Towing with the swaybar removed

have you towed a decent load (4,500+ lbs) with the front swaybar removed?

Just curious as I'm trying to decide whether I leave the swaybar on after lifting or remove it for more droop and to actually take advantage of the extended travel coilovers.

 

Throw it in the garbage, you'll be fine just drive sensibly

 

I tow all the time and haven't had the sway bar for a long time. I first removed it when I had 5100s set at 1.75 on stock coils and now run 5100s with 885 coils. No problems. I'm not sure if I'd suggest removing it if you're on stock suspension. Give it a try - you can always put it back on.



The wood in the pics below was green, so pretty damned heavy.

 

Removing the sway bar introduces a safety concern. Especially with a lifted vehicle due to its higher center of gravity.

The vehicle will "roll" more in corners, which obviously you can compensate for by driving slower.

There will be an increased tendency for the vehicle to roll OVER. I was once driving a vehicle where the sway bar popped out of its socket mid turn, inside front wheel lifted about 3 feet off the ground, very nearly went over. Wasn't even going through the turn particularly hard as vehicle was perfectly flat and without the slightest hint of lift prior to that.

You need to consider the impact of this on emergency maneuvers, especially at higher speed.

I very strongly suggest leaving the sway bar in place.

 

If you're running the stock suspension leave it on. If you are running aftermarket springs/struts such as 885's/ OME then it's fine. I only noticed minimal roll with the heavier springs plus the truck drives and rides a lot better.

I haven't had a sway bar in over a year.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/daily-driver-with-no-front-sway-bar.407864/page-3

What this guy said. Post #60

 

Kind of hard to compare a stock truck without a sway bar with a modified one with heavier springs.

 

It will actually do much WORSE than that hilux in the video. That hilux is factory with swaybar ATTACHED.
In fact, with THAT maneuver, the driver probably wouldn't have been able to catch it before it went over.
It would roll with a much less aggressive avoidance maneuver, and consider if you're driving on a smaller highway without a barrier separating you from oncoming traffic, you could roll into the path of another vehicle and DIE.

 

Having a slightly heavier spring won't make a huge difference. They still compress. It is still dangerous. You could still die.

 

Have you driven a modified truck without the sway bar?

 

You are clearly argumentative.
But you can't argue with *physics*.

I don't care at all how you think it drives.
The only thing that matters is what *actually* happens when it really matters.
I'm willing to bet that you haven't had to avoid many moose.

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I own the truck and drive it daily and know how it reacts. I tested it as soon as I took the sway bar off in a very similar maneuver. I don't believe he's going to see very many Moose in Reno, NV. I know Moose are a different story but the reality is you are safer hitting most animals than avoiding them and killing yourself in the process. I know this from training and seeing it for the last 21 years at work. People swerve to avoid hitting a deer and sustain more injuries than if they just hit them and let the vehicle do it's job.

 

Ya, like the guy said.

1. Most folks won't ever need to make an avoidance maneuver like this, although I know a guy who did, while he was driving a BMW.
2. If you remove the front sway bar, the Tacoma is guaran-fucking-teed to do as poorly or worse than that Hilux did.

 

Knowing that and reacting perfectly under panic, are two entirely different things.

In Reno, you would have to occasionally do that kind of maneuver to avoid old people.

And note that a moose isn't the only thing you need to avoid. How about a car that cuts across the median at you?

 

Even more important when towing a heavy load. Because it doesn't matter what the setup up front is if you make an evasive maneuver with 4k pounds pushing you it can kill you regardless.

 

After getting my Icons with 650# springs, I ran without a sway bar for a week because I damaged one of the end links during the install. I experimented with an avoidance maneuver at just 25 mph and the amount of roll was already uncomfortable, though the tire didn't leave the ground.

That said, with a trailer attached, that kind of avoidance maneuver is not doable anyway, so I agree removing the sway bar makes no difference.

 

An aftermarket coil with an underloaded (typical with 650 or 700lb coils) linear spring rate (stock are progressive rates) acts just the same as a sway bar only it provides all resistance from the coil and does not rely on stored energy in the torsion of the steel bar. The same laws of physics apply they are just acted upon by different components. I also agree this argument is a moot point since towing has nothing to do with vehicle body roll. Towing weight pushes and pulls at a center tow hitch point in the rear and does not contribute to roll.

If you aren't comfortable with it, then don't do it. If you have to ask, then you probably aren't comfortable with it.

 

That isn't actually correct. Part of the job of the sway bar is to cause the opposite wheel to move up or down along with it. In other words, when you are in a corner and the weight transfers to the outside wheel, the force through the swaybar doesn't just limit how far the body will drop down on the outside wheel, but it will reduce how hard the INSIDE wheel pushes down as well.

 

Well, agree to disagree then. The swaybar storing of energy as a byproduct lifts the inside wheel, but by virtue of the naming convention (sway) it was primarily designed to prevent body roll or sway. The lifting of the inside wheel is a secondary effect of the twisting motion and linkage to the inside wheel. Otherwise, you are more accurately explaining the primary design of traction bar that can be adjusted to control grip in a turn and balance the weight between both the inside and outside tires. Tacos have swaybars, not traction bars.

 

You don't have to agree, you are free to not understand whatever you like.