Thread: swaybars and articulation

Originally Posted by Bush65

That is a silly statement that reflects your lack of knowledge. Edit, I might guess you think dislocating springs are good on a 4x4 end edit

Don't make judgements based upon the sheep who can't set up their springs and shockies for good articulation.

It would be rare to see a competition 4x4 without front and rear anti-roll bars in the USA. Many if not most recreational 4x4's there use them.

From LRM,Jan. 2014, Perhaps not such a silly statement, from the article "Sand Stormer, " ;


" To solve the dilemma of achieving optimum handling on and off road, it was decided to fit an attachable anti roll bar, which stiffens up the ride at speed, on the fast straight highways, of the gulf, but can be easily unclipped 3.to afford maximum articulation in extreme off road conditions."


Perhaps you could check www.defendericon.com before making such a derogatory , & sweeping statement, with respect Bob

Originally Posted by bob10

From LRM,Jan. 2014, Perhaps not such a silly statement, from the article "Sand Stormer, " ;


" To solve the dilemma of achieving optimum handling on and off road, it was decided to fit an attachable anti roll bar, which stiffens up the ride at speed, on the fast straight highways, of the gulf, but can be easily unclipped 3.to afford maximum articulation in extreme off road conditions."


Perhaps you could check www.defendericon.com before making such a derogatory , & sweeping statement, with respect Bob

Ba Ba Ba

Back in 93 Rangerovers had a large front sway bar and interconnecting (cross-linked) front air-bag suspension.

Most people want to remove the sway bar and rely on the springs for roll-stiffness. Rangerover did it the other way.

I put new Terrafirma suspension and king springs on my 07 Puma. It still has the factory sway bars fitted.

Im now looking for dislocation cones to stop my springs falling out. For me, it articulates plenty still.

I'm no suspension expert but something about dislocated springs does not sit well with be and the poms seem to be mad on it . Rather run a longer softer spring the have it dislocate it looks impressive but there's no load actually holding the tyre to the ground so its really doing sfa

Originally Posted by komaterpillar

Gday guys and gals

Just wondered what peoples thoughts were on removing swaybars/anti-roll bars for better axle articulation.

The vehicle in question is a 2013 defender 110 with stock as, factory springs and shocks

I have just recently removed the front and rear anti-roll bars from my 2012 90, which also has stock springs and shocks. There has been a noticeable but not problematic increase in body roll - it still has less body roll than my RRC. Off-road It has been excellent, there is a remarkable decrease in the traction control activation going through obstacles. This is good because I hear LR diffs can only take 1-2 hours of TC activation!

All in all I love it, easiest mod I've ever done and I don't think I'll be putting them back on anytime!

I'm not familiar with all Land Rover models, and most of mine, except for a rangie with poor aftermarket anti roll bars and 300Tdi Disco, never had anti roll bars fitted when I bought them.

The stock sway bars on the disco are poorly designed. The front ARB limits droop on the RH side, because it hits the drive shaft. The rear ARB limits droop both sides because the axle links are too short.

A lot of people have stiff spring rates, often greater than stock. Many after market springs are designed to carry heavier loads and/or raise the suspension height and perform reasonably well on and off road. They are not designed to greatly improve off road suspension.

People fit longer travel shock absorbers to increase articulation. In many of these cases the short stiff springs dislocate when the travel is even a little greater than stock.

Dislocation cones and the like came into use to solve the problem of dislocated springs not re-seating properly. And so some people were happy that that problem was fixed.

They overlooked the fact that it was a band-aid for a symptom resulting for using springs that were not well suited for long suspension travel.

In those circumstances, removing anti roll bars will allow more articulation.

However with better springs, longer and softer, and good anti roll bars, the suspension performance can be far better.

During rebound/droop travel, once the spring reaches it free height it no longer applies any force on the axle. This not only hurts articulation it hurts traction and makes for a poor ride and performance in the rough stuff unless you travel slowly.

The UK is where I would not look for good off road suspension design (I'm not classing rally as off road). The one exception I see in the UK is the the X-spring designed by Simon Rafferty to provide spring down force on the axle for greater rebound travel.

Originally Posted by Bush65

The UK is where I would not look for good off road suspension design (I'm not classing rally as off road). The one exception I see in the UK is the the X-spring designed by Simon Rafferty to provide spring down force on the axle for greater rebound travel.

Yep, I pulled the rear dislocation cones and fitted x-springs. Now drives through a cross axle wash out I needed momentum for. Have the x-eng rear sway bar fitted which has probably saved me from going bush (travelling too fast on back roads) a couple of times. Takes about ten seconds to open the door, get out, disengage, get back in and be on the way. Makes a very noticeable difference on road, sealed and unsealed. (also gets ripped off on rocks )

Front has a 27mm bar with the rear mounts moved back about 6" (to clear the propshaft). With standard suspension set up it didn't make any difference to articulation, but noticeable difference to body roll when removed. With my current front suspension set up it does limit articulation.

I might have to fit disconnects when the Superflex arms (still not available to the general public yet, apparently) and x-springs are fitted.

Rick