-pull steering body roll = steering, so the truck will understeer more without the swaybar.

When everything is in good working order, it's up to you whether or not you want to use the swaybar. I have disconnects, but haven't really connected the bar in a year. I have soft springs and tons of body roll, but I just go slow and plan to over-steer a bit.
 
I run without one with my soft ride springs. Its a bit noticeable at high speeds, but I have crossover so its a no go regardless with the swaybar. I also have adjustable front shocks and crank them up a few clicks and it takes care of the problem. One thing I did notice is the swaybar acts sort of like a track-bar, and now that I dont have one, I notice my axle moves slightly before my wheels turn. So Im going to be building a track-bar for it in the future.
 
Anti-sway bars are not track bars, they're for body roll control. If you have lateral movement, the things that Blue pointed out above will get you on the right track. I ended up having to install an actual panhard bar because of my rubber bushings and 54" soft springs. It can be surprising how many little things flex and give; all contributing to crappy feel and control. The key is fixing the root of the problem, not bandaid fixes. (ie: quadruple steering stabilizers to fix death wobble=stupid)
 
I didnt mean it was one, I said it acts like one. It does limit side to side movement of the axle, compared to not running one at all. Its not near as effective as a track bar, but it does exhibit some of its lesser qualities, although not near as effective. And yes, it controls body roll, thats its primary job, but if you take it off, and steer, you will notice increased axle movement as a side effect. That being said, I plan on installing a track bar, along with an ORD engine mount and probably an DIY A-bomb, as mine twists the frame and moves the axle quite a bit more than Im comfortable with since I installed crossover.
 
I agree for the most part, and wasn't directing that at you despite the reply function- I'm just saying that if someone is on the fence about how to proceed fixing a certain problem, there are band-aid fixes and real fixes. I should have clarified :)

And as always, start by troubleshooting/fixing the cheap stuff first!
 
At the risk of offending some people I will ad my 2 cents.

A sway bar has bushings just as leaf springs and any other part that needs connected to another part that will allow some movement.

A sway bar does not will not and was never designed to locate the axle in any way shape or form.

By mere definition it can't because it has a bushing.

Now that being said. A leaf springs movement is erratic at best. It really is. All sorts of things can cause movement up, down, front, back etc.

What a sway bar does is prevent the truck from going further into the leaf springs travel so that when you do run a sway bar the forces that are trying to move the axle sideways are limited because of the limited amount of travel.

In addition it ties adds an additional tie from the leaf springs to the frame. The leaf springs are already tied together because of the solid axle.

So while a sway bar may feel like it acting like a trac bar, it simply cannot serve that function. As it is not even close to being immovable itself.


The choice to run a sway bar is one that I think everyone should try with and without.

Some of us have driven some pretty sloppy rigs over the years but if you drive a car the vast majority of the time a blazer even in great shape is going to feel loosey goosey
 
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