i keep mine on the front of the blazer till i get to the trail, then remove it. i removed the rear one a long time ago and never reinstalled it. never noticed a differance. the front one with it off, street driving is VERY interesting.
off road articulation will increase imensly with it off.

 

Cool, thanks Cow. She's been driving with it disconnected for a while now, waiting for a fix. I think eventually she'll get proper disconnects though.

 

I didn't read all the posts above, just the intial one.

Hey Moonie,
I asked the exect same question at camp jeep.

a) In essence the sway bar controls body roll during cornering. Thus making the Jeep more stable in corners. You can drive without them, just take turns slower then normal. No sudden turns at highway speeds either.

b) Sway bar also both helps and hinders off roading performance. Let me explain that a little more. With the sway bars disconnected the axle will flex more, you will get more articulation, which will help keep the tires on the ground to gain traction. However the downside is with the sway bar disconnected the axle can move laterally under the jeep. In other words, the sway bar helps keep the axle centered under the jeep, when it is disconnected the axle can move from side to side. This can be a problem in certain situations. For example while sidehilling, or while attempting to climb a obstical on one side of the vehicle (big rock). With the disconnected sway bar, the axle will shift laterally (side to side) and this shift can cause "bump Steer", and can bind up your suspension. Both cause some minor handling quirks. Neither of which are a problem if your going slow and keep your thumbs/fingers out of the steering wheel.

The negatives are less noticable on leaf sprung verse coil sprung suspensions. Not sure which your jeep has. Regardless, be aware of the dangers and drive accordingly. Slow down in turns, no sudden sharp turns at high speeds, and keep your thumbs/fingers out of the steering wheel and you should be just fine.

Jeep is coming out with automatic sway bar disconnects. According to the tech, the sway bar can only be disconnected while in 4low and going slower then 18mph. Once you get over 18mpg it automatically locks the sway bar back to the axle. There are numerous aftermarket sway bar disconnect kits on the market. I say one that uses front axle lock hubs to lock and unlock the sway bar. It was prettty cool. I'll have to get some pics uploaded tonight for you.

 

I would like to add.
While I was working part time in the service center it wasn't uncommon to have people not know their links (connect the sway bar to the axle) were broken or missing. When questioned, they did mention that they did notice that "one day" it wouldn't handle turns as well, "seemed to lean more". So yea, you can drive without them and not really notice any real change in a DD. Most don't push the vehicle anywhere near the limits of the suspension daily. Off-roading is different, in that your trying to push the suspension to its limits and beyond. Go slow and you should be fine.

 

Ya, these trails are guided and they are geared to your skill level, so we shouldn't run into that much of a problem. Thanks for the input.

 

No howlin' at the moon, moonwater!!!!

 

Was gonna say shouldn't have any problems being disconnected. cept it can wear on your tires. My friend picked up a set of quick disconnects for his jeep. because we go off-roading and because they were cheaper than factory grade replacements. Go figure. IS tehre any made for our blazers? Wouldn't mind having since I think this could be some of my problem with my blazer and busting bump stops and a wore torsion bar is probably part of it as well.

 

I have heard of people making their own disconnects on the NBS. Take a look at eh bolt that connects the sway bar to teh control arm. Mimic one of the disconnects kits for the Heep.

The OBS, good luck. Going to be almost impossible to put on disconnects due to the way it is designed. Unless you swap in a new body style sway bar.

 

I've been wheeling a lot of years and i suggest you disconect it when you get to your destination only NOT before you get there! remember thats what they make quick discinects for. have fun and keep the rubber side down.

 

If SOMEONE (lol) were to cut the swaybar in the middle, and bolt a section of tubing that fits fairly snug inside the bar to one side and use some sort of quick release pin to connect the sides together do you think SOMEONE woould encounter any problems? same thing front and rear? might be an interesting project and eventually a how-to...



thanks alot.......SOMEONE