ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Zooki on June 13, 2007, 10:27:19 PM
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Does anyone know if the front swaybar is solid or hollow? Are the swaybars on the Sidekick and the Sidekick Sport the same? Thanks!
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I just don't know.
Must people just throw them away. ;D
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So, not to be mean, but if you didn't know, why did you reply?
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Are the swaybars on the Sidekick and the Sidekick Sport the same? Thanks!
They are different due to the changed chassis width.
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So, not to be mean, but if you didn't know, why did you reply?
To be nice, I Was Explaining Why An Answer May Not Come So
Quickly or be known.
;) ;D
Now SMile and and try to be happy. ;D
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who cares, i guess if its soild the metal recyclers might give you some more money for it....
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on my 93 it was hollow
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Hollow
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I wasn't trying to be mean, I was thinking of some way to fab up a disconnectable sway bar. I know some people don't use them, but some people like to have them on their daily drivers. I was thinking if the bar was solid, I could rig up something like the axle disconnects the YJ jeeps use. I was thinking of cutting the swaybar in two in the middle, adding some bar with splines, and using a splined collar to lock the two sides together, and pull a cable inside to disengage. Anyway, I'm still in the "dreaming" stage. Or, I was thinking of welding a larger piece of tubing over the bar on one side, having the other side of the sway bar fit into it, and using a 3/8" pin through the collar and bar on the non welded side. Then I would just have to pull the pin out to unhook the 2 sides from one another. So, anybody have a spare sway bar they want to get rid of? :)
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throw the sway bar away i dont even notice its gone on mine
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ya i ran my with no sway bar and i didnt notice anything really at all.
Amilla
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Tell me what benefits i will have of road from removing the front sway bar
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If theres no noticble differene in handeling when its off, then there are no benifits...other then you might of gained some more articulation ;D
Amilla
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there is a difference!! it is alot smoother....but if you drive like me (and ass) i still take corners hard and fast it is a bit scary till you get used to the tippy feeling. that said i would not put it back on at all it is such a nicer drive. it removed the harsh smash over bumps
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I much prefer the handling with it on on-road. By quite a bit. I even swapped out my stock 2-door's for the beefier XL-7s and would consider adding a rear one. I don't mind a firmer ride for improved handling.
But in answer to Silver Lake's question, since the purpose of the sway (actually anti-roll or anti-sway) bar is to keep one side of the suspension from compressing or flexing much more than the other (in effect keeping the chassis from leaning excessively in turns), it's exactly what you don't want off-road.
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I took mine off a year ago.
Off-road i gained a lot more movement up front which saved the solid axle from having to do all the work... the difference was huge when the terrain demands wheel travel. The car stayed a lot more level over the rough stuff instead of being tossed around by the front end.
On road i noticed a small difference when cornering. I don't mind the small bit of added body roll. I'm pretty sensitive to what goes on with my vehicles when I drive and I don't miss the sway bar. I can tell you one thing.. my wife sure didn't notice ;)
Having said all that, I'm not answering the original question. To keep the convo relevant, if someone came up with a clever sway-bar disconnect that was dead simple to use and near free to make or buy then that would be cool, that way there would be one less thing I have to do to "un-mod" my suzki when I sell it ;)
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I removed my swaybar around Christmas time, haven't really thought about putting it back on again either. Right away I noticed it rides a heck of a lot better over bumps and it doesn't toss you at all if you don't hit speedbumps dead on. Off road I get alot better flex in the front end since the wheels can move independently. It's a little skittish at high speeds but as long as you're sober you shouldn't be flipping it.
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if you NEED a sway bar...you probly drive like an idiot...not to be mean
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Well, since the majority of my driving is on the street, I want my Sidekick to handle as well as possible. If I can find a way to have as much flex as having a disconnected swaybar, and yet have the benefits(no matter how slight) on the road at highway speeds, why is that so difficult to understand? The factory put them on these tall, tippy machines for a reason. Now, if you mainly use your machine off-road, then I can see ditching it. But for someone like me, who uses mine mainly on-road, with the occasional trip down the trail, rigging a disconnect seems to be the best of both worlds. As far as being sober and not flipping it, I was thinking more of having to avoid things on the road at highway speeds, like deer, cows, people making lane changes with no thought of whats going on around them, Semi-truck retreads coming apart in front of me, people pulling out without looking, etc, etc... . All of this has happened to me, and I have had to make sudden lane chages. I guess that makes me an "idiot" driving like that?
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I think if that happened you would probably flip it with the swaybar anyway...a tall skinny vehicle like a Sidekick isn't too hot at dodging deer.
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Could be, but then again, it could make that little bit of difference...
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On my 96 I know the rear anti-sway bar has helped a lot. The rear end will slide out before the body feels like it is going to roll over. It's great for those days when the ski slope is lousy and you head out before anyone else on the little two lane road leading up to the ski lodge. You can drive it like a sports car.
With a Turbo installed you could probably drive it like a sports car on the way up to. ;D
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I found that there was a BIG difference with mine when I removed the sway bar. Lots of understeer and you didn't have to drive like an idiot to notice it either. I had fairly soft +2" springs on there, if you have stiff springs or a badly set up spacer arrangement then you might have less issues. The sway bar is a torsion spring, remove it and the front suspension is going to be a lot softer under cornering.
As a quick fix I fitted 35mm wheel spacers all round, the increase in track was enough to cancel out the effects of removing the sway bar.
Its simple to disconnect the bar so I always say to give it a try. If you don't like the way it drives then put it back on.
Depending on where you live and your cover you might have to notify your insurance company. You may also need the bar to pass annual inspection.
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If you want to try it out you don't need to completely remove the whole bar, just unbolt the 14mm nuts for the links, just under the A-arms(it's just one per side), push up on the bar a tad and fold the links up a little.
Then test drive.
I drive mine everywhere, no swaybar. If you want to improve handling and stability(before or after swaybar removal), switch to a wider wheel, like a 15x7 with a 235/70 or 225/75.
When I bought my first tracker, before lifting it I put on Jeep CJ 15x7" wheels with 215/75's, it only made it 4" wider, but it handled surprisingly well.
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/uncivilized121/After_2.jpg)
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If you want to try it out you don't need to completely remove the whole bar, just unbolt the 14mm nuts for the links, just under the A-arms(it's just one per side), push up on the bar a tad and fold the links up a little.
You'll need to make sure its properly secured. I did that on mine and the sway bar dropped down and rubbed through one of the CV boots :(