One day my dad was working on our old mini-van. It appeared that the swaybar bushings were semi-disintegrated so he was fixin to just replace it, but then he saw when he removed the old sway bar it was broken into two separate pieces. So instead he just removed the old sway bar.

I've been now driving with no sway bar (instead of a broken one) for a few days now and noticed the front end seems noticeably lighter, "floatier" and possibly better able to absorb sudden jolts. I suppose even the broken bar added some resistance to travel as the whole bar weighs about 40 lbs.

It must have been broken for years since we didn't notice anything different lately. I think I might have broke it a few years ago driving up and over curbs with it, going slow, like at 1-3 mph. I do remember a metalic bang or snapping sound.

Anyways, I'm just curious, has anyone here with a newer 4x4 has removed their factory swaybars? They seem to be quite fragile when it comes to bumps and probably degrade ride quality over potholes, bumps, curbs etc. I think if I ever get a 4x4 or plain truck I'll do the same.

I dont know about the new trucks, but my 82 didnt come with a swaybar.. no bar no mounts no nada... of course it is a 2wd.. but from the other board not all truck had them.. again.. dont know about the new ones.   

about the only thing a roll bar (commonly called) or an antiroll bar (what it is really called) just controlls the body roll of the vehicle through corners and stuff  

a friend of mine has the same problem on a ford minivan he just removed the broken bar and let it go his family has been driving it for about 2 years that way with no problems.

personally i havent removed them from any of my vehicles so i dont know the diff in handing on my rigs.

This is something that is more rider preference than anything else.  Although you might want to be careful on minivans and lifted trucks.  Antiroll bars are there to keep your center of balance (or close to anyways) on a vehicle.  At higher speeds and sharp corners, the vehicle will want to shift weight to the outside of the corner by means of centrifugal force.  Remove the bars and you allow the van/truck to do this, with the risk of a rollover or tire blowout.  I drove a buddy's lifted Nissan after he took off the bars and it was downright scary just driving around town.  For wheelin' purposes, there are several companies that make removable antiroll bars so that on the street you have stability but offroad you get some articulation. Just remember those antiroll bars were there for a reason and its hard to maintain that 5star crash rating if you remove something that was designed for control.  

ah the sensless beating of a mini van i know where you come from, i broke to cv shafts in one week, the first was drift ing around  a corner, and the other was while"tray drifting" but my dads old jeep (75 J-20) used to have one but  we did when put on new springs we cut off allot of that junk, and it flexed so much better, but the new springs helped allitle  

You comment "Ah, the senseless beating of a minivan..." almost made me blow ginger ale out my nose! Thanks for the laugh!  

yes every 4x4 I have, 2000 toco 77 3/4 ton chevy and 80 3/4 ton chevy I like it, it gives you more flex and with the 2000 toco I have racerunner coilovers I just made them stiffer so it will not roll as much. I have a lift on all 3 of them 3" toco 6" chevys  

Like some other folks said, Automotive manufacturers don't put stuff on cars that they don't absolutely need. Every auto maker is into cutting corners on anything, and everything these days, so they can to make the car cheaper, and sell it at higher cost.

I belive it was PT Barnum that said: "There is no product that cannot be made a little bit cheaper, and sold for a few cents more".  I think Wal-Mart has made a fine art of these words in my opinion. Friend of mine bought a $40.00 tool box that looks like the Craftsman $300.00 one - ( If you stand back some, and cross your eyes while looking at it ), he ran his hand along the bottom edge a put a big gash in his hand! The bottom edges of the the metal box were un-finished ( not filed, or ground down before painting )  - made in China, by starving political prisoners, no doubt.

My point is: ( yes, I finally got to it! ), watch out if you have to swerve hard to avoid and accident in that vehicle without a swaybar, you may put it on it's side, or possibly roll it, depending on how fast you're going. - word to the wise.

btw - The front factory sway bar on my '77 K5 is 1-1/8 inch thick, solid steel, and weighs about 80 lbs!  I compensated for the weight by installing a Holley 750 CFM double pumper !!

Thanks for your reply redbeast, but I'm a little confused. You have removed your swaybar? If so have you ever driven it without the swaybar?

Our minivans swaybar was one of them easiest parts to remove from our van. All we had to do was undo 4 bolts and the whole thing came off. It was mounted on the underside of the car, so it was really easy. I don't know if removing an unbroken swaybar would be as simple. Maybe it would require jacking up the entire front end to remove the tension on the bar.

Anyways, I just thought if it was so simple to remove, then maybe some wheeler's here might like to try removing it when they hit the trails or mud to get extra flex and flotation. (from a lighter front end)

I've removed the bar on my K5  to replace the factory bushings that were shot. I noticed the difference when I put it back with good poly bushings. The front ones were pretty much just strips of rubber hanging from the bar. the rear ones were crumbling with pieces missing. I've thrown the truck around curves on the street, both before replacing them, and after. There was a lot more body roll before the fix.

If I had a bare bones off-road truck I would consider leaving them off, and improving the articulation on the axles a lot more with other mods. But that would be an off-road only truck that I would haul to the trails and mud on a trailer, and not a part-time street truck like mine.

Does your K5 have any modifications?

One thing I've been thinking about lately is since a lot of the newer 4x4 IFS lifts don't help much offroad, that maybe I might like a stock 4x4 with the front sway bar removed. I imagine a stock height 4x4 without the sway bar would probably be no worse a rollover risk than even a new 4x4 with a 4" lift and the swaybar still attached. Plus the first truck I suggested would probably weigh 150 lbs less in the front end.

I've got a 4-inch lift on my beast, and I've replaced the factory body bushings with Poly 1-inch all around.

The 4-inch lift, plus the lack of a sway bar would just magnify the likelyhood of a roll-over in my opinion. It's an expensive experiment once you roll it over. I've rolled one, so I know. If anything people are adding rear swaybars in addition to the factory fronts to on-road vehicles and sports cars.

That's where you and I part ways on the IFS question. I don't have the time, money, maintenance, or inclination to deal with factory IFS. "Give me straight axle, or give me death".

btw- what did swaybars ever do to you that you despise them so ??

What did swaybars ever do to me? LOL redbeast! Thanks for the laugh.

I just thought that since most lifts on newer trucks are practically pointless, removing the swaybars might be a way to make a stock appearing truck perform surprisingly well in certain offroading-like conditions, even if it's just being able to drive faster over a heavily rutted gravel road.

Your K5 sounds really nice! I agree that with a rig lifted that high while on the street a sway bar is desirable.

I don't know if I want an IFS 4x4 either. By that I mean, ideally I'd like to have a 4x4 pickup as a daily driver. The IFS 4x4 pickups are quite disappointing compared to a solid-axle truck, and I don't know if I'd still like them better than a newer 2wd. Since I live in the rust belt, and I live in the city with a tiny garage and driveway, I don't have room for a truck that won't run for a few months and needs restoration. That limits me almost entirely to newer trucks or cars, likely within 10 model years old for use as a daily driver. (I generally dislike all newer vehicles but they won't make a new 1987 K10)

Maybe newer 4x4 pickups and perhaps all newer pickups would be a big disappointment to me, so maybe I should save my dough while I live here and if I need some new wheels, forget the pickups and buy something like a small and boring front-drive Buick. Are newer 2wd pickups not so bad?

I've got an '02 S-10 but it's just for getting to work and back. It works ok, but it's got no power and gets stuck in the bunny ruts on the side of the highway sometimes. More than once I've had to go home and get my beast to yank this *** off the sand on a shoulder. 2wd sux! I also have to be careful not to rip the bumper off or twist up the underside on this tonka truck. One thing S-10's ( and a lot of other small pickups ) really need is a big 'ol D-ring attachment on the front & rear to tie a tow strap onto!

The new H3 people got it right ! - something this ride really needs are prominent D-rings! I've heard the new H3's are based on the Colorado / Canyon bodies, so it's pretty much just a fancy S-10 with some bling.

I don't consider my lift to be 'big' but then I'm limited by being able to get one of my beasts in the garage. I've lifted it as far as I can. I've got a few scrapes of the cab & fiberglass top to prove it ( from trying to take it in at more than a crawl ). City living sux!

My point is that you can't have the best of both worlds in one vehicle - it's either a good off-road vehicle, or a good highway vehicle. If your'e going to take the swaybars off then weld in some big steel pipes (red-neck bumpers)  front & back, rip out the cats, and let the mud fly! ....and don't forget the big decal for the rear window: "Hummer Recovery Vehicle" ! You'll get all sorts of dirty looks from all them 'bling pilots' out there! I love it!