sway bar on a 4x4

[butter fingers]

Happy 4th of July ! I have another question for you aces . is the sway bar really helpful on a 4x4 ? I have a friend who scoffs at them and yanked it off his ford 150 truck . please give me the truth , mine has shot out bushings on the drivers side so I don't think it is doing much at the present . thanks and don't play with firecrackers ! Butter Fingers

[butter fingers]

I am back and looking for some sound advice on the sway bar subject on my '86 4x4, thanks !

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I install sway bars even on just about every vehicle I build here in the shop. From road going SUVs to the most aggressive rock crawlers, they all get sway bars.

 

Sway bars should be looked at as just another spring. If the torsional spring rate is factored into the actual spring rate, then it does not upset the balance from front to rear of the truck.

 

Sway bars can actually help just going straight down the road too, by limiting the body roll and thus limiting the roll steer. This is also a huge factor in building a trial rig that's safe to drive on the road.

[datzenmike]

 

Also known as a stabilizer bar. On the plus side, the 4x4 is very top heavy and having one will reduce body roll or lean driving around corners. It has no effect if both wheels go over the same  bump or dip, such as a speed bump. It will resist one wheel moving up or down when the other isn't, so if you like off road and rock crawling you won't want one or have one you can quick disconnect.

 

I think all 720s will have them unlike the 620 where it was an option.

[EDM620]

Unless you're building a dedicated rock crawler that will NEVER be on the road, you want the front sway bar. The sway bar itself will induce some limitations on axle articulation as that is directly related to it's purpose. To get around that (again for maximum axle articulation) the best solution is to make a sway bar disconnect. Un-pin the bar when you're playing and re-pin it before you hit the road.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

On 7/2/2020 at 2:31 PM, datzenmike said:

 

Also known as a stabilizer bar. On the plus side, the 4x4 is very top heavy and having one will reduce body roll or lean driving around corners. It has no effect if both wheels go over the same  bump or dip, such as a speed bump. It will resist one wheel moving up or down when the other isn't, so if you like off road and rock crawling you won't want one or have one you can quick disconnect.

 

I think all 720s will have them unlike the 620 where it was an option.

 

On 7/3/2020 at 6:49 AM, EDM620 said:

Unless you're building a dedicated rock crawler that will NEVER be on the road, you want the front sway bar. The sway bar itself will induce some limitations on axle articulation as that is directly related to it's purpose. To get around that (again for maximum axle articulation) the best solution is to make a sway bar disconnect. Un-pin the bar when you're playing and re-pin it before you hit the road.

In case you missed what I said about using them on rock crawlers. They can be beneficial even on a rock crawler. I'll explain how. If you have sturdy rear springs (strong enough to carry all your camping gear) and soft front spring (for nice ride), your articulation is now un-balanced by the differing spring rates (weight distribution and other factors come into play too). Now install a front sway bar and notice that the articulation is more even from front to rear.

 

I've built many trucks this way with instructions to my customers to not disconnect the sway bars on the trail. 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Here's a 70 series Land Cruiser trail rig I built. This truck works as it should on the trail.

 

[butter fingers]

Mr. Stoffregen , please build a front end coil-over suspension kit for a 720 4x4 , and ill be your first customer ! thanks to everyone for the input on stabilizer bars . I just needed to hear the voice of reason . have a safe 4th of July !! Butter Fingers

[datzenmike]

Might as well keep the torsion bars as you are rather limited with IFS.  A SAS (solid axle swap) would give you more options.

[EDM620]

9 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Now install a front sway bar and notice that the articulation is more even from front to rear.

And that is a good key point to this. Whether your vehicle is strictly on the road or off, a balanced vehicle is optimal in many aspects (50/50 weight distribution is a sought-after balance). Too much bias either end makes an unpredictable vehicle when the limits are reached, intentionally or because of a sudden situation like accident avoidance. Being able to get your front end over the rocks won't be so impressive if the ass can't get there too 🙂

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

19 hours ago, butter fingers said:

Mr. Stoffregen , please build a front end coil-over suspension kit for a 720 4x4 , and ill be your first customer ! thanks to everyone for the input on stabilizer bars . I just needed to hear the voice of reason . have a safe 4th of July !! Butter Fingers

Love to. We've often toyed with the idea of opening up a Nissan/Datsun line of parts, but there are too many reasons holding these trucks back. Transmission and t-case options being chief among them.

 

I did come up with a way to get a Dana 300 transfer case behind a Datsun L/Z/KA motor, but it involves the ultra rare 280zx turbo T5 bellhousing.

[]2eDeYe]

If I build another 4x4 Datsun truck, I plan to go divorced atlas. Opens up so many more options as far as axle and drivetrain choices.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That would solve many problems.

[EDM620]

On 7/4/2020 at 11:05 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Here's a 70 series Land Cruiser trail rig I built. This truck works as it should on the trail.

That is a very nicely built 4x, no doubt it works as it should 🙂

I had a '75 CJ w 360 & full 1/2t not 1/4 t. It was a beast

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I've had a couple CJ5's. I sold my restored '74 CJ5 last year for $35k.

[]2eDeYe]

I have a 72 CJ5, need to build it a new frame. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

You can buy pre-bent frame rails and build your frame around that, if you want custom. If you want original frame, then you're stuck with original stuff. Nobody makes a replacement frame.

[]2eDeYe]

I have some 2 x 4 box tube that I been meaning to use. Just one of those back burner projects. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

On 7/8/2020 at 12:32 PM, ]2eDeYe said:

I have some 2 x 4 box tube that I been meaning to use. Just one of those back burner projects. 

Back burner. Like my office. Did you see the instagram pics the other night? Been meaning to build that office for years.

[]2eDeYe]

I did, love your shop setup. One of my current projects is trying to upgrade from my garage to something bigger. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

3 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

I did, love your shop setup. One of my current projects is trying to upgrade from my garage to something bigger. 

I put all my money back into the shop. It's my way of spoiling myself, since we don't go to Hawaii.

 

Oh shit, my kids heard that...