Baystate Jeepers

For you non-Rubicon folks, does anyone drive with their sway bar disconnected on road?
I’ve had my quick discos off (because there was nothing quick about getting them on/off) and haven’t felt much of a difference on road.

Jeep feels pretty stable, and I really only drive a few miles a day to and from work, and it’s been fine on the highway when I’ve taken it to the mall (cause that’s where it belongs most of the time).

Thinking about getting some anti-rocks for a little more stability and peace of mind. I just can’t see myself puttin those stupid JKS quick discos back on. Anyone have any antirocks on their daily? Thoughts?

Sway bars are a necessary safety feature for on road driving. It may be fine for what you have encountered so far, but if you have to do an emergency maneuver at highway speeds, you may have issues. The sway bar helps keep the center of gravity more constant, and without it, you’ll be able to unsettle the jeep much easier.

An anti rock is a compromise between a sway bar an no sway bar. It’ll give you flex, but likely not as much as disconnecting will. On road, it’ll help minimize sway, but not as well as an actual sway bar.

I tend to drive with my sways disconnected during the summer season and I drive an hour each way on the freeway. It took me 1/2 hour to get the damn quick releases disconnected at OFR and I just never put them back on. I don't disagree with what Dan said on the safety of having them connected, I'm always conscious of them being disconnected when taking on ramps, etc.

I haven’t noticed much “body roll” with them disconnected. I drive slightly slower with them off, but I’ve also taken some pretty sharp turns without any issue. After watching videos of the anti-rocks vs being completely disconnected, I’m going to stick with being disconnected for a while. For longer road trips, I’ll Reattach the discos.

Marcy, how do you keep your sway bar up? I have a pretty awesome modification that holds it up and out of the way when it’s disconnected.

I run the Currie Antirock on the front of my JK and it is fine. I don't really feel much of a change over having the stock sway bar and they seem to allow quite a bit of flex off road. Of course, with all the other mods I have done I'm not sure if any change I do feel is related to the Antirock or the 37" tires, 3.5" squishy RK coils, increased weight from the skids, bumpers and armor, etc... I don't regret the purchase at all.

@Lisah I don't have anything holding up the swaybar, when I disconnect my bar doesn't drop much at all. It's not in the way of anything I've noticed, no change while driving.

What's a Sway Bar? LOL

For those who drive their rigs on the road I have a question:

If jeep determines that a jeep should have sway bars for driving on the road, why would a lifted jeep with shocks/springs designed for off-road performance be just as safe on the road without a sway bar?

BlackNBlue-ISH wrote:For those who drive their rigs on the road I have a question:

If jeep determines that a jeep should have sway bars for driving on the road, why would a lifted jeep with shocks/springs designed for off-road performance be just as safe on the road without a sway bar?

It's not as safe. You are completely correct that their function of minimizing body roll would have little effect in normal driving, but in emergency situations or extra sharp turns you will not have the same control.

"Not as Safe" is a relative term in this hobby. A stock YJ comes from the factory with a front sway AND a front track bar with leaf springs. I suppose my YJ as it sits isn't as safe as stock. Personally, there is enough internal friction and spring rate in my leaves that it feels safe to me. As such, highway speeds, off ramps and even the half dozen times my rig has been up Mt Washington all feel fine.

BlackNBlue-ISH wrote:For those who drive their rigs on the road I have a question:

If jeep determines that a jeep should have sway bars for driving on the road, why would a lifted jeep with shocks/springs designed for off-road performance be just as safe on the road without a sway bar?

It isn't, but I understand what I have done to my Jeep and the risks associated with the mods. My center of gravity is way higher than stock, my wheel base and track is modified, the weight I have added is well beyond the original spec of the Jeep. All affect handling negatively one way or another. It's a purpose built part time driver. If I still had the stock sway bar it wouldn't make much of a difference on road at this point with all the rest of the mods.

My Jeep is still WAY safer than my 900hp big block 66 Nova was....

Like Joe , "Mona" didnt come with sway Bars or track bars. Your right in assuming there is more danger with the bar disconnected . You forget there is still one on the rear that is connected. So your only Half unsafe . Anyone with a Jeep , let alone an altered Jeep. Should already know they are weird to begin with. Drive like you want to get there. FjR68

I disconnected my sways for the first time ever on my JKU for the 8/4 trail run. I can tell you that there is a dramatic difference. Maybe it's all those years running roadrace cars where sway bar settings are everything to get proper rotation and traction. But I left my driveway on the way to the event and told my son that this is how cars in the 60's felt. Lean like crazy, a bit of rocking and acceleration brought the left front of the Jeep noticeably up. So much so, I found myself laughing about it.

After arriving home and re-connecting, the first drive out was again a huge change.

I will say that on the trail, I was pretty amazed how running with no sways was a huge plus. Even in my new newbyness, I could see where connected sways would have been a bad thing.

Ok.....now to thread jack.......I only disconnect one side. Is there any reason why both sides would need to be disconnected? My reasoning is that one side connected is simply moving a bar that's doing nothing. If there's something I'm missing, please let me know.

I haven’t connected my swaybay since I started this thread and haven’t notice much change at all.

Maybe it’s different in a jeep with stock suspension. Who knows.

So much easier than crawling under a muddy jeep after a run and trying to reconnect them or jumping up and down on my front bumper trying to get the jeep level.

When you disconnect, are you removing one link completely, or just disconnecting it from the axle and attaching the link to a point on the frame?

When I disconnect, I reconnect the links on either side to the frame so that everything is “locked” in place. It would not be good if I left one side connected. Your hardware could dictate otherwise.

Regarding sways in general, when I installed the new lift, I haven’t been able to install the rear sway bar at all, it’s in my living room. I notice a difference on the street. Not big, but I notice. The fun thing though, is that when I punch it off the line in first, the front driver tire comes off the ground 6”-12”. It’s fun, but also shows how much extra movement there is in the body when a rear sway bar is disconnected.