Rear sway bar

[sergetexan]

For the uninformed (me) what is the reason for replacement of sway bar which seems is a norm for our site? What advantages does a heavier bar present and under what conditions would it be a negative. Also does this apply for both 2wd and 4wd?

 

[Patsy1099]

Unless you do a lot of off-roading and/or have a significant lift, not sure why you would change a sway bar that’s not worn out.

 

[AnthonyD1978]

Unless you do a lot of off-roading and/or have a significant lift, not sure why you would change a sway bar that’s not worn out.

Coming from track cars I'm not sure why anyone would do it for off-roading. Seems like it would hurt performance off road. I think people buy them just to add another item to their forum signature

 

[SColang22]

Coming from track cars I'm not sure why anyone would do it for off-roading. Seems like it would hurt performance off road. I think people buy them just to add another item to their forum signature

Tell me about it! Some of these signatures with every stock option is nuts lol I don't see why people would change sway bars unless they have some crazy pavement princess lift and are taking tight turns.

 

[RamSco]

Agree 100% with @AnthonyD1978 re the off-roading comment. I have quick disconnects on the front sway bar on my CJ7 for that very reason... more articulation is a good thing off road. However, I live the mountain states where a stiffer sway bar does provide more comfortable cornering in mountainous highway driving.

 

[dkmesa]

Unless you do a lot of off-roading and/or have a significant lift, not sure why you would change a sway bar that’s not worn out.

This is inaccurate. Sway bars help with lateral stability. A beefier sway bar will reduce roll and instability on the road. It will further limit articulation for those who off-road.

 

[Patsy1099]

This is inaccurate. Sway bars help with lateral stability. A beefier sway bar will reduce roll and instability on the road. It will further limit articulation for those who off-road.

Depends on your overall config

 

[Patsy1099]

Here’s a vid that talks a bit about sway bars for off-road racing. Ignore the rig which is onviously not what we are running but the physics are the same. You can use a sway bar on road or off road. Most might use it on road for cornering but for our trucks I guess I thought one would use it less for pavement cornering and more for reducing off road body roll.

 

[Beegle19]

So for those that stay mostly on road, adding a thicker rear bar will help reduce roll in corners, it all reduces body movement and helps keep the rear end planted. Yes it will adversely affect your articulation in an off road setting but by how much is hard to say the only offering out there is hellwig and its not a huge change in size. Just stiffness.

Most of the people on here are just running a small lift/spacer and taller tires. Thus raising the ride height and center of gravity creating more roll/sway.

I'm actually buying one for mine after reading a ton of positive reviews. And when I decide to take it off roading, if it's that big of a hindrance, I'll jsut unhook the end links in less than 5 min.

 

[AnthonyD1978]

So for those that stay mostly on road, adding a thicker rear bar will help reduce roll in corners, it all reduces body movement and helps keep the rear end planted. Yes it will adversely affect your articulation in an off road setting but by how much is hard to say the only offering out there is hellwig and its not a huge change in size. Just stiffness.

Most of the people on here are just running a small lift/spacer and taller tires. Thus raising the ride height and center of gravity creating more roll/sway.

I'm actually buying one for mine after reading a ton of positive reviews. And when I decide to take it off roading, if it's that big of a hindrance, I'll jsut unhook the end links in less than 5 min.

Suspension, wheels, tires, and brakes are a system. Adding sway bars just directs more energy to your other suspension components and tires (sidewall). Just seems rather silly to do on a modern truck.

You could argue that adding stiffer sway bar on a truck with a high center of gravity and soft sidewalls will actually increase roll/sway.

But if you're doing it just for the sake of doing it; then I get it. Modding is fun

edit: I will say that I've had the Mopar 2" lift and 34" stiffer sidewall tires on a 20" wheel basically since day one of the truck. So with the new Fox shocks and stiffer sidewall maybe I'm just not seeing the gap a stiffer sway bar fills.

 

[Rototerrier]

Just got mine installed yesterday to resolve my wobbly feeling on shifty uneven roads. After taking several trips out, I'm sold. Much more stable and less sway.

I usually keep all my vehicles stock. First mod I've done in a long time. Unless something else comes up, will probably be my last... Unless I get a bed cover. Not sure if that counts as a mod though.

Not a big fan of spending money on senseless items, but this one is working out quite well so far.

But who knows, maybe I'll catch the mod bug. Could a catch can be in my future, or maybe some racing stripes, or some plastic wind deflectors. Pep my ride.

 

[Beegle19]

You may have a better more planted feeling due to the slightly wider wheels and better shock setup.

I can confidently say my truck has moderately more sway in the rear than the front. It's evident going around a long sweeper. The front end stays mostly flat and the rear will roll more.

This is the same finding that hellwig found in their testing. They don't even make a front bar for our trucks and their reasoning why is similar. The rams come with a very aggressive front bar from the factory. It's thicker than whats on and f250 diesel if that gives you some concept. Their quote is they would be happy to make and sell one for the front like they do for the older rams (pre 2010) and ford/chevy/Toyota/Nissan pickups but it just isn't needed. The rear bar is bar is under powered which is why they offer it.

I'm not saying all marketing is honest, but for them to loose out on a an easy money maker kinda paints a picture.

I'm not saying the bar is necessary for everyone. But just like you see in the post above it has been proven repeatedly to improve the ride quality for a lot of people. For $200 and less than 30 min to install. It's an easily justifiable mod

 

[PorBoy]

I run one, I’m happy and YES I did add it to my signature lol..

 

[Beegle19]

Quote from them

Why doesn’t Hellwig manufacture aftermarket Dodge pickup front sway bars?
We often get customers asking why our truck sway bar line has front and rear sway bars for Ford and GM trucks but only rear sway bars for the majority of the Dodge trucks. It really comes down to an easy answer, they don’t need them. Sway bars are a torsional spring that decreases body roll and sway in a vehicle. From the factory, vehicles are often set up with soft sway bars and with an understeer bias. By making aftermarket sway bars with larger diameters, we increase the stiffness of the bar to decrease body roll even further and bring the vehicle more towards a neutral steer balance. We determine the correct diameter for the bar from a series of calculations, test fit and test drives. The trick is to make the bar stiff enough to decrease body roll and sway and improve handling while not too stiff to hurt handling. Remember, a bigger bar is not always a better bar. After a point it will actually hurt more than help, which is why you don’t see companies making 3” diameter sway bars. In our testing with the Dodge trucks, they do not follow the industry trend of soft stock front sway bars and usually have a very stiff front bar that does not need improvement. While we would love to sell you something for the front of the Dodge trucks, our goal is to make products you need, not just something for you to buy since it is available. For comparison, a 2012 Ford Super Duty 4×4 has a factory 1-1/8” front sway bar which we increase to 1-5/16” on our aftermarket bar. A 2012 Dodge 1500 4×4 comes stock with an 1-7/16” front sway bar which is already 1/4” bigger than our aftermarket bar for the Super Duty. Obviously there is no need to increase this bar even more. We will keep testing the Dodge trucks as they come out to see if any of them need a front sway bar (for instance we found the 2009-2013 Dodge 1500 2wd could use a stiffer front bar so we make one for that model) but if you have a Dodge and we don’t make a bar, it is most likely because it is not necessary. And remember, while Dodge trucks have a strong front bar, they often have a soft or nonexistent rear bar so you will feel a large improvement with the upgraded Hellwig rear sway bar whether you’re towing, hauling or just daily driving you truck!"