Rear sway bar?

[TCinVA]

My son has a 1994 FZJ 80. I end up driving and wheeling it from time to time because he can't have his car at school yet, and my 40 isn't quite done yet. 2.5" ome springs, ARB bumper and winch and lots of dents. The front sway bar was removed by the PO for articulation. This weekend on a wheeling trip at Big Dogs offroad park, we ripped off the center of the rear sway bar on some rocks. This is the second time this has happened- first time my son was playing in the snow during winter break. I want to just remove it this time. Driving home 4 hours on the back roads and interstate, it seemed completely safe and stable with maybe just a bit more body lean. My wife and younger son who were with me think it should go back on ( I haven't talked to the older son- at traing right now). I told them I would post here and listen to the experts. They undurstand the power of IH8MUD! As an aside, I can't believe what a slightly modified 80 is capable of- awesome machine- a coulpe pics below.

 

[Pathfinder]

i would keep it on unless this is trail vehicle. With it being your sons I would encourage it more. The swaybar will help keep all four wheels planted and will reduce the body roll. All of which are not good during evasive handling.

Keep them both on since your son is using the rig as a DD.

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

My front is off, but my rear is still on and I don't roll too much, even with the RTT on top. I agree with Pathfinder and wouldn't go completely bar-less unless it was a dedicated trail rig. At least keep the rear on there

 

[mot]

x 3 on what the others have said.

Can't place enough emphasis on safety, especially when it's your family driving it!

 

[zx9r]

I'v had my rear bar off for a year now and haven't really ever felt like I needed it. Also have a 2.5" OME lift.

I didn't really make a decision to remove it permanently. Took it off due to clunking and seeing the bushings were completely shot. So bought the new bushings but haven't been in a rush to put it back together since I was doing a few other things underneath and it's one less thing in the way. Also planning to extend the end brackets to compensate for the lift but not a very high on list of projects.

Took over 1K mile trip recently and also didn't feel it was needed but take the advice of the others hear since it's your son's truck.

 

[TCinVA]

Thanks for the replies. Anyone else driven without like zx9r has?

 

[nuclearlemon]

been running mine for years without either bar. front mounts broke and i can't get in with a grinder to clean the metal to weld new ones in and the rear was prebent from the original owner and just kept bending the brackets that mount to the frame, so i threw it out. yeah it's a bit more tippy, but i'm not a maniac. it all comes down to how good of a driver is your boy and does he hot rod. if he does, you may want to leave it on until he's got some more experience in the rig under his belt.

 

[80t0ylc]

........My wife and younger son who were with me think it should go back on ( I haven't talked to the older son- at traing right now). I told them I would post here and listen to the experts. They undurstand the power of IH8MUD! ...........

I'm curious as to why they think the sway bar should go back on. Is it because they don't like the way it feels in turns? Sometimes passengers will notice things that the driver doesn't. Usually the driver has a better feel for the handling, though.

Every time this subject comes up, it just amazes me the amount of people running with out 1 or both. My daughter's '87 Camry had a broken rear sway bar and I eventually replaced it with 1 I got at a U Pull It. I didn't notice much difference, but a Camry has a considerably lower CG than an 80.

Personally, I wouldn't run an 80 on the pavement for very long with either swaybar removed. There's lots of evidence of people getting away with it. IMHO, the higher the lift, the more you need both sway bars. I can't imagine the red tape and insurance nightmares that are possible if an accident investigation reveals that 1 or both swaybars were removed. My .02 - YMMV

 

[retrofive]

Driving with out both in normal conditions, normal around town driving I could see not noticing to much.... but if/when the $h!t hits the fan it could have a huge impact on the results of the accident... IMHO.

EDIT: sidenote/thought, seems most that are not running sway bars (whether it be fron or back or both) know there truck pretty intimately and understand the pros and cons well. For someone that doesn't know the truck as well or the characteristics even with sway bars, could end up in a little trouble.

 

[TCinVA]

Thanks for the continued replies, keep them coming! My son is very mature for his age- he started saying to me "do you think that's a good idea Dad?" since he learned to talk. He is also an excellent driver. I really didn't notice any real difference, but I love hearing everyones experience.

 

[Land Speeder]

Most people's sways are not properly dropped anyway, so what's the point? Don't believe me? Start a seperate thread asking people to show me your dropped sway bars... I bet the 4" lift folks aint got 4" drops...
I've driven plenty without them both. They make a difference but can be done, just be VERY careful.

 

[Ebag333]

Driving with out both in normal conditions, normal around town driving I could see not noticing to much.... but if/when the $h!t hits the fan it could have a huge impact on the results of the accident... IMHO.

EDIT: sidenote/thought, seems most that are not running sway bars (whether it be fron or back or both) know there truck pretty intimately and understand the pros and cons well. For someone that doesn't know the truck as well or the characteristics even with sway bars, could end up in a little trouble.

Beno suggested in one post that the lack of swaybars could have contributed to his roll over.

IIRC, he figured that he would have flopped regardless, but having the sway bars removed made the accident worse. (IE: perhaps would have just flopped instead of full out rolling.)

 

[Walking Eagle]

Here's my .02

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-...test-how-empty-your-bowels-while-driving.html

I'd run them.

Though, it does limit my flex a little, my rear springs don't pop out as much anymore, but that's a 37" tire that is sitt'n below the rocker, so I"m not complaining too much either

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/57788-wild-wheeling-pics-77.html#post5585747

 

[alkaline747trio]

When I was in highschool, I had 6" of lift and no sway-bars...with my heavy ass roof box/rack. It stayed on atleast 2 wheels. I now run just the rear sway, feels more streetable to me...that and more balanced offroad.

 

[Walking Eagle]

I'v had my rear bar off for a year now and haven't really ever felt like I needed it. Also have a 2.5" OME lift.

I didn't really make a decision to remove it permanently. Took it off due to clunking and seeing the bushings were completely shot. So bought the new bushings but haven't been in a rush to put it back together since I was doing a few other things underneath and it's one less thing in the way. Also planning to extend the end brackets to compensate for the lift but not a very high on list of projects.

Took over 1K mile trip recently and also didn't feel it was needed but take the advice of the others hear since it's your son's truck.

I ran from Dallas back to Tulsa w/ o mine. Ya', w/ no emergency manuvers, it's managable.

Most people's sways are not properly dropped anyway, so what's the point? Don't believe me? Start a seperate thread asking people to show me your dropped sway bars... I bet the 4" lift folks aint got 4" drops...
I've driven plenty without them both. They make a difference but can be done, just be VERY careful.

Mine are dropped so they're nice and level.

been running mine for years without either bar. front mounts broke and i can't get in with a grinder to clean the metal to weld new ones in and the rear was prebent from the original owner and just kept bending the brackets that mount to the frame, so i threw it out. yeah it's a bit more tippy, but i'm not a maniac. it all comes down to how good of a driver is your boy and does he hot rod. if he does, you may want to leave it on until he's got some more experience in the rig under his belt.

It's not you being a maniac that you have to worry about. And it doesn't come down to how good a driver his boy is and if he hot rods it. It comes down to the maniac pulling out in front of you and a situation that you never expected.

Driving with out both in normal conditions, normal around town driving I could see not noticing to much.... but if/when the $h!t hits the fan it could have a huge impact on the results of the accident... IMHO.

EDIT: sidenote/thought, seems most that are not running sway bars (whether it be fron or back or both) know there truck pretty intimately and understand the pros and cons well. For someone that doesn't know the truck as well or the characteristics even with sway bars, could end up in a little trouble.

I know my truck pretty intimately. Intimately enough to say I'm 99% confident that had I not had swaybars on when I spun my truck (having driven many miles that way) in the linked story - I would have rolled. And Retrofive is right, it's not normal driving that is the issue, it's when the fecis hits the fan.

The whole "I know how to drive, and I can handle it without swaybars" is nothing more than aragant nonsense and stupidity. No matter how much you think you've pushed it to practice emergency manuvers, it will not be anywhere near as extreme as a real emergency manuver. If you haven't noticed the difference between with and without swaybars, you're not observant enough to make a decision on if it makes a difference. If you think it's not enough of a difference, you haven't had that emergency yet.

What's really assinine is the number of people running w/o rear bars to gain flex is incredibly large compared to the number of people running shocks long enough to warrant that flex, or freeing up the front enough to balance out that rear flex.

 

[hawaiicruz]

lots of threads on this. Just leave them on, and properly drop them if you have a lift, as landspeeder suggested. I always wheel with my rear on and my front detached. Can't wait to get my ultimate bracket from Rami

 

[TCinVA]

Thanks, guys. No arrogance, just ignorance. What's the story on that ultimate bracket, Hawaiicruz?

 

[hawaiicruz]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/371463-quick-disconnect-front-sway-bar-bracket.html
It's a frame mounted bumpstop bracket with integrated sway bar dissconnect holder.


Now I'm wondering about my 2" swaybar drop on my 4" lift.
I ran without my swaybars for a couple of days while I was fabbing my drops, and I hated it. Put them back on with 2" drop and the difference was night and day. but I wonder if they would work even better with more drop?

 

[Walking Eagle]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/371463-quick-disconnect-front-sway-bar-bracket.html
It's a frame mounted bumpstop bracket with integrated sway bar dissconnect holder.


Now I'm wondering about my 2" swaybar drop on my 4" lift.
I ran without my swaybars for a couple of days while I was fabbing my drops, and I hated it. Put them back on with 2" drop and the difference was night and day. but I wonder if they would work even better with more drop?

You don't need to do a 4" swaybar drop on a 4" lift - unless your sway bar mounts are at the same place as your radius arms (they're not).

If you have 36" radius arm, and the swaybar is mounted on the top of the axle and at 18" back (1/2 the distance to the radius arm mount) - mounted such that the sway bar is parallel to the radius arm, and you drop the axle relative to the frame 4" (4" lift), and drop the swaybar mount 2" relative to the frame, the radius arm and swaybar stay parallel.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

My girlfriend drove my 80 on the interstate with no front swaybar and damn near killed us both when she ran off the road.....yeah she snatched it but I grabbed the steering wheel and tried to hold it straight. we crossed the interstate 3 or 4 times before I could get it under control from the passenger side. It was very sensitive to changing lanes suddenly to say the least. I vote to keep the sway bars on. BTW I have one for sale no really I do. PM me if you need it.