Rear sway Bar?

[MDDYATV]

Just wondering who all has one on there bronco. I fear that when I am out wheelin I am going to rip it off or get it snaged on something.

 

[bidibronco]

I have one but it's sitting in a closet. When I replaced my rear end I was being lazy and never put it back on. I can feel tons of axel wrap and body roll from the rear now though. A bit concerned about my leaf springs from hard turns and shifting weight but it's been off for about 9 months or so I would guess?

 

[MDDYATV]

Hmm axle wrap. I did not think of that. Thanks. Anyone ever ripped theres off when they were out playing?

 

[Roadkill]

Just wondering who all has one on there bronco. I fear that when I am out wheelin I am going to rip it off or get it snaged on something.

They are pretty vulnerable, I bent the crap out of mine in a bunch of loose rocks in New Mexico.



Those end links are about $30 each. I just removed the bar and have not yet put it back on. Didn't see much sense in spending $60 to replace the links when I will have to get longer ones after I lift the truck. At the stock height, I have not noticed a difference in handling. I will wait to see how it handles after the lift to decide wether or not to put it back on.

This is the area where I bent them up.

 

[MDDYATV]

what do you think if I took it off and put stiffer leaf springs on? I have my stock ones from my 05 F-350 I measured and they will fit? I was thinking they would be to stiff thou.

 

[Roadkill]

I bet they would be pretty stiff. I'm sure you already know how rough that F350 rides when its empty and the Bronco would be even lighter. It would probably help with any axle wrap issues though. I don't have that problem without my swaybar, but both you and Bidibronco are running larger tires than I curently have. And, judging from his signature, I'm pretty sure Bidi's putting a lot more torqe to his than I am to mine. His body roll that I don't have is probably due to his increased ride height over mine. If I notice any of those problems after my lift, I plan to put the bar back on. If it still handles well, it will continue to collect dust in my shed. (I just can't ever bring myself to get rid of old parts if they are still usable, drives my wife crazy :-" )

 

[MDDYATV]

Ya I just got my bronco in march and I already am collecting parts. I have removed all the A/C, all the smog crap and installed a new carb and a HEI dizzy.

 

[Justshootme84]

I replaced the bushings on both of my sway bars (front and rear) soon after I bought my 84 Bronco. That did'nt seem to make much difference. When I installed the 6" SkyJ lift, I left the bars off. Still no difference from stock, lots of body roll. When I replaced the body bushings with poly's, THAT made a huge difference. Practically eliminated body roll side to side or lean in the corners. If you install a lift or want more flex for offroad, taking the sway bars off helps alot. It's also harder to use the sway bars with a lift, as you need to mount them to drop brackets for the front and extend the end links for the rear. Otherwise, the sway bars will be in a bind, and limit flex even further. IF you tow a trailer alot with the stock Bronco, I can see where the sway bars help out. JSM84

 

[reyns4x4]

well i have a 6 in lift and with the rear sway bay. and have no prombal with them

 

[rubberdust]

A rear sway bar isn't going to help you with axle wrap up one way or the other. I use a set of trailing arms to eliminate that. The sway bars will only help control side to side sway body roll & resist articulation of the axle side to side off road. The use of heavier springs will also reduce the side to side sway just because they require more force to compress. The downside of this beyond the more harsh ride on road is their additional resistance to compression will cause the rear end to bounce like a ball off road.

I use them on my daily driver used on the pavement primarily, but not on the one for off road.

 

[1fast]

i took mine off shortly after buying my truck. i get body roll but the truck does a good bit better without them installed when the truck was stock i tested how much flex it had

stock the truck had 12 inches of flex

with the front removed it jumped up to 16

witht he rear removed i got 22 inches that was with 32's

now i have 35's with the fenders cut out and it will get almost 30 inches

 

[19BigEddie89]

i just installed a 6" lift on my 89 bronco and my rear sway bar wont make it back to mounting locations.. should i just leave it off? and also i got drop brackets for my front sway bar.. if im removing the back should i just remove the front one too? what would be the advantages/disadvantages? thanks

 

[Seabronc]

i just installed a 6" lift on my 89 bronco and my rear sway bar wont make it back to mounting locations.. should i just leave it off? and also i got drop brackets for my front sway bar.. if im removing the back should i just remove the front one too? what would be the advantages/disadvantages? thanks

Just be careful and don't make sudden swerves. Without that rear sway bar the truck becomes quite a bit more unstable. It will roll over if you make a sudden swerve in one direction followed immediately by a swerve in the opposite direction. Adding a lift kit makes it just that much easier to roll if you don't use the sway bar. That maneuver is what rolls most SUVs and trucks. It isn't something you normally do on purpose but is often the case in trying to avoid an accident.

FYI here is a nice analysis of what can cause a roll over http://mb-soft.com/public/rollover.html

 

[Rons beast]

Ditto what Seabronc said.

If you're gonna go heavy off road you may want to take the sway bar off. Be careful if you do and drive on the highway.

If your Bronc is a daily driver, leave it on.

 

[19BigEddie89]

Just be careful and don't make sudden swerves. Without that rear sway bar the truck becomes quite a bit more unstable. It will roll over if you make a sudden swerve in one direction followed immediately by a swerve in the opposite direction. Adding a lift kit makes it just that much easier to roll if you don't use the sway bar. That maneuver is what rolls most SUVs and trucks. It isn't something you normally do on purpose but is often the case in trying to avoid an accident.

FYI here is a nice analysis of what can cause a roll over http://mb-soft.com/public/rollover.html

So should i leave on the front sway bar and remove the back? i used the drop brackets on the front and the back wont reach... mine is a daily drive but weekend wheeler.. thanks for all the help!

 

[koontreeguy]

if ur shocks are in good shape u should be fine. I took my sway bars off about a month ago when I put the 4" lift in. I drove it with out shocks for about a week (not a good idea haha) and there was tons of body roll. put new shocks on drives like a champ . just don't forget, you're not Mario Andretti. hahaha

 

[ogre20012001]

i took my sway bars off right after i bought my bronco. i didnt notice any difrence in body roll on the highway. off- road i noticed a lot of differnce. it handles better and is smother off-road.

 

[Rons beast]

Again, see what Seabronc had to say above.

For offroading removing the sway bar will allow the suspension to articulate more over rough terraine. In that instance the movement of the suspension is of greater importance than the control of sway in the vehicle. The fact is you will be driving at very low speeds and the higher center of gravity that the Bronco has will not be as much as a factor in effecting your ability to control your vehicle.

However, should you leave the sway bars, (either front or rear) off the vehicle and drive at speed greater than aproxmately 30mph, you run a grear risk, of loosing control and rolling your Bronc.

This isn't my opinion, it's science.

The sway or roll bars, are there to control the inertial energy and prevent the sudden transfer of said energy from one side of the vehicle to the other. No type or number of shocks will accomplish the same thing. Drive in a straight line and never make any sudden or sharp turns, and you would never know the difference. But it's when you suddenly need them that you would miss those bars.

If your driving on road...........leave them on, they could save your life.

 

[19BigEddie89]

I went ahead and uninstalled it and it doesn't make much of a difference that i've noticed. The little bit that I have noticed was the ride seemed a little smoother when going over bumps and such. I like it a lot better without the sway bar. I haven't had a chance to go wheeling with it off yet but hopefully will soon.