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who runnin a sway bar? why?

stumpbuster

stumpbuster

1/2 ton status
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farmington, Ct
jus took mine off last night, havent tested the drive yet cuz my truck is in shambles..:weld:
from what i understand you can get more flex and the handling should not be too bad, but i jus wanted to know if people were keepin em in or trashin em.
my main concerne i guess is if my steering would become more prone to wander or my frame at the steering box would be more susceptible to cracking.

if the sway bar is insurance for steering by any means, then i will def put it back cuz my broke ass cant do xover right now:(
 
I think 95% of the people on here have taken them off and not looked back. A few have disconnects and take them off to wheel, and im sure a couple have them on still.
 
i run the dissconnect thing, when mine is off, it does in fact flex out real well, but while on the roads it tends to sway and lean pretty hard around corners and especially on transition ramp curves from one freeway to another at near highway speeds. I prefer to run mine :D
 
Out here in Nebraska, we don't need them. I took the one off of my K20 and never even noticed it. I took the one off my K5 and it made it a little squirrely. I wouldn't want to drive it in the mountains this way, but out here it's fine.
 
I didn't like the way mine handled on the road with the sway bar off. I'm just running 31" tires, and no lift (yet), so it may be different lifted. I thought it was too squirrely for highway speeds, though.

I'm planning on getting a disconnect at the same time I get my lift.
 
I still run one with disconnects since I have a heavy BBC up front and very soft 4" springs. If/when I go to crossover steering it will get tossed and spring rate/damping will be addressed.
 
I didn't notice anything when turning- no difference in turning radius, body roll (but I have junk shocks and springs, so there's always a lot of body roll...). But on the highway, it wanted to move around all over the place. Lots more body roll just changing lanes.
 
stumpbuster said:
so does the sway bar have ANY bearing on steering at all:confused:

..that
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I cant see how it would at all. It might cause more body roll prompting you to go slower around turns, but i think as long as you have good bushings in your leaves you shouldnt have any side to side movement from steering.
 
It didn't affect my steering at all, if anything it helped a little. Without the disconnects or some sort of drop bracket I don't even see the point of keeping it around. With a 4" lift the thing was under enough stress that it was spitting out the bushings and twisting the u-bolt plates it was bolted into, causing some funny reactions from the steering (especially under braking or on uneven/bumpy surfaces). It still pulls to the right under heavy braking but at least now it's consistent and predictable. A softer lift would probably roll a little more but my rough country is stiff enough that I didn't notice any additional body roll.

Even if you're gonna keep it with a lift on disconnects or a drop bracket of some kind will be needed for it to work properly anyway.
 
I wonder if running a front panhard bar would help handling if your sway bar is removed? I have read on the Suzuki Samurai forums people have posted positive handling gains when they added a panhard on their front Samurais. Twisted Engineering has one out now for solid axle GM's:
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=250209
Something I'm considering just because I want to get a new crossmember and motor mounts for my BBC.
 
Ned Kelly said:
I wonder if running a front panhard bar would help handling if your sway bar is removed? I have read on the Suzuki Samurai forums people have posted positive handling gains when they added a panhard on their front Samurais. Twisted Engineering has one out now for solid axle GM's:
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=250209
Something I'm considering just because I want to get a new crossmember and motor mounts for my BBC.
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It would, but a panhard doesn't serve the same purpose that a sway bar does.

And a panhard would inhibit flex because it inherently binds with a leaf spring setup, the only reason it works at all is because the spring bushings can give a little.
 
I took mine off with a 4" lift and 35's. Gained a good bit of flex and never really had an issue on the road. An ever so slight bit of body roll on turns but other than that she would roll down the freeway at 70-75 without any problems. Tossed it in the trash about a month later.
 
I have the disconnects. Even the disconnects takes away some of the stiffness of the sway bar as it is another pivoting point.

Easiest way for you to figure it out, is just to drive it and see. Me personally, I wouldn't drive without one. Too much rolling around for my taste.
 
bigred88 said:
I didn't like the way mine handled on the road with the sway bar off. I'm just running 31" tires, and no lift (yet), so it may be different lifted. I thought it was too squirrely for highway speeds, though.

I'm planning on getting a disconnect at the same time I get my lift.
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Getting a lift will make it worse infact. In retrospect after removing mine I would recommend rigging disconnects while you have stock style steering. As you know the stock bar wont work with crossover but there are aftermarket options.

fmstruck said:
Out here in Nebraska, we don't need them. I took the one off of my K20 and never even noticed it. I took the one off my K5 and it made it a little squirrely. I wouldn't want to drive it in the mountains this way, but out here it's fine.
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I feel like it really doesnt matter where you geographically live :p:

All kidding aside its all about how you drive the truck. I used to be able to drive/turn my 7" on 35s truck like I stole it. Took the sway bar off and forget on road turning performance. Your slowing down to 10mph or less to take a tight right turn period.

For a not daily driver I would recommend it. But for a truck thats driven everyday make disconnects. Hell its a terrible feeling having no sway bar and soft front springs and knowing if you need to pull and emergency maneuver on the highway at 65 that your nose is gonna squat hard, bind your tire and probably roll you.
 
You folks do realize, sway-bar or not your not driving a formula1 car through the streets of Monico.
It's a big 'ol 4x4 pickup not known for thier high speed handling abilities.
 
buefchris said:
You folks do realize, sway-bar or not your not driving a formula1 car through the streets of Monico.
It's a big 'ol 4x4 pickup not known for thier high speed handling abilities.
Click to expand...

Sure, but seeing as mine sees a lot of highway time, I like to retain what handling capabilities I have...:D
 
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