My thoughts on swaybars

Stoopid Jeep

Stoopid Jeep

YJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 25, 2021
Messages
319
Location
North Idaho
Last October, I was out wheelin and bent the driver side swaybar pin. It was twisted pretty good and made it impossible to reconnect the sway bar.
I bought a new u bolt plate but just never got around to installing it.
I drove around with the swaybar disconnected for 6 months with no problems. The jeep would lean pretty hard going around corners, but it was kinda fun.
No problems on the highway either
...until last weekend.
I was going over 4th of July pass on I-90. Hard top, half doors and no windows. There was a lot of wind. Hardtop with no windows is about as aerodynamic as a parachute. The jeep was all over the road. It was pretty sketchy.
Long story short:
The new plate is installed and the swaybar is now reconnected.

I am now in the "keep the swaybar" camp.
 
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After like 4 years I removed mine when I went from 2.5" to 3.5" of lift and I screwed up one of the longer sway bar links I bought. Ditched the bar. Instant regret, thing felt scary to me. Then I went to OME and it was downright dangerous feeling with how soft those springs are. Bought another one off eBay and it feels much better. Won't delete again.

Something I don't think folks realize with something like a sway bar is that the effect of not having it is not always immediate. Sometimes it doesn't matter....until it does matter. So it may not even be scary or noticeable at all, until that sharp maneuver or whatever comes up and makes you realize it's gone and would be beneficial to reinstall.
 
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machoheadgames said:
There is only a front sway bar. There are front and rear track bars.
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Thanks. When I got my yj only the rear track bar was still on it. I have since removed it. I do not have a lift and noticed no issues on or off-road. Sounds like with the lift and removed sway bar things can get sketchy. Good to know.
 
redbullet said:
Thanks. When I got my yj only the rear track bar was still on it. I have since removed it. I do not have a lift and noticed no issues on or off-road. Sounds like with the lift and removed sway bar things can get sketchy. Good to know.
Click to expand...
Track bars can be removed without being sketchy. I don’t like the front track bar being removed because the leaf springs give a bit of side to side movement under steering forces. Which creates some steering slop. Most just tolerate it and don’t care, but for me with a Jeep that is primarily street use, I like the better handling.

The sway bar I definitely think is good to keep for safety and handling reasons and you can always just get quick disconnects for offroad purposes.

Rear track bar in my opinion is utterly worthless. In stock form it doesn’t hurt anything but there is no reason to have it, much like no leaf spring trucks have rear track bars. There is no side to side force back there and so a track bar does absolutely nothing there.
 
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I don't run any swaybars but my Jeeps are at or very near factory height on stock(ish) sized tires. This has posed no issues. I didn't run sways on my CJ5 either.

Even my XJ hasn't had the front sway bar hooked up for going on 2 years now. But again near stock height and tire size.
 
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