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Anyone fitted stiffer anti-roll / sway bars?

GuyB

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Jun 8, 2015
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sweden
Hi all,

Handling is a bit sloppy since I've been carrying a roof tent around - thinking about a Whiteline aftermarket sway bar or two.

Has anyone done this? I note there's a 'Heavy Duty' or 'Extra Heavy Duty' option, and very little price difference between the two.

To my mind, the less body roll, the better - then disconnects for articulation. Is there a downside, other than loss of articulation, to having too still a sway bar? Will it make the ride stiffer overall?

Any advice appreciated.

Guy
 
There’s no reason why the ‘ride’ would feel any different, the sway bar only does something when each wheel on an axle is doing something vertically opposite to each other.

However, I see no problem with a bit of body-roll. OK, threatening to go over on a bend is one thing, but I’ve had heavy weights on my rack with 7 adults aboard and yes there’s some roll on cornering, but nothing I’ve been afraid of.

Off-road is something different, its much better to have all 4 on the ground and stiffer sway bars will only encourage less articulation and lifting a wheel will become more frequent.

It depends a lot on driving style and what you use the truck for most frequently, I’ve even considered removing mine, so I’m not the best person to advise really....
 
Well I'm not even going to tell you what I got when I clicked that link!!!! Very nice.

I think there is a case for strengthening up the rear sway bar if you are very heavily loaded but I found that with really good springs and dampers (EFS) then it's not really necessary.

My concern is that you could snap the sway bar in an extreme situation and that beefing it up would be more about preventing that than actually stiffening the vehicle in cornering. I'd look firstly at your suspension set up and it being right for the loading before contemplating a stiffer bar. In other words, get the springs and dampers right first then compliment that with the right anti roll bar. Here in the UK I have heard tales of a stiffer rear bar but never actually seen one available.
 
One other thought as well Sam, I’ve had both front sway-bar axle-mounts snap off the casing and have known of others with the same issue... @fbnss for one...

If you went stiffer (oooh matron) then the loading on the end mounts would increase, needing some mods...
 
One other thought as well Sam, I’ve had both front sway-bar axle-mounts snap off the casing and have known of others with the same issue... @fbnss for one...

If you went stiffer (oooh matron) then the loading on the end mounts would increase, needing some mods...
It's not been on since you took it off Clive and I can't say I notice any difference.
 
Good point well made. If you beef up the bar then the down links need to be able to cope too. Didn't really think that through. If the new bars come with those bit then great. The std ones are probably fine in tension, but it's compression that's most likely the cause of failure
 
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Good point well made. If you beef up the bar then the down links need to be able to cope too. Didn't really think that through. If the new bars come with those bit then great. The std ones are probably fine in tension, but it's compression that's most likely the cause of failure

The front mounts get a lot of twist, it’s not surprising they let go after 20 years, they’re even bolted on to the casing, so the mounting hole takes all the twist.

As Nick says, he doesn’t even miss his...
 
Thanks all - some food for thought. I'm OK with a bit of roll, but there's something not right about the way mine handles since I fitted a 2.5 inch lift (Pedders). Having killed 2 of the shocks, leaping over sand dunes, I'm minded to change the whole set-up.

What is with these links BTW?
 
Yes - I've fitted both front and rear uprated rolls bars (sway bars) - whiteline ones.

Having done a fair bit of circuit racing in the past - till I saw the light and went 4x4 - I have a reasonable understanding of suspension requirements - when fully loaded, plus the roof tent etc... the lurch of death when the car was going around corners scared the crap outa me - even when I knew it wasn't going to roll - just the transfer of weight twisting to the std roll bar trying to control the roll made me fell very uncomfortable. Yes fitted decent shocks (Koni) and uprated springs etc etc... done a full 4 weight pad analysis for each corner so I could understand what was being managed in the way of weight... fully loaded it was heavy heavy... 260 ltrs fuel, 80 ltrs water, food 5 days, beer 5 days, tools, spare fluids ...me.... it all adds up.

The rear - went Very HD and the weight warranted it and extended the drop links further to ensure at rest the roll bar wasn't under tension. The front was also V HD as the winch and winch bar combined weight warranted the requirement - yes I pulled the front roll bar mounts off and had them replaced and made stronger.

For me it worked well... and I'd (have done) recommend it to people with similar spec trucks...
 
One other thought as well Sam, I’ve had both front sway-bar axle-mounts snap off the casing and have known of others with the same issue... @fbnss for one...

If you went stiffer (oooh matron) then the loading on the end mounts would increase, needing some mods...

Thats what happened to Chris (FNB)'s 80 on our Simpson trip.

Driving a rough dirt road and the big heavy duty anti roll bar (or sway bar as they call them down here) ripped the mounts off one side of the axle to the point where he was leaking a lot of diff oil! :thumbdown:

For this reason I would never recommend them and if you really must upgrade to a heavier duty/stiffer anti roll bar, look into bracing and reinforcing the axle first. :)
 
I think stiffer arb's will compromise on tarmac handling to some extent especially if car is "top heavy". If a corner catches you out the inside wheels will lift. Not good.
 
I have HD white line sway bar on the rear, standard on the front, with Koni 90 Raid shocks, RTT and 270 L fuel, weighs over 3300kg before adding food water and beer, adding the koni raids was the best thing for me to stop it wallowing, never had any mountings crack but I use rubber bushes, and there is some differences to mountings for the sway bar between early/later models
 
I have HD white line sway bar on the rear, standard on the front, with Koni 90 Raid shocks, RTT and 270 L fuel, weighs over 3300kg before adding food water and beer, adding the koni raids was the best thing for me to stop it wallowing, never had any mountings crack but I use rubber bushes, and there is some differences to mountings for the sway bar between early/later models

The rear sway bar mount on an 80 is a much better system than the front, IMO.

I think the front mounts to the front axle are one of Mr T’s Friday afternoon bloopers...
 
So I would conclude, as is often the case, there's no single right answer. Clearly, you have to be careful about doing these mods in isolation, and a bit of joined-up thinking will spare you expensive surprises.

I've recently driven an 80 with an OME Kit 50mm lift kit. The ride was a little harsh for my liking (no roof rack, which helps) but almost no body roll. I can see why anyone with a similar set-up would question the need for a sway bar mod.

At the other end of the spectrum was Overland Cruisers' truck which I drove a few years back with the Icon, Slinky, 7.5 inch kit. Drivers like a Bently but here's a pronounced, albeit bearable roll. Roof rack, but no tent. THAT kit needs a sway bar upgrade to improve its manners (in fact it was JV who suggested it to me in the first place).

I wouldn't claim to be an expert, but my instinct tells me that a small increase in stiffness would be within tolerance, and cracking is as likely down to bad bushings as not. Having read Clive's post I'd avoid their super heavy duty models.

If you like clambering over large obstacles and want max articulation, surely a disconnect kit is a must anyway!?
 
Oh and if like me, you need a 'somewhat' sensible 2nd car for day to day use, but occasionally load up with family and kit and hit the trails, then airbags are a good shout too!
 
I was just staggered that the tiny sway-bar mounting brackets to the front axle are bolted on, and the bolt hole causing a major weak-point in the trough of a square ‘U’ shaped bracket.

My fix was to have it welded on, and no problems since. If I hadn’t seen several other 80s with broken front mounts, I wouldn’t have mentioned it...

And yes, I ran with poly bushes for a few years, and its likely that they made it worse... it was so nice to revert to rubber bushings again.
 
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