Removed Sway Bar...What Next?

[RASERONE]

Hey

I drive a F-300 feroza 92 model i believe,
Just recently got her back from the mechanics...Blown head.......
good times, cost me like $2000 basically got the engine rebuilt..
that said in sinking that money into that engine i made the decision i would be keeping the little beast for quite some time..i could never get rid of her..
Im definatley going to be doing upgrades, This morning after reading numorous posts i removed the front sway bar with great ease.
Took for test drive down the local track and the improvement to the cars handeling on and off road is amazing..the articulation in the front is greatly increased,,why didnt i do it earlier.

Now having done this i am keener than ever to further increase my wheel travel and ride height...
What are the CHEAPEST methods for acheiving this...
Im thinking wind up torsion bars...(new torsion bars necesary?)
Longer Rear Shackles (new leafs?)

then with wheel and tyres...i will get sunrasias (ROH) but whats a good offset if any for a good combination of life and tyre accomadation..
What is a good recommended tyre size for a ferobie with around 3" lift.. i dont want to have to modify much ie flares....

[SimplyPV]

dont need new torsion bars.

you should be able to fit 30's or 31's with a 2 inch body lift. and use standard rims if you want.

[RASERONE]

These are pics taken when testing out what my car was like without sway bar...
100% stock setup minus swaybar

[murcod]

Have you tried any quick swerving manouvres since removing the swaybar?

[RASERONE]

i spent most of the day running around in it....
few little changes to my driving style. ie less brakes through a corner,. I found on the dirt, through a corner with the swaybar removed it seemed less likly to drift the corner, seemed to hug its line. Also ruts did not seem to make the car swerve nearly as much.
There is minimal extra body roll on road, and also pot holes mid corner are handled alot better..

Why do u ask?

[murcod]

I tried driving mine recently with it removed and wouldn't fancy trying to perform any evasive manouvres. Even pushing it through roundabouts revealed a huge increase in body roll once the front suspension was loaded up.

[ferozamaniac]

Hello my name is Achilleas from greece. I steal cant understand what are the benefits of removing the sway bar?

[HotFourOk]

The sway bar connects the two front suspension setups with a bar that runs horizontally across the car.

When you are cornering it helps stability bay passing some of the force created on the outside wheel, through the bar, and hence helps to push down on the inside wheel, preventing it from lifting through the corner.
It basically aids in stabilising the car when turning.. As Murcod said, they help to distribute weight when swerving etc.

When offroad, this also occurs, so when one wheel wants to drop into a rut or tuck right up, the swaybar tries to prevent this happening, which limits travel of the front suspension.
Taking the swaybar off results in fully independant front suspension arms, so when one side droops or compresses, it does not affect the other wheel in any way.

[SimplyPV]

AND... when you wind up the torsion bars, they are stiff enough to not need the sway bar. you'll experience a little bit of body roll, but nothing bad enoughto need it back on. throw it away, and never look back (i still have mine. )

[HotFourOk]

yeh.. winding up the torsions makes it handle so much better

I'd like to see what aftermarket ones were like... be a big improvement to the old girl! Bit dear for the time being... $535 supplied

[ferozamaniac]

OK i got it. So for our use (off roading) taking off the sway bar makes our feroza or any 4x4 to handle and grap the ground much better. Thank youuuuu

[HeathGQ]

with std suspension, I would leave sway bars in. Once upgraded suspension, wound-up torsion bars, the sway bar would not be required - however, 'may' make the vehicle unroadworthy....

I found the 30' BFG's muddies on Suzuki ROHs 15 x 7's to work a treat with a 2" suspension lift. I didnt need extra flare width. But the tyre size 'may' make the vehicle unroadworthy....

I have a great design or a front bash plate too - really increases the approach angle between the wheels.




(note: 'may' = does)

[Bowhunter]

Mine passed a Qld "safety cert/road worthy" test without my sway bar...

(no extra "payment" was needed either )...


Luke

[murcod]

Widetracks most likely will cope/ drive a lot better without the bar due to the wider track. I know I won't be taking mine off permanently- too dangerous for my liking (and that's with upgraded rear springs and the torsion bars wound up a bit.)

[RockyF75]

Lookin at the pics... If thats 'how much better'(commos have that much flex dude ) it flexes up front, you'll crap ur daks when u see a solid in action Not to gloat but...... when my SOLID axle front flexes, you only see half of the front wheel, the rest is in the arch

But to back-track a little and minimise my flaming, the pictures never do it justice, and if you wind up the torsion bars, new shocks, and new springs you'll have massivly better flex yet again (~500 for good shocks, probably less for rear springs) - if your clever and SHOP around , ie, dont go to TJM/ARB etc and say "I want lift, gimmie lift" I saved about a grand going to the manufacturer, getting the springs, and taking them + car to my own mechanic. But that was with front + rear, just rear will be much cheaper 4 U.

EDIT: I got 2" suspension lift bought and fitted for less than a large 4x4 store quoted me for JUST SUPPLYING 2" bodylift kit

[murcod]

Actually IMHO if you wind the front torsion bars up too high you will lose a lot of flex (been there, done that...)

Check any Feroza with a decent amount of suspension lift and you'll see them lifting the front wheels all the time (wound up torsion bars = harder to compress suspension + less suspension down travel = wheels lifted more often)

[HotFourOk]

You should see a coily rear flex then F70 Just forget about the solid axle part for a bit

Could you get a bodylift kit from a shop F70? Was it off the shelf or a custom job? I thought everything was custom for these... lol .. You should do both anyways man

My new coils are in the delivery truck at the moment.. waiting anxiously

[RASERONE]

Yeah i have spoken to the guys at overkill engineering (http://www.overkill4x4.com/)
there local in hornsby.. they would fix me up with some extended rear shackles..$80-$120 /fitted for the pair..
Ill also get them to wind up the torsion bars in the front.. i would do it myself but i want it done right.

My rebuilt engine is almost run in..only 245kms to go before the tappets are re tightened and that annoying sound goes away,,will be able to take give it a strap too...

I have noticed with the torsion bars removed, the only noticeable body roll or detremental body roll occurs during very sharp high speed cornering, but that said, a ferobie isnt a race car its a truck,,and im loving the way the truck feels when i drive without the sway bar.

I presume a removed sway bar will be really noticeable whilst in mud or sand where the road surface is rutted.more traction on wheels that need it?

[HotFourOk]

I have noticed with the torsion bars removed

I hope you mean swaybar

Extended shackles aren't liked upon by the boys in blue or insurance companies i dont think Raserone... But its a good way to get lift in the rear end. You could also look at lifted leaf springs to lift the back.

Yeah, they're never good at high speed cornering in the first place... lol
Some people actually like the feel of the car with the swaybar removed... I think you're one of them now man!....

Winding up torsion bars does remove a lot of down travel in the front wheels.. coz of the preload already on them....
Only way to get real lift in the front without suspension changes is a body lift..... hmmmm

[lay80n]

Extened shackles work, but remember they are illegal, and even if a engineer passes them, they are still illegal. Though if you dont go overboard with length most coppers will not notice them.
Layto....

[rOd]

Extened shackles work, but remember they are illegal, and even if a engineer passes them, they are still illegal. Though if you dont go overboard with length most coppers will not notice them.
Layto....

Exactly.

And painting them a bright purple colour doesnt help either.

There is a brown (SR5)hilux I see around in sydney with red ext-shackles and 37" claws with around 6 inches of rubber sticking out of the body with no flares.
Ive seen this hilux drive around like that for the past THREE YEARS or so!

How the fark he gets away with it is anyones guess!?

[RockyF75]

You should see a coily rear flex then F70 Just forget about the solid axle part for a bit

Could you get a bodylift kit from a shop F70? Was it off the shelf or a custom job? I thought everything was custom for these... lol .. You should do both anyways man

My new coils are in the delivery truck at the moment.. waiting anxiously

Hmmmmm, coils......*droooool*

From memory, the guy at the shop told me it came in a kit, so I assume proper aftermarket, off the shelf type, unless he was gonna bodge me up some 'custom' ones and still charge that of a kit

[HotFourOk]

I just put in my Ironman 40mm lift Heavy Duty coils today

While I was at it I removed the rear sway bar... now just for some flex pics
The lift I got is lots more.. prob due to the old ones sagging. The handling is also ten times better than before.. even with no swaybar