Anti-Sway Bar Removal

[Scott Williams]

I've read some posts recently that suggested removing the rear anti-sway bar for various reasons. I have a few questions about this. What does this mod do to the on road drivability? How hard is the thing to remove, and does anyone know of any pics or instructions online?
TIA.

 

[tlman]

I removed mine when I put on the OME suspension and the ride actually improved, which I attribute to the OME. I really don't think you'll notice any change in the on road characteristics, remember the Up Country package comes without a rear bar from the factory. You'll gain flex in the rear so I'd say to go for it.

Removal is simply unbolting it at both ends and pulling it out. Save the sway bar ends though because you can use them to make bar pin eliminators for your shocks.

 

[Rev Den]

The sway-bar issue rises again! The deal is this: The rear sway does not affect handiling as much as the front, but, removing ANY sway bar WILL affect handiling. YOU are responsable for determining if the effect is one that YOU can live with. As with so many things...personnal accountability is the main issue, it WILL change you handiling, it is easy to pull and re-install if needed. I would disconnect it first, drive it for a while, then either pull it, or re-attach it. Keep in mind anyone who may drive your Jeep other than you, they may not predict the handling like you will.

I run no sway bars.

Rev

 

[Lucas]

I took mine out when I put in a rancho spring pack and RS900s. The stiff springs and valving of the shocks pretty much negated the effects of removing the bar.
Are you redoing anything else? What kind of springs do you currently have?
To take it our, its just a matter of unbolting it and threading it through, very easy. You may want to spray down the bolts with PB blaster or wd40 to make things easier.

 

[Ghost]

Basically, It bolts to the the axle at the u-bolts. Pull the bolts that attach the sway bar ends to the axle. This will disconnet the sway bar temperarry. If memory serves me there is one one each mount top and bottom? zip tie the bar out of the way or something like that. Give it a test before removeing it completely. Once you decide to remove it permantely, it is attached to hte unibody with two mounts underneath near where the shocks mount. Pull those mount bolts, 4 each I believe, and snatch it out. But like they said try it first.

 

[AZ Jeff]

Removing the rear bar is not a big deal, from a handling perspective. XJ's with the "up country" suspension package came WITHOUT a rear sway bar, so apparently Jeep felt the tradeoff was something the average consumer could tolerate.

Removing the FRONT bar is another kettle of fish. Without sway bars at either end of the Jeep, body roll can be pretty fierce, and can contribute to adverse handling, particularly in emergency manuvers, such as rapid lane changes.

Removing the front bar when doing street driving is actually degrading the total handling capability of the vehicle. Due to this, it's not a good choice, especially when quick disconnect links are available for thos who want to increase flex in offroad activities.

 

[Scott Williams]

thanks for all the info guys, that's great. Currently I have the Rusty's Full spring pack in the rear with Rusty's shocks. I will probably try the "unhook and give it a try" method.
Thanks!
Scott

 

[Stoney]

i run no sway bars front or rear!!!!!

stoney

 

[GSequoia]

Nis signature there Stoney!

(Makes me feel better with mine!)

 

[Kejtar]

well, my 98XJ came with it removed as a factory option

Kejtar

 

[Eagle]

Just for the record, since more than one person commented that the Up Country option doesn't include the rear sway bar -- nobody mentioned the fact that the reason the Up Country doesn't use it is that the package includes stiffer rear springs than the stock suspension. Further, an anti-sway bar is exactly that -- anti-sway. It has no effect when going straight, it only works to reduce body lean (roll) when going around corners. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that you will notice any improvment in ride as a result of removing it. Depending on your suspension setup, you may or may not notice an increase in body lean when cornering. My understanding is that Rusty's springs are fairly soft, so I would definitely advise simply disconnecting it first and driving it for awhile before removing the bar entirely.

It might be a better idea to fab some rear quick-disconnects. This would allow you to get the increased flex off-road while retaining the roll stiffness on pavement.