Put your sway bars back on!

For those of you off road guys that drive your trucks on the highway with out sway bars... DONT DO IT. I didnt reconect my sway bars after doing some fourwheelin (just didnt feel like getting under my truck in the dark) and on the way home some lady cut me off on the highway at 65mph. I swerved and literaly got up on two wheels. When i got back on all fours the truck would not stop wobbling back and fourth. Have you ever gone to fast on a skateboard and experienced the death wobble... Thats what my truck was doing!

I dont know how i didnt roll a bead when i got up on two wheels. The sides of my tires are destroyed. I am lucky one lucky SOB!

Please if you drive on the highway PUT YOUR SWAY BARS BACK ON! Its not worth your life!

 

[LBarr2002]

Many people take their sway bars off and throw them away. You just have to remember that you don't have sway bars and drive the truck like a truck, not a sports car. My old explorer has over 9" total lift on 35's with no sway bars and the current owner drives it daily. It would get the death wobble, you just slow down and it calms down. And if somebody pulls out in front of you, you hit them instead of rolling yourself trying to swerve...

 

[spacecadebt]

Im not trying to start an argument but explorers are just to top heavey to drive without swaybars. Besides its not that hard to disconect them before you go wheelin so why risk it.

 

[snoranger]

Personally, I have a lot of money tied up in my rig. I dont want to roll it because I was cheap to make a set of disconnects. I have a whopping $7 into front disconnects, and they can be disconnected in 20 seconds. :roll:

Maybe i do drive it a little to aggressive. What do you expect, I also drive a lowered Ranger and a Cobra with a great deal of suspension work (you get used to throwing the thing onto an off-ramp at 90MPH and thinking "its still got more to go").

 

[Mounty 09]

I'm going to have to agree with LBarr2002 on this one. You have to know how to drive with them off. I drove awhile with them off, you just have to drive it like it is, a top heavy SUV.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

my truck drives, handles and stops like an explorer with 7" on 35s, and hasnt had either bar on since before it was that way.

The driver plays a bigger part in controlling a vehicle than anything else

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

ive had a similar story as spacecadebt and its pretty F'in scary to get the death wobble. i got my front on, but no rear.

 

[storlied]

Yeah, was the OP talking about front or rear? I chucked my rear away long ago, and I rally my truck. As for the front, I improved it with better endlinks with poly bushings. Might make some quick disconnects on it later on but who knows.. I've also driven the highway/city with the front disconnected. It can be done easily with caution. Just like my ABS, I've had it turned off all of winter until this ice/rain storm hit. This is about the driver more than the vehicle by far.

Don't jerk the wheel no matter how scary the situation is, pull it hard and quick but Smoothly.. and when balancing the truck do it Smoothly, don't swing the wheel side to side hoping the truck will recover by itself. You have to do that.

Do you not get much snow or ice where you are? Mess around in some snow and ice and get a better feel for the vehicle and it's weight.

I've had to dodge things 60-70+ stock, on 31's with small lift, and now on 33's with even more lift.. and it was done quite comfortably in winter and summer.

 

[AccordRanger]

I didn't have my front connected all summer and I still would go up I-70 at 80 MPH and never felt unstable, just leaned like crazy, but never once felt out of control. Just made it a lot more bouncier when hitting a dip on the highway going 60+.

 

[Foxracin]

Mines lifted 9" with 35s. No sway bars and drive it every day. Sway bars are over rated.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I guess the only thing I would contribute is that it's pretty easy to remember that you don't have swaybars and drive accordingly and sure it's easy to handle when you're under control of the situation. My buddy was driving his Blazer to the track with us back when I was racing my Mustang, and had a deer jump out in front of him on the highway. Of course, natural reaction is to swerve, which he did. Then he ended up overcorrecting after the truck came back down from 2 wheels. He ended up hitting the car next to him, sending both into the ditch where they all crashed. He only had a fractured leg, but the driver of the other car ended up with a broken collarbone, some closed head injury and her little kid in the back seat ended up with a fractured arm and some cracked ribs from the seatbelt after their car flipped into a tree.

Just be careful- they're not overrated, they're there for a reason. If you are not running a trail rig, have disconnects, or don't drive your Ex as a daily driver, consider leaving 'em on... Just my .02

 

[gmanpaint]

Tough debate brewing here.

I personally think the sway bars should installed for a DD. For a trail rig, if it is not set to run without, remove them at the trail head either completely, or with disconnects. You can't control other people on the road, or mother nature, **** happens in a blink of an eye, so be safe, keep others on the road safe, and use them.

I have disconnects on both sway bars on the 94. This rig only goes off road a few times a year. It is lifted 5" and the COG isn't so bad, but the rig handles better on the street with them on.

I have no sway bars on the 95 at all. This rig stands almost a full foot taller than stock. After it was converted to coil over shocks, the front is so stiff, it doesn't need it anymore. This is my only reason for not running one. Before the coil overs, it had front disconnects.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

Its the same thing as mrs soccer mom doin 110 in her suv on the phone weavin through traffic like a mad woman... wrecks the truck, kills everyone they say suvs aren't safe and now were not allowed to have real suvs, only minivans that kinda look like a truck....

Learn to drive and pay attention

 

[storlied]

Personal Accountability is near gone in the world of today, everyone is sue happy. Weather it's Mcdonalds, Ford, The State, or The military because some lady comes to Alaska and sues because she slipped on the ice. [She won btw]