Removing front sway bar adding rear sway bar

Hello TW community,

After watching Tinkerers Adventure video (that guy is awesome, big fan) about flexing with and without sway bars I am considering adding a rear sway bar to my 3rd gen and deleting the front.
My thought is this will help the front IFS compress/flex all the way. With an added bonus of a smidge more stability on twisty roads. As you all know with Tacomas the body just follows the angle of the front axle. The rear dose 90% of the articulation with the front sway bar attached.

I couldn't find any threads or videos on this with Tacomas.

Has anyone done this?

What sway bars offer the most flex or are adjustable?

 

Most of us remove the front but keep in mind it’s not significant as the front suspension travel is only a few inches. The rear doesn’t need a sway bar.

 

I removed my front sway bar and don't miss it. But like you It'd be nice if the front IFS would put in a little more "effort". I've been looking at these for the rear potentially Tk1 Racing Sway Bars .I haven't had a chance to do any measuring to see what would fit or decided to actually go forward with it.

 

He did that on SUVs with significant weight on the rear axle. Stiffening the Taco rear by itself could make it pretty tail happy. Proceed with caution.


No SB for 80k and really enjoy it this way.

 

The total (all the way up to all the way down) travel of the front isn't to bad i think its almost 11" at the tire.
With the Front sway bar removed i still cant get it to hit the bump stop when on my flex ramp. and i have plenty of weight up front.
My goal is to keep a comfy ride and keep the cab more level as to not spill my beverage of choice.

 

I'd be a little concerned that you're multiplying rollover risk even more than if you just delete the sway bar.

The front would be wanting to heel over in a turn while the rear is resisting through frame flex. So you're increasing both oversteer and loading on the outside front.




If you want more flex, just delete the bar. Leave your leaf pack alone.

 

There is a big difference between shock stroke and wheel travel. It’s about a 4.5” stroke which is 8-9” of wheel travel. If you are good with it then I’m not understanding the intent of your sway bar question.

 

Your train of thought is correct. IFS doesn’t like to articulate as easily as the rear. It wasn’t until I linked the rear that I realized how much of a difference there is. I think leaf packs have some inherent resistance to bending that helps, but links flex out super quick. A rear sway bar is a necessity in that case to make the front do more work. I flirted with the idea of a rear sway and built a few prototypes that snapped immediately (but that’s on me more than a reflection of sway bars) before deciding to SAS and be done with it (may still need sway bars, but much easier to get the desired outcome)

I have an FJ as well and removing the front was obviously a huge help. I left the rear sway bar in because of what I learned with the taco and it helps the front do a little more work. Watching his video verified that point.

It’s my understanding/half ass experience that a very stiff rear sway would be required to make the front do more work. I wouldn’t go the anti rock route and maybe look at TK1 for a custom set up.

 

Sorry Rock Lobster, I wasn’t clear, the front is deleted. I’m also not sure how it would handle That’s why I was asking if anyone has done it. So I don’t have to be the test case
I don’t mind a little oversteer.

 

Add another person who deleted sway bar with no issues. Even with Roof Top Tent on 1' bedrails or dirtbikes in bed. It drives so normal that I forget I removed it until someone talks about sway bars.

 

Thank for replying Joe
My intent is to even out articulation between the front and rear as best I can with an easy part add on.

I know it won’t ever be close like my FJ 80

 

Ya the 80 is gonna be a lot different. That’s a fat body that needs the rear sway bar.

I would remove the front and leave the rear as is. Many of us have off-roaded the heck out of our trucks and still DD them.

FYI this is the current state of my 80

 

I always wanted to do a diesel swap on my 80 but sold it before I could. I had a supercharged 1st gen taco that did everything the 80 did but faster with less gas. Now obviously I’m kicking myself.

Maybe I’ll experiment with adding a rear sway bar in the Spring if no one else tries it. Some one needs to be the guinea pig.

watch that Tinkerers Adventure video when you get a chance https://youtu.be/gcgKbUTQJy8

 

The multi link is a different animal vs the leaf spring tacoma.

The Tinkerers video isn't really suggesting removing front and leaving rear, but rather just pointing out a finding.

Running no sway bar on the front is rough, I only suggest it to serious off roaders. I feel like I'm falling out the truck if the door were to open.

I vote run both, or run neither. Not just rear.

 

Bro, not to be a dick and with all due respect, how much do you weight? I can almost tell no difference with it removed on the road. I live in east Texas and the roads are all curves. Mine doesn't even feel like that when I put my roof top tent on.

 

I was wondering the same after watching the video a few days ago. As far as I know, the FJ doesn’t use leaf springs. So I wasn't sure how much it translated to the tacoma.

 

210 I’m 6 3. So spare tire but not too fat lol

I’ve got a taco co worker that feels the same way, even on high end set ups like kings we notice how loose it is going into corners. Even at low speeds.

I only remove bars on my various trucks when it’s a wheeling weekend.

 

I guess it’s just what ever people are comfortable with. I have had so many high flex rigs and off roaders that maybe I’m just used to them.

 

Did you ever end up going this route? I am planning to do the same, and am having trouble locating the right parts to do it (with nearly 3” lift in rear).

(I hesitate to go with Hellwig and custom links, e.g., because of the loss of ground clearance with that product.)

 

I havnt had mine on for over a year now and I have 0 regrets. However an observation from when I changed wheels made a huge difference. I was on 17x9 +1 with 285's now I'm on 17x9 -25 with 295's and that extra trac width made it feel substantially more planted compared to the +1.
I never had any moments that felt unsafe with the narrower trac even when trying to throw it around.

But agreed with the above notes a full bodied vehicle with a linked rear end behaves far different than a leaf sprung set up. There's a reason we don't have them from factory. If you get in the right situation it will hit bump and in my case try to eat the fender flares.