sway bar removal

[4x4xmore]

this has prob been posted before but only on dial up internet so it takes f**king ages to look through the faq sections so here goes

has anbody removed there front swaybar and how much more travel does it acheive. im not sure if its a good idea to remove mine so i would apreciate any advice on this good or bad. also how much it alters how the roza handles on and offroad and all the other things that it is associated with

thanks

[Croz]

I found the car handles better without it, it certainly improved the ride quality.

I would suggest you do it and drive the car a bit, then make your mind up if you like it more. It certainly does handle offroad better. Just be aware that in some conditions the vehicle will handle differently, especially braking into a corner.

[ShinyDiscoBalls]

Take it off. If you have the torsion bars wound up the drop in handling performance on road is minimal.

OT - CROZ! you selling the Fez? What gives? You upgrading?

Cheers
Paul

[rOd]

Take it off. If you have the torsion bars wound up the drop in handling performance on road is minimal.

OT - CROZ! you selling the Fez? What gives? You upgrading?

Cheers
Paul

Where the hell have you been hiding

[ShinyDiscoBalls]

Hey Rod,

Been fighting the establishment. Got a suspension lift fitted to the truck 2 weeks ago and after the suspension settled i got no lift on the front and only 1 inch on the rear. Am currently trying to get them to refund me for the springs and labour so I can get new springs fitted elsewhere. I'm waiting on this to be sorted so i can fit 32's.

Been working on the truck a fair bit.... got a GME TX4000, high gain aerial, rock slidders fitted, snorkle is in the shed.....

What you been up to?

Cheers
P

[4x4xmore]

removed the sway bar tonight and can already see they diference just by rocking the roza. is not so stiff. cant wait to see if it makes a diference offroad.

[Brauer]

I removed mine a while ago, notice a bit of difference on road but nothing to complain aboutt. Regarding extra wheel travel you do not get any extra. The only way to maximize wheel travell is to remove bump stops. Once you have the front wound up you can see how much travell you are going to get. Any way put mine back on because it was not worth removing it.

Should be there on Sunday.

[rOd]

Hey Rod,

Been fighting the establishment. Got a suspension lift fitted to the truck 2 weeks ago and after the suspension settled i got no lift on the front and only 1 inch on the rear. Am currently trying to get them to refund me for the springs and labour so I can get new springs fitted elsewhere. I'm waiting on this to be sorted so i can fit 32's.

Been working on the truck a fair bit.... got a GME TX4000, high gain aerial, rock slidders fitted, snorkle is in the shed.....

What you been up to?

Cheers
P

Not much.

Just in the process of getting a new place, so cant unleash much mullah on the GQ.

But I need to go wheeling soon or I will go nuts! My last trip was a month ago!

Anyway, enough hijacking.

Rod

[RockyF75]

Ok, I SEARHED , and now for a few HUGE dummy questions :

1) Does an 84 F75 Rocky have swaybars?
2) What doeas a swaybar look like, pics would be great? (i guess its a bar that goes accross the bottom of the car )
3) Is it hard to remove/put back on??
4) Legality issues? Specifically in NSW
5) Is it worth doing in view of getting more travel?
6) Does removing it/them make your truck easier to roll when offroad?(rockcrawling and or dirt drifting? )
Thanks in advance

[r0ck_m0nkey]

Regarding extra wheel travel you do not get any extra. The only way to maximize wheel travell is to remove bump stops. Once you have the front wound up you can see how much travell you are going to get. Any way put mine back on because it was not worth removing it.

You don't gain any directly as it's dictated by the bumpstops. BUT, it frees the wheels up so one side can travel upwards and the other side can travel downwards without restricting each other.

If one wheel is fully travelled upwards, the opposite will not fully travel downwards with a sway bay, the torsional twist of the bar is to great to allow it to.

[Goatse.AJ]

Removing your swaybar will give better front end articulation. i.e it'll allow maximum UP travel of one wheel, while allowing maximum DOWN travel of the other. (See pic) With the limited flex on an IFS rig, ANYTHING you can do to improve this will pay dividends.

Makes a very noticeable difference offroad. With swaybar intact, you'll find your more likely to get stuck on diagonal obstacles. Onroad handling is slightly different, but once you take it off, you'll never want it back on.

[RockyF75]

Removing your swaybar will give better front end articulation. i.e it'll allow maximum UP travel of one wheel, while allowing maximum DOWN travel of the other. (See pic) With the limited flex on an IFS rig, ANYTHING you can do to improve this will pay dividends.

Makes a very noticeable difference offroad. With swaybar intact, you'll find your more likely to get stuck on diagonal obstacles. Onroad handling is slightly different, but once you take it off, you'll never want it back on.

what about on solid axle models? make any diff?

[Goatse.AJ]

Removing your swaybar will give better front end articulation. i.e it'll allow maximum UP travel of one wheel, while allowing maximum DOWN travel of the other. (See pic) With the limited flex on an IFS rig, ANYTHING you can do to improve this will pay dividends.

Makes a very noticeable difference offroad. With swaybar intact, you'll find your more likely to get stuck on diagonal obstacles. Onroad handling is slightly different, but once you take it off, you'll never want it back on.

what about on solid axle models? make any diff?

Even more so. Just do it, you'll kick yourself for the delay once you do. And then we want some flex pics

[RockyF75]

Removing your swaybar will give better front end articulation. i.e it'll allow maximum UP travel of one wheel, while allowing maximum DOWN travel of the other. (See pic) With the limited flex on an IFS rig, ANYTHING you can do to improve this will pay dividends.

Makes a very noticeable difference offroad. With swaybar intact, you'll find your more likely to get stuck on diagonal obstacles. Onroad handling is slightly different, but once you take it off, you'll never want it back on.

what about on solid axle models? make any diff?

Even more so. Just do it, you'll kick yourself for the delay once you do. And then we want some flex pics

Ok, so i'm sold Now that brings me to the other 5 questions:
The most pressing one being, WHAT THE HELL DOES IT LOOK LIKE , i dont want to accidentaly pull off the steering arm or sumthink , is it pretty obvious if i just look under there? What does it connect to and approx how many bolts??
and these two:
4) Legality issues? Specifically in NSW
6) Does removing it/them make your truck easier to roll when offroad?(rockcrawling and or dirt drifting? )

[Goatse.AJ]

This bit. Just undo the brackets, and it should be off in 10 minutes or so.

[Spartacus]

sway bar is the one that loops around from ur diff to the chassis then
attaches back onto the axle via 2 bushes that attach the bar to the front
crossmember. swaybars are a must for insurance legalities. i took mine off

and u will probably have a panhard to unless u have already pulled it. i took it off to... like WTF why would u want a panhard with leaf springs

post up ur avitar and point out what u think should be removed. that way u will always remember what a swaybar is/looks like

[RockyF75]

sway bar is the one that loops around from ur diff to the chassis then
attaches back onto the axle via 2 bushes that attach the bar to the front
crossmember. swaybars are a must for insurance legalities. i took mine off

and u will probably have a panhard to unless u have already pulled it. i took it off to... like WTF why would u want a panhard with leaf springs

post up ur avitar and point out what u think should be removed. that way u will always remember what a swaybar is/looks like

Ok, had a look under the front, I use the rocky as a DD so wouldn't wanna have it off for legal reasons, how hard/time consuming is it to undo, and then stick back on if i was wheeling for a day? Looks like only a bolt either side on the leaf springs, then 2 more on the corssmember?

And another dummy Q, whats a panhard and whats it look like? I take it its illegal to remove this on road too??

[r0ck_m0nkey]

And another dummy Q, whats a panhard and whats it look like? I take it its illegal to remove this on road too??

From your photo it appears to be just behind your draglink. Round bar that runs parallel to it, connects to your axle on one side and to the chassis on the other side. Helps prevent sideways movement, more commonly found on coil sprung vehicles. Most leaf sprung vehicles don't even have one, even on the front.

Remove it and see, if your steering feels bad because of it, just wack it back on. If it's ok without it, just go and cut the brackets off, clean the area up and if anyone asks it just show them that the vehicle has never even had brackets for it so how could it have possibly come from the factory with one

[HotFourOk]

I wouldn't worry about legality of having a sway bar off when you have them lights on top of your bullbar LOL

It is the front most bar in your pic.. the one with the two brackets coming down just below your bullbar and then going down below your leaves.

It is not hard to undo/redo and I'm thinking of taking mine off through the week and see if flex increases I have my torsion bars wound up now and Ranchos in the front (did it last week ).. so loss of handling wont be that great anyways

[BundyRumandCoke]

F70
The sway bar is the big U shaped bar that bolts to the 2 front spring U bolt plates, and to either side at the front, under the radiator. Take it off, and throw it away.

The panhard rod is the large straight rod that bolts to the chassis on the drivers side, and the front axle housing on the passenger side. It does nothing of value on a leaf sprung vehicle. In fact, it inhibits travel, and if you have any type of lift, it will pull the drivers side of the vehicle down. If it was necessary, why isnt there one on the rear?

You will have better articulation with the removal of both, and on road handling wont be noticably affected. Both mine have been gone for about 6 years.

[RockyF75]

I wouldn't worry about legality of having a sway bar off when you have them lights on top of your bullbar LOL

They are legal , they are about 1/2mm away from 'protruding' infront of the bbar, luckily the two posts in the middle stick out about 1/2mm more than the lights do , even had a coppa look at em when i was breathtested and they didnt say nething (was a bit nervous though )

Thanks for the help everyone, looks like atleast the panhard will be comming off, will look for more info about the swaybar but i'm like 80% there, just worried about legality in case of acco

[murcod]

I'd be more worried about removing the panhard rod than a swaybar. The panhard is designed to locate your diff and stop it going wandering....

[RockyF75]

I'd be more worried about removing the panhard rod than a swaybar. The panhard is designed to locate your diff and stop it going wandering....

baaah, too many different opinions lol, well, spoke to a mate today and his has been gone for quite some time so looks like mines comming off (swaybar), will let you's know how it goes

[Mudsierra]

A while back coming back from LCMP, mate of mine had a crusier with panhard and good suspension, on the way home, his steering just went shaking voilently:shock:, so had to get it towed home and took to mech, mech said that it was the panhard bolts had came loose and makes the diff wanting to go wandering i'd shit myself big time if it was me driving.

All this at 50km no faster That what panhards are for

[RockyF75]

A while back coming back from LCMP, mate of mine had a crusier with panhard and good suspension, on the way home, his steering just went shaking voilently:shock:, so had to get it towed home and took to mech, mech said that it was the panhard bolts had came loose and makes the diff wanting to go wandering i'd shit myself big time if it was me driving.

All this at 50km no faster That what panhards are for

yeah, but cruisers are coily, not leafsprung , atleast not the newer ones. At any rate i wont be driving far till i fully test it out on and off the road, on quiet un-used streets. So that if it DOES make a differenc, i know how much, and can either adjust my driving or stick it back on if its bad.

[Nev]

I wouldn't worry about legality of having a sway bar off when you have them lights on top of your bullbar LOL

They are legal , they are about 1/2mm away from 'protruding' infront of the bbar, luckily the two posts in the middle stick out about 1/2mm more than the lights do , even had a coppa look at em when i was breathtested and they didnt say nething (was a bit nervous though )

They may not protrude forward but to me it looks like they sit well above the height of the bonnet...therefore obstructing vision and unless things are different in NSW....ur lights = illegal

[r0ck_m0nkey]

I'd be more worried about removing the panhard rod than a swaybar. The panhard is designed to locate your diff and stop it going wandering....

Unless the front end of a Rocky is designed especially sloppy, it's actually quite odd for a leaf sprung axle to have a panhard, even in the front. An MQ Patrol for instance doesn't have one, front or rear.

[HotFourOk]

I wouldn't worry about legality of having a sway bar off when you have them lights on top of your bullbar LOL

They are legal , they are about 1/2mm away from 'protruding' infront of the bbar, luckily the two posts in the middle stick out about 1/2mm more than the lights do , even had a coppa look at em when i was breathtested and they didnt say nething (was a bit nervous though )

They may not protrude forward but to me it looks like they sit well above the height of the bonnet...therefore obstructing vision and unless things are different in NSW....ur lights = illegal

Yeah.. i didnt mean sticking out forward.. just too high above bullbar

[RockyF75]

I wouldn't worry about legality of having a sway bar off when you have them lights on top of your bullbar LOL

They are legal , they are about 1/2mm away from 'protruding' infront of the bbar, luckily the two posts in the middle stick out about 1/2mm more than the lights do , even had a coppa look at em when i was breathtested and they didnt say nething (was a bit nervous though )

They may not protrude forward but to me it looks like they sit well above the height of the bonnet...therefore obstructing vision and unless things are different in NSW....ur lights = illegal

nup, laws say 3m in front ov vehicle, thanks to the extra lift, they dont obstruct nething more than 1m (also the middle one has been broken off since that pic ) the MOST they could obstruct would be a small animal (like a cat) just before it goes under, at which point there's really no hope of stopping no matter how fast i go. Look at any 4b, 90% that have lights have sum accross the top

[HotFourOk]

I reckon it would be lucky to be 10% that have them on top of the bullbar.. not very common..
Yeah, the RTA law can be interpreted in many different ways in that respect... It says if driving visibility is hampered (theres no mention of any distances or specifications), just a judgement.. but then again... it could be interpreted illegal by some copper who's had a bad night
But i havnt really heard of anyone getting chatted for them.