Sway bars vs no sway bars

[Mad Mac]

Think of it like this.
Drive your paj along a slope that is on the borderline of tipping. Swaybar is in so keeping the body level with the front wheels.

Now all of a sudden you swaybar is gone. Your Paj's body will roll 5-10 degree's further downhill. Moving the center of gravity further downhill and outside the downhill wheels.

Guess what happens.

Can you explain this a little better for me, i'm not sure I fully understand how it works in this situation. Its a very intersting topic.

Shane

[icysyrup]

I have been in a lot of hairy situations with mine and the last time I was in one I didnt think "Man I would have felt safer had my rear swaybar connected!!".
Offroad if you are in a situation where you are going to be borderline tipping, then well that just comes down to common sense and driver skill. Most if not all people will never feel the very limits of the "tipping point" on the paj when they offroad. Now I am not trying to start a "pissing contest" where one person is more "hardcore" than the next. But from a general consensus on this forum I have seen,....everyone is safe and uses their head in situations where it gets a little tough.

The situation decribed above by Dusty NZ is definately a valid point and I agree with it. But I have yet to feel it when I have been holding myself up with one hand against the passenger seat to keep from sliding over into it.
So I have to say that its such a little amount that once you are at that "Tipping point" even the most experienced person will not notice 5 degrees of movement in the heat of the moment. The person should have the common sense to have pulled cable out on the winch already and anchored so it doesnt happen.

So the best thing to do it take the time...run the same trail with both off and then both on and do a comparison. I promise you will see a difference. It all comes down to personal preference really. Wheel it how you want to.

[green monster]

Well said mate,,,,,im with icysyrup on this one!!

Speaking of hardcore,,,, you are one of the biggest hardcore Paj drivers ive seen on this forum with plenty of awesome pictures to prove it, love your work!!
cam

[nj swb]

The IFS on the Gen2 Paj's is so crap at articulating at all because they have put a Bunta thick swaybar on it, so removing it i could imagine will give you a few good inches more travel each side.

Don't bet on it. Gen 2 has upper and lower stops, and the suspension will reach them quite happily with the front swaybar connected.

Removing the swaybar will make it easier to reach the stops i.e. you'll get full articulation sooner. This is the benefit of removing / disconnecting the front sway bar. But you won't obtain any additional travel without cutting the rubber stops.

My rear swaybar was removed years ago, and the Paj was engineered in South Australia without it. When the handling tests were being conducted on a race track the sway bar was on the ground alongside me.

[Matatak]

Don't bet on it. Gen 2 has upper and lower stops, and the suspension will reach them quite happily with the front swaybar connected.

Yes it will, but the thing it wont do is allow one side to be resting on the upper stop while the other is resting on the lower stop. This is the movement that the swaybar prevents.

[nj swb]

Yes it will, but the thing it wont do is allow one side to be resting on the upper stop while the other is resting on the lower stop. This is the movement that the swaybar prevents.

You must have a different sway bar. Mine does that.

[dusty_nz]

I have a 96 Pajero which suffers like all IFS 4wd's poor articulation. Mainly due to the front. I have been looking and looking for a front sway bar disconnect and doesn't seem like any exist. Anyway. After scratching my head I came up with this. Do you think it will work?

Basically this is what the sway bar connect looks like.


I would remove the nut and then drill a hole for an R-Clip through the bolt. It should then look something like this.



Then to disconnect on flat ground you can pull the R-Clip and the eyelet should slide of the bolt. You can then attach the swinging linkage to the sway bay using rubber sock, Zip tie, plastic tube or whatever. Basically like this.



You would prob only need to do one side. The linkage just needs to be held to stop swinging. Re-attaching would be more difficult however flat ground should see it line up again hopefully. Slide it back on and use the R clip to restrain.

Well??


Got the idea from here


Excuse my supa photoshopping. Worth a go?

Rear will be done as well however different design.

[dusty_nz]

This thread has a good comparison. Guy compared with and without the swaybar.
Note the angles on the bottom swingarms. Can't really tell much difference before hand but very noticable afterwards.

http://www.downunder4x4.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7852

[Matatak]

Thats how ive seen a few jeep guys have theirs, but with off the shelf kits.

Looking at that though i cna see how it would work, but my concerns -
Is there enough room/travel to slide the bottom of the swaybar off the stud without undoing the top balljoint?
is the swaybar going to hit the control arm or something when articulating?

Definetely decent improvement on those pajero pics to. can look at the steering tierods to gauge it aswell

[someaussieguy]

Excuse my supa photoshopping. Worth a go?

Rear will be done as well however different design.

definately worth a go, if you run into dramas just change it back to stock. I'd be really interested to see how well it works.

You must have a different sway bar. Mine does that.

a mate of mine is working on a corolla drift car(i know its not a 4wd or pajero but same principals) and he has his front sway bar off atm, when he drove up a steep gutter, he had craploads of articulation from his ifs, made such a difference and they're the same suspension types, solid axle rear and ifs.

[nj swb]

Out of curiosity, how many of those looking at front swaybar disconnects have disconnected their rear sway bar?

[Matatak]

Out of curiosity, how many of those looking at front swaybar disconnects have disconnected their rear sway bar?

I had mine off for around a year or something and recently put it back on with D/connects, and Dusty has had disconnects for quite awhile now aswell.

So yes we know very well the advantage of having it off and disconnected. The front is now the next step/

[Mad Mac]

I have a 96 Pajero which suffers like all IFS 4wd's poor articulation. Mainly due to the front. I have been looking and looking for a front sway bar disconnect and doesn't seem like any exist. Anyway. After scratching my head I came up with this. Do you think it will work?

Basically this is what the sway bar connect looks like.


I would remove the nut and then drill a hole for an R-Clip through the bolt. It should then look something like this.



Then to disconnect on flat ground you can pull the R-Clip and the eyelet should slide of the bolt. You can then attach the swinging linkage to the sway bay using rubber sock, Zip tie, plastic tube or whatever. Basically like this.



You would prob only need to do one side. The linkage just needs to be held to stop swinging. Re-attaching would be more difficult however flat ground should see it line up again hopefully. Slide it back on and use the R clip to restrain.

Well??


Got the idea from here


Excuse my supa photoshopping. Worth a go?

Rear will be done as well however different design.

It looks like it could work although if you left the otherside connected wouldn't the sway bar hit the bit where the inner and outer tie rods connect.

Shane

[Mad Mac]

Out of curiosity, how many of those looking at front swaybar disconnects have disconnected their rear sway bar?

I have had my rear sway bar disconnects since cookie monster sold his paj in jan last year.

My understanding is that there were different size sway bars fitted to different model paj's. So instead of disconnects it is possible to fit a swb sway bar to a lwb which will give a bit more flex. I believe there is also a difference between the petrol and diesel variants as well.

Shane

[someaussieguy]

Hey matatak, how do u go with the 33's? have u got a body lift? i want to run them on my paj but with only a 2'' suspension lift i've been told they will scrub....

also, to anyone with disconnects, do u get a lot of 'clanging' and scraping etc from the sway bars on the chassis and front lower arms?

Cheers