Anyone disconnect their front sway bar?

[Trail Talk]

Would appreciating hearing your experience with full-size truck/campers that have disconnected the front sway bar, how they ride on trail and highway.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

I did not remove the sway bars because the OKA was built in the factory from the ground up as a "proper" 4WD and it never had sway bars front, or rear. Dana 60 front and Dana 70 rear and longer than typical leaf springs..... 6 to 6.5T on the road.
It can exhibit significant body roll as a result, but the converse is that it keeps its feet on the ground.
Any time a wheel is off the ground is a serious suspension failure.
Short video clips.....




Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[andy_b]

I've always removed the swaybars on all my off-road vehicles. As @Peter_n_Margaret note, it can add a bit of a nautical sensation in turns. I take that as feedback to slow down. I've never had a true safety issue and have tens of thousands of miles across four different trucks all swaybar free. Even abrupt loss of traction due to ice, etc is not a concern for me. Swaybar disconnects are available for many vehicles these days but I am cheap and don't see the point of swaybars on a truck, so I waste the money elsewhere.

 

[tacollie]

I pulled both off of our F250. Or truck had them front and rear. Fully loaded with our camper we are 9600lbs. The truck actually tracks better on road without them. It does lean more in the corners but it's also more predictable. No more hopping when there are bumps in the road.

The longer wheel base and solid axle help. I pulled sway bars on my IFS Toyota and it made them prone to oversteer. That hasn't been my experience with the F250. My wife didn't like driving the Toyotas without a sway bar. She likes driving the F250 more without the sway bars.

I do have Carli springs and Fox 2.5 Shocks.

 

[Trail Talk]

I pulled both off of our F250. Or truck had them front and rear. Fully loaded with our camper we are 9600lbs. The truck actually tracks better on road without them. It does lean more in the corners but it's also more predictable. No more hopping when there are bumps in the road.

The longer wheel base and solid axle help. I pulled sway bars on my IFS Toyota and it made them prone to oversteer. That hasn't been my experience with the F250. My wife didn't like driving the Toyotas without a sway bar. She likes driving the F250 more without the sway bars.

I do have Carli springs and Fox 2.5 Shocks.

Appreciate the info. Your truck is similar to ours and gives me some confidence to try it out although we are carrying around more weight with, I assume, a slightly higher CG.

 

[Trail Talk]

I did not remove the sway bars because the OKA was built in the factory from the ground up as a "proper" 4WD and it never had sway bars front, or rear. Dana 60 front and Dana 70 rear and longer than typical leaf springs..... 6 to 6.5T on the road.
It can exhibit significant body roll as a result, but the converse is that it keeps its feet on the ground.
Any time a wheel is off the ground is a serious suspension failure.
Short video clips.....

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Very impressed Peter

 

[Trail Talk]

I've always removed the swaybars on all my off-road vehicles. As @Peter_n_Margaret note, it can add a bit of a nautical sensation in turns. I take that as feedback to slow down. I've never had a true safety issue and have tens of thousands of miles across four different trucks all swaybar free. Even abrupt loss of traction due to ice, etc is not a concern for me. Swaybar disconnects are available for many vehicles these days but I am cheap and don't see the point of swaybars on a truck, so I waste the money elsewhere.

Do you have a camper on as well?

 

[TexasSixSeven]

I’m running a 22’ F250 with camper and 2.5” Carli lift. I’m expecting to come in within 100-200 lbs of tacollie. I haven’t weighed it in 8-9 months, and have done a couple other mods since. I much prefer it without the sway bar on road and off.

 

[andy_b]

Do you have a camper on as well?

Yes, details here.

 

[Trail Talk]

Seems there are more than a few Super Duty owners here? Another option I’m considering is the Tremor front sway bar, smaller and lighter for more flex.

 

[tacollie]

Are you running sway bar in the rear? I experimented with only running one in the rear. I do that before I'd put the front one back on.

 

[Trail Talk]

Are you running sway bar in the rear? I experimented with only running one in the rear. I do that before I'd put the front one back on.

Yes, stock front and rear bars. Your suggestion is supported by an interesting YT video I watched recently where a fellow compared the increase in vertical wheel travel achieved from removing front, rear and both bars. He found that having no front but retaining the rear sway bar produced the most overall flex when both front and rear displacement was added up.

 

[rruff]

I too removed the swaybars, but I have an IFS front so it may not be a great reference point. At least on mine I don't think removing them would have been a good idea with the stock shocks, because the damping was far too low... even with the swaybar and no load the truck would lurch and wallow if I hit a bump in a turn. But with fairly basic offroad shocks with high digressive damping and 2" lift, it handles quite well in every condition. Very predictable in sudden maneuvers and bumps, with the only downside of a little more lean in sustained turns like freeway on ramps and switchbacks.

He found that having no front but retaining the rear sway bar produced the most overall flex when both front and rear displacement was added up.

Note that was an IFS front end, if it was the test I'm thinking of. He got that result because the rear axle articulates way more than the front. He still maxed out the rear even with the swaybar, and the extra force required to do this caused the front to flex a little more. With a solid axle at both ends I'm pretty sure this would change.

 

[TexasSixSeven]

Yes, stock front and rear bars. Your suggestion is supported by an interesting YT video I watched recently where a fellow compared the increase in vertical wheel travel achieved from removing front, rear and both bars. He found that having no front but retaining the rear sway bar produced the most overall flex when both front and rear displacement was added up.

It takes 15 minutes tops to remove it, or even less to just disconnect it. Do that, and drive it around as is for a week or two and see what you think.

 

[Trail Talk]

I too removed the swaybars, but I have an IFS front so it may not be a great reference point. At least on mine I don't think removing them would have been a good idea with the stock shocks, because the damping was far too low... even with the swaybar and no load the truck would lurch and wallow if I hit a bump in a turn. But with fairly basic offroad shocks with high digressive damping and 2" lift, it handles quite well in every condition. Very predictable in sudden maneuvers and bumps, with the only downside of a little more lean in sustained turns like freeway on ramps and switchbacks.


Note that was an IFS front end, if it was the test I'm thinking of. He got that result because the rear axle articulates way more than the front. He still maxed out the rear even with the swaybar, and the extra force required to do this caused the front to flex a little more. With a solid axle at both ends I'm pretty sure this would change.

Yes it was an IFS Toy at Tinkerer's Garage. He has a comparison with a solid-axle Jeep somewhere that I'll have to dig up. OTOH, the Tremor off-road package for my year didn't have a rear bar at all.