Sway bar... how important?

Cheerwineman

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Location
Shuffletown NC
So I was wondering how many people run xjs on the road with the front sway bar removed and what are the pros/cons? I know that it would create a lack of stability in a turn or while swerving but could it also be a factor in inducing death wobble?
 
a removed front swaybar wouldn't induce death wobble, rather if something's loose & causing death wobble, the removed swaybar would make it worse and harder to steer in emergency situations. yes, you can drive without it on the road, but it WILL handle like a mattress, a lift and bigger tires will make poor handling exponentially worse. buy or fab some proper disconnects and get the best of worlds when you want it
 
Right now I'm running w/o a front or rear sway bar on my TJ, and yes it has body roll like crazy. The front was removed due to the factory bar being worn at bushings and bumper interference. The rear was removed due to mounting on new rear axle and interference with the axle truss bridge.

My plan is to run a AntiRock in the front and nothing in the rear. Before I did my rear axle swap I ran none in the front and stock in rear and it was bearable, but with no sway bars at all, I wouldn't recommend it.

As far as death wobble, a sway bar shouldn't effect it at all. Typically it is cause by a steering component but can be caused by a suspension component. First place I'd look is the axle side track bar mount, the hole is prone to get wallowed out.
 
I've got a TJ, but it has an Antirock in the front and a stock sway bar in the back. That works really well, and it's balanced. Softer than stock, but not terrible.

With the front unhooked, it was pretty soft. Dove hard in corners. On the trail, the body just tracked with the rear axle. I hated disconnects for that reason.
 
I dont have front or rear sway bars on my xj. no issues except a little body roll , just drive it like a jeep and not a sports car. youll have no problems just slow down a lil on curves .
 
I've took sway bars off a lot of stuff I've owned. Rangers, Bronco 2's, TJ's I've drove and my XJ. The XJ IS THE WORST. It's the most frt heavy coil sprung pig I've owned. Both frt and rear remove. Corners like a fat girl on roller skates. I've got the back toooo light maneuvering a bit to aggressively;). My son will not be allowed to operate it unless they go back on. It's predictable considering I used to pull a wheel stand jerking the B2 into parking lots, but she's very capable of getting way outta shape in a hurry to someone who over corrects the steering wheel.
 
Oh, sitting on 34's 4-5ish inches of lift..
 
I had no sway bars on my ZJ and I thought I liked it until I got a TJ that had the sway bars still on it. I didn't realize how much body roll the ZJ had. I like the stability of the TJ with sway bars and will keep them on there for both on and off road
 
I haven't had a rear sway bar on my TJ for about 12 years. Wouldn't drive it without the front though. Rear is 3/8" diameter and doesn't do much, front is over 1" diameter and does most of the work.
 
jeepinmatt said:
I haven't had a rear sway bar on my TJ for about 12 years. Wouldn't drive it without the front though. Rear is 3/8" diameter and doesn't do much, front is over 1" diameter and does most of the work.
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Hiw does sway bars help a jeep stuck in jackstands???? Lol
 
Years ago when I ran my old XJ (44/9/300/36s) I never had a sway bar and only a select few rimes did I feel like I needed one. I had 4.5 Rusty's coils and a s10 bastard pack combo on the rear. The full width axles made it comfortable on the trail and it felt stiff enough I could take curved on ramps at 50+ mph and not white knuckle the wheel. One time driving through the mountains of Tennessee I swayed a bit and it scared the hell out of me. I put a universal anti-rock on my to do list but it never happened. I'd say do it, but make sure its not in the way.
 
I never ran a sway bar on my xj. A little more body roll but you get used to it after a while and it feels normal. Drove it 75mph on the hwy all the time no problem
 
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