Front sway bar delete

Sorry to dig up an old thread but am wondering the same thing ... disconnect the front or not? I'm in the process of upgrading the suspension to OME BP-51's so if body roll is a bit of an issue on-road I'll just dial up the compression a bit ... or at least that's my thinking. Anyone remove the front sway bar with OME BP-51's and have any experience with this? I'm gonna test it out as it's easy enough to disconnect the end links and zip tie them out of the way for a few days to see the difference.

 

I ended up putting my sway bar back on. I drove around with it off for about 1 year. I got to the point were I didn't feel safe without it.

 

I put my kings on 3 years ago and ditched the front sway bar same day, love it, sway bars are for cars. Without it lets the suspension work the way they should, its not bad on the freeway, never felt unsafe for me. I even towed without it and felt fine.

 

I have icon stage 9 with 700lb coils. Have sway bar off for over a year. Try it out for a month or so

 

I think most people will remain lucky and never get into a situation where they have to do a fast steering correction that would cause an issue.

Removing the FSB will feel softer, but by removing a dampening factor, so it can also feel too sprung, soft and less responsive. Which, it is.

Removing the FSB decreases front bias in cornering so you may be more likely to oversteer. Removing it and getting into a situation where you have to quickly counter steer at high speed will unsettle the truck. The lack of the sway bar will allow a greater compression of spring on one side, once steering is quickly switched the opposite direction the spring will unload applying the equitable lb/in ratio it was compressed as lift, reducing tire contact, camber angle and grip. As well as applying a greater force onto the opposite side. The higher the speed the greater the force because the spring was compressed more. Sway bars are designed to prevent this for safety.

I ran without one for a few months on both my Tacoma and FJ, both went back on. The tacoma had a higher rate than the FJ so it compressed a bit less and was a bit more predictable but it was shit to drive through the northern Cali passes. The FJ almost threw me into on coming traffic when someone lost something out of their truck bed in front of me and I went to steer around it.

Ironically I have the FCPs on the Tundra now and with the stock leafs the rear is too springy. The FCPs have no gas charge so they dont seem to be as stiff and controlling. Putting a RSB on actually made the ride better over uneven terrain. Its not a one size fits all application.

Heres an example where a FSB would help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoHbn8-ROiQ

 

That video yikes

 

Yeah, Im not trying to imply that the sway bar is the cause of that issue. However, Toyota addressed that issue by increasing front rigidity. Removing a sway bar would increase the the vehicles propensity to roll.

 

Isn't a Hilux a Tacoma and Not a Tundra?

 

Theyre all different. The purpose was to show a situation where not having a sway bar would be more dangerous. Sway bars as the name implies reduce lateral sway or roll. Making a fast "S" shaped turn or slalom movement will upset the balance enough to make it potentially dangerous.

Really Im saying that most wont deal with the risk because its a chance thing, I drove w/o one for a long enough time. In that time I had a couple events that changed my mind and decided it was best to put it back on.

IMO it wasnt worth the risk for the marginal improvement in ride quality. Which of course was subjective since it drove worse on any sort of curved road. It was less jittery sure and floated more over bumps where only one side was affected.

 

They are all different so perhaps a test with a Tundra would net different results. Comparing a non-USA rig could even net different results than a USA rig ??

 

It would, but the physics at play here would be the same. No sway bar = increase risk for this, less predictable and less safe steering characteristics.

I was just being captain buzzkill here, basically I and essentially the entire auto industry will argue that removing a sway bar increases risk, but you will hear people here saying it either doesnt or its fine.

You have to be in a situation like this to know that it can be dangerous, I have.

Ill end it with this, taking it off makes the truck less safe in emergency situations. Anyone stating its "safe" is unaware of the risk or negligent to it.

Does that mean it will be dangerous to drive, technically yes and technically no. Under normal circumstance it will degrade sportiness and improve ride suppleness. People dont drive like the video depicts everyday so it will most likely be fine. However, if you find yourself in that situation it could be the difference between driving home and getting towed home.

 

I like the idea of using sumo springs instead of the RSB. You cut them (or rather, don't cut them) such that they fill the entire gap from frame to body.

Could the same thing be done up front to improve body roll and safety with the removal of the FSB?

 

607, If I could ask you what changed? Was it the weight you are carrying or did you get into a road situation that made you feel unsafe?

 

I’ve had my FSB off for about 3 months now and ~10k miles. I haven’t really even noticed tbh. I do have tuned kings coilovers and I have heard you may not need a FSB with upgraded suspension.

 

I’ve removed the front sway bar on a 2017 and 2021 with different suspension setups. On totally stock suspension removing the bar will be very noticeable at highway speed quick maneuvers and would certainly increase the danger element there. When I put sumo springs on the 2017 with stock suspension and no front sway bar the rolling effect essentially went away but still had the much better front performance offroad (no FSB). When I put stiff front Dobinsons springs on my 2021 the sway bar also became irrelevant. Thus I would say adding rear support and/or front offroad style springs no sway bar is needed. Driving down a potholed gravel road with/without a front sway bar is a huge difference (and a free 10 min on/off to try out).

 

Where did you get the 700lb coils? Is that on a 3.0?

 

Also have total chaos UCA. I have the sumo spring bump stops in the rear and up front.

 

Sdhq got me them. They were eibach. Recently I noticed one was cracked and swapped in the 650s I had. Not a huge difference