Spiffy Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 so it would seem that removing the sway bar would be good for off-road... gives you a little more flex and lets that wheel drop down for traction when the other one just went up the far side of the rut... obviously you're going to lose handling ability on the road... but are there other subtle things to consider? let hear all the pros and cons... --Spiffy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Pretty much what you said. Better travel, but a little more lean on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael appel Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 weld the rear and dont worry about flex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 He just put a LSD in, it would be weird to weld it. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scooby Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 why not fashion up some sway bar quick disconnects and have best of both worlds. takes about 1 hour to make a set for the front and back, have them in when on road, pull them in a few seconds when ready to wheel. im making a set right now for my wagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamCF Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Swaybar was the first thing to come off of my Soob when I bought it. And I actually did it for RallyCross, never even thought of wheeling it at the time (my how things change, I've not made one RallyCross this year). Helped let the backend get loose more than the front. Was a little more fun to drive than before I removed it. (was going to adapt some kind of bar for the rear but removing the front came close to the same effect for alot less) Yup a bit more lean. But I can still go faster than the caution signs say on the corners and it's only scary the first few times, then you get used to it. But I'm certain it's "limit" has been lowered in corners. A little better flex. And a Soob needs all the help it can get in that department. My Subaru handles like a worn out truck and I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 i have driven 80 downhill in my 4inch lifted brat and onto the bridge crossing the columbia river at vantage and been scared ************less from the wind off of the river hitting the car. that is the only time that i thought i would lose control. and man was it fun........ other than that i drove my brat for like a tleast a year and a half like that........cheers, brian oh and grid deck bridges suck.........whatever though. vote no for swaybar in 2008 on lifted rigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 mines been off my red brat since I built it in 2003-4. never had any issues without it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSSLGECKO Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 why not fashion up some sway bar quick disconnects and have best of both worlds. takes about 1 hour to make a set for the front and back, have them in when on road, pull them in a few seconds when ready to wheel. im making a set right now for my wagon. Scooby, I would really appreciate some documentation on how you made disconnects. Especially if you are making new ones currently and can photograph those pieces and the ones on your car. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I still have my front bar on my hatch, but I don't wheel it often enough to notice the difference when I do go offroad. I think I will take it off now that I have RX front springs on my hatch.... WAY TOO STIFF. I've recently had the inside front wheel pogo'ing on rough, up-hill corners, and it is a real buzz kill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Style Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Take that sucker off. Subaru's ride like a shopping kart too much as it is anyway. They need all the help they can get. I've taken the Sway Bars off evrything I've ever owned within hours of gettin home, Lots and lots of lifted trucks, 96' Land Rover Disco II, 96' TRD Tacoma, 91' SHO, 03' Kia Rio, 86' Dodge Raider..... and many many many more. I have zero regrets with any vehicles and after a few hours I don't even notice it's gone unless I think about it and swerve real hard. I'm also a huge off roader so my opinion is somewhat bias to off road performance. My daily driver 89' Wagon has a welded rear, no swaybars, big 14's and ther's always stuff on the roofrack. It's got a fair amount of body roll hittin off-ramps and stuff but oh'well, I'm over it, It's not bad, just a side affect. Like the bigger tires, I gain more clearance, but I have less low end grunt and the big spare don't fit under the hood, Oh'well, I got over it. It'll pretty much go anywhere as long as one back tire's touchin and the floor isn't. It'll also take bumps and hits to one side softer with out it because it won't impact on the vehicle as hard while the sway bar tries to yank the other tire up or down. The sway bar mounts on Soobs also make for a great rear mount for a custom skid plate. That's my personal opinion on Sway Bars and I would rather have them off than on. A quick disconnect is a great idea, I've even built and installed a few on customer rigs as well as super beefy thick swaybars on my dad's Porsche 928. "I" personally don't gain anything with them in other than more tire spin, tire slippage, traction loss and one more thing to squeek, clunk or bend. That's my very narrow perception on'm. Bodey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 If you live in NH, you won't pass inspection w/o the fron swaybar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamCF Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 If you live in NH, you won't pass inspection w/o the fron swaybar Man that's gotta suck having inspections. And I thought it was bad moving out here from Michigan where they don't even have DEQ. My '96 VW Golf had all the emissions stuff stripped off of it. Bummed me out to trade it in cause I had to buy all new emissions stuff to plate it here. :-\ So do they actually get out a little book for your car that says what it is supposed to have on it? I mean not all cars even have swaybars... (well most all do now) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 So do they actually get out a little book for your car that says what it is supposed to have on it? I mean not all cars even have swaybars... (well most all do now) I think the one missing, and one broken link, without the bar gave it away :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamCF Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 I think the one missing, and one broken link, without the bar gave it away :cool: Ahhh.. Yeah can hardly tell my GL ever had one other than a couple studs sticking out from the body. And those still don't really give it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 take it off. if you're car is lifted, it's not a race car anymore anyway. a lifted swaybarless subaru is more stable than most solid-axled rigs on the street. disconnects? why? just unbolt an endlink, and it's disconnected. of course, you'll get lazy one day, and not feel like hooking it back up when you're done wheeling, and realize it handles fine without it, and then you'll take it off entirely........go ahead, ask me how I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Get rid of it. I've been driving my 86 wagon for 5 years now without it (daily driver) with the 4 inch lift it still corners decent for a lifted wagon. Not to mention its got 20 year old struts on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 so it would seem that removing the sway bar would be good for off-road... gives you a little more flex and lets that wheel drop down for traction when the other one just went up the far side of the rut...--Spiffy The "drop for traction" sounds good but praticaly pointless. The reason is because it's just dropping and not being forced down hard enough. So yeah, the tire touches ground, but it just spins and hops because there's not enough traction. It's not like on a solid axle vehicle where the upward force of one side has an equal and opposite force applied to the otherside. I always take my sway bars off of my offroad vehicles but it's really not that big of a deal on a Subaru. This mod falls in to the 'every little bit helps' category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamCF Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 This mod falls in to the 'every little bit helps' category. Yeah. The biggest thing is it takes a little "spring" away from the side trying to fully compress (hopefully allowing a little more pressure on the extended side, by letting the other side really stuff up in there). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Didn't notice much difference at all when I took mine off my Brat. Although the rubbers were shot on it anyhow. Made a hell of a difference when my brother put one on his toyota 4runner though. I think the way they are setup on Ea81's takes away a lot of the good of what an antisway bar does. Take it off and drive accordingly I say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3eyedwagon Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Pull that POS, and don't look back. My wagon drives great without it. I love the way it heals over when I corner hard. It was a little strange getting used to, but once you do; it is very predictable, and pretty forgiving. Be sure to hold on to it though. I actually used a good curved section of mine to extend the shift linkage during the lift. There is a section on an EA81 swaybar that works almost perfect for the jog needed to work around the 4spd hi/lo linkage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zukiru Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 wait you get over steer if you take off the front bar?? I never figured pulling it would be good for rallyx? what does that feel like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I took mine off when I got my brat and would definatley not go back! Its doesn't make enough of a difference on road. I can still cruise around a sharp corner at a high rate of speed which isn't all that high because its a brat but it leans a little more but no tire squeal and no problems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 wait you get over steer if you take off the front bar?? I never figured pulling it would be good for rallyx? what does that feel like? generally speaking, a larger front bar than the rear induced understeer....so yea, if there's not one in the rear, removing the front will even things out. it also makes it muuuuuch easier to swing the weight around. removing sway bars is always preferable for low-traction environments (RallyX, ice, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Alright, so I was getting sick of my uber high front spring rate (RX springs, factory 4WD struts, factory anti-roll bar) so I removed it yesterday. I must say that the combination of no roll-bar and RX springs is great! It still feels stiff will little body roll, but much less harsh and jarring then when it had the bar too. I'm happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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