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I am going on the white rim trail at Moab June 10th. I have never disconnected my sway bars... do you guys think its needed on this trail? Will it increase my chances of rear rubbing of the fender? I am new to this Jeep thing so I will have a lot of questions so take it easy on me. Attachment 676Attachment 677
Others may disagree, but I don't think it's worth the risk to disconnect our sway bars. I haven't done that trail and really know nothing about it, but I just did some pretty decent trails in Big Bear with both my sway bars connected and had no issues.
Hoaxci5, thanks for the comment. Can someone tell me what the risks are?
From my understanding if the front end drops down too much you can tear up your CV's. The swaybar helps keep it from dropping down too far.
In the rear I've heard of the spring popping out of place.. not sure how much a concern that really is.. but for what little bit of extra travel it would give I'm not worried about it. Until there is something I come across that gives me issues I'll just leave mine hooked up.
Disconnecting the front swaybars runs the risk of letting your cv joint have too great of an angle. They are only meant to operate up to a certain degree and with no swaybars the wheel can drop as far as the strut will permit it to do so possibly damaging the strut as well as well as the cv joint. Just in case a cv joint is the constant velocity joint on your front axle shafts that allows your front wheel to turn and still pull the vehicle along. As far as the rear swaybar goes it wont really hurt anything. The wheels can travel more and will not tip your vehicle into a teeter totter as easily as it would leaving it connected. I have the ome spring lift on my xk which is stiffer than stock so I never have reconnected my sway bar in the rear since taking it off the first time I hit some tehnical trails. Without stiffer spri.vs however it is pretty dangerous to drive the xk on the street too quickly with either set disconnected. That doesn't mean you can't go on the street for short distances at a slower pace so a slow trip into town with the rear disconnected shouldn't. E too dangerous as long as you are careful. I love having the rear disconnected offroad and it does offer some benefits however as hoaxci5 mentioned the xk is quite capable without removing them at all.
This is what happens to the front as well with too much travel, I have both front and rear sway bars removed. I do have Old Man Emu suspension so stiffer springs
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...4/photo7-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...4/photo6-1.jpg
If you have stock rear shocks, disconnecting the rear sway bar wont really do anything because the shock will reach its travel limit before the sway bar becomes the limiting factor. If you have longer rear shocks then disconnecting the rear will help.... but you need to be careful; anything over ~2" longer than stock is when you'll have issues with the brake line tightened up and the spring possibly falling out, so limiting straps and brake line extension/mods are required.
I put on the RR shock. Has anyone disconnected the rear sway bar with these shocks without doing a break line mod? ( I will for sure stay away from the front sway bar, thanks)
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How long are those shocks fully extended?
You can use a floor Jack to test it out. Lift up the left front from the frame area until the left rear tire is just off the ground (With sway bar connected) and measure the shock length. Then lower it down, disconnect the sway bar and jack it up again but pay attention to the brake line and spring. When the wheel is off the ground measure the shock again to see if disconnecting the sway bar is giving you more travel. This will also tell you if you're in the safe range for you spring seat and brake lines.
Would using the floor jack be enough to simulate a fully stuffed rear tire with full extension on the other side? I'm just trying to figure out if the jack test is just a rough idea or if its full travel?
If the shock is fully extended, then yes it will be representative. That's why you need to measure the shock first. If the shock is not fully extended then no.... you'll have to get a bit more involved in the test. You can do this by raising the rear of the vehicle and supporting it with jack stands under the frame so that the rear axle is hanging (it helps to take the rear tires off from this). Then put the jack under one side of the axle and raise it until its fully compressed. (FYI this method is an "easy" way to install 2" lifts without spring compressors ).