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remove sway bay?

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Offline museboy07

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remove sway bay?
« on: January 23, 2007, 07:50:32 PM »
i heard when you get coil spacers and flip the strut mount you should remove the sway bar...why?? and is this safe??
1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD

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Offline beercheck

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Re: remove sway bay?
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2007, 08:35:44 PM »
The sway bar is there to keep one side of the suspension from moving very far independently of the other side in relation to the chassis.  Basically, they can move independently only as much as the bar can be twisted.  On the road, this helps keep body roll to a minimum, improving handling.

Off road, you want exactly the opposite.  You want each side of the suspension to move independently of the other as much as possible (except in side-hill type situations).

You'll find varying opinions on this board of the necessity of having the bar for road driving, but it's definitely good to have. 

For off-road, however, there's no debate: take it off when you wheel.
'03 ZR2 2dr Tracker, '02 XL-7 drivetrain and electrcs
XL-7 front coils
1.5" rear coil spacers
Monroe 32316 shocks w/2" extenders
235/70-16 Bridgestone Destination A/Ts on stock XL-7 Alloys RRO Rock Rails (Presently removed, as they rusted to all hell; all the bolts were rusted to dust.  Real nice, RRO...) http://www.trivia-nights.com

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Offline W.O.T

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Re: remove sway bay?
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2007, 09:14:02 PM »
you dont need the sway bar.  you probably wont even notice its gone during normal street driving.  it will feel better offroad also.

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Offline Rhinoman

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Re: remove sway bay?
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2007, 04:53:46 AM »
Take it off and see how you like it. If you don't like the way it handles then put it back on or get some wheels with less backspacing. I don't know what your local laws say about removing suspension parts, over here it is an inspection failure on a stock vehicle. The insurance company needs to be told about it too.
2000 Vitara 1.6, 3+3 Lift, 33"MTs, 5:83s, LWB brakes, Winch, Snorkel, Safari Rack
1986 SJ413K PickUp, 1.6L conversion.

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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: remove sway bay?
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2007, 05:12:56 AM »
you dont need the sway bar.  you probably wont even notice its gone during normal street driving.  it will feel better offroad also.
X2, I've had mine un-hooked for a few months now, and it's not noticable under normal driving. However, if there was ever a situation that I couldn't control, it could make or break the rig staying on 4 corners.

You don't need to completely remove the bar to try it, I just unbolted the links in the control arms, 1 nut per side, then folded the links up and out of the way. Easily reversible.