Disconnecting sway bars?

[NavyMA57]

i have a stock 90 4runner sr5 that i am trying to get more travel out of. i was thinking about diconnecting sway bars and doing lc coils and shocks in the rear then what about the front? i know to crank the torsion bars but will longer lc shocks fit on the front also? oh and all i really do is city driving, no highway and im not a lead foot..should i be ok on side streets with no sway bars? im on a budget that why im doing it this way

 

[85+92]

MINE:
90 4runner
3" diff drop
iroc rear camaro shocks in the front
3" springs
stock shocks
NO sway bars....

this is MY setup been fine for 1yr

FYI I got the front and rear lift from seperate trucks that were both rolled, so drive safe

if you just wanted a small lft just get BJ spacers and a little torsion crank

 

[94FOURBY]

I've been running no sway for about 30,000 miles. I have had no ill effects. I already had SDORI ball joint spacers, OME torsion bars, add-a-leafs, and Bilstein 5100. I have noticed that the truck does not corner as well as it did. If anything it has a little push or understeer when driven hard. That said when you lift these trucks and run 33 inch tires they are not race cars. For normal driving I cannot see any down side.

 

[KLF]

Disconnect the endlinks now and bungee the anti-swaybars up, take it for a drive, judge for yourself.

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

Ditto on what KLF said. Also consider that everyone has different setups that result in different characteristics such as 94fourby has addaleafs which make his overall spring pack stiffer resulting in less body roll not to mention the fact of leaf springs period. Others may have stiffer shocks slowing the body roll down. I would say if you were asking if you should remove your sway bars and run stock springs with worn out shocks and race around town I would say you might want to invest in a roll cage. If your talking about upgrading your shocks etc then sure!. As far as I am concerned coils have a tendency to body roll on the unload side of things so thats a possible reason to sacrifice some smooth comfort and go with a stiffer shock. Shocks will not save the day but they will mitigate or bandaid that particular problem a bit. Also you might check your current shock length and determine if you need to relocate mounts if you increase your articulation. Otherwise you are wasting your time. I can not exactly recall the stock set up but I work my 14" travel shocks.

 

[NavyMA57]

wow 4x4 Station Wagon thanks for the input. so you are running 14'' shocks on a stock runner or lifted? if its stock did u have to relocate the shock mounts in order to fit them?

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

Mine is a 1980 pickup which is why I stuck with stating you should check and verify. I can contest to my scenario that if I hadn't relocated the mounts (shock hoops) I would absolutely be limited by my stock shock lengths. BUT I also have leafs. With my leafs I have a little compression with a lot of droop. As mentioned I am not very familiar with the IFS short of my tacomas.

I should have also mentioned not to make to big of a deal of it yet (at this point) and simply check the flex with the sways connected and then follow KLF's thoughts and disconnect and drive it plus recheck the flex and ensure you do not have another bridge to cross or that it is definately worth the disadvantages that may arise

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

I do not like to post unless I have been there and done that and unfortunately here is one of those examples of when I have but not a 4 runner..... So here is a clip I found from another site that although this guy is a bit firm on his thoughts I do share the general concept. Hope this helps

From this link: http://www.sonoransteel.com/store_co..._liftkits.html

(scroll down to FAQ)

"5. Why don't you include front sway bar disconnects? Because they are completely useless. By disconnecting the front sway bar you may gain a very slight amount of added a-arm droop. But here is the problem with an IFS truck. The only tire that has any weight on it is the one compressed, so it does not matter if the other tire is in the air, almost on the ground or on the ground. It will spin because it has no weight on it. The front IFS solution is an ARB RD90 front locker, not anything to do with a sway bar. It is however correct to disconnect a sway bar on a straight axle truck as it will increase articulation. The real benefit of having a straight axle is that both front tires bear the weight at all times. Not only one like an IFS truck under articulation."

Above info may be bias, but is consistent with what i have read about IFS. And this explains why the Range Rover (IFS/IRS) has cross-linking shocks...so that if one side goes up, the other side gets "electronically" pushed down, thus simulating the action of a solid axle.

I'm not sure if you plan disconnects for the front and rear, but I would advise against them for the front. They will do more harm than good. Although it's considerably more expensive, a front locker is the only real way to improve IFS traction (and tires of course).
Disconnects on the rear are great. Sometimes a pita to work with when the rig is all muddy, but they certainly give good result on the trail. I dont have them on my 4Runner but did have them on my Nissan. Since that was mostly a trail rig I actually ended up completely removing both sway bars and just put up with the resulting body roll on road.

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I have built disconnects for a jeep cherokee that really allowed the STRAIGHT axle to flex!! The disconnects I have seen on IFS just really didnt SEEM to make a noticable difference for ME.

Here is a pic of IFS at what I believe to be full droop judging by the jack placement. I assume the 90 is similar to what appears to be a late 80s. You can see there are a lot of items that start to bind up that are not correctable on a budget. I hope people do not think I am trying to say a 4runner will not flex I am only saying there are a few things that may bind up prior to getting to your goal so try it first prior to taking the front sway off.