okay it seems as though no one really knows what a sway bar is meant for-other than to limit flex... *sad sigh*

without a sway bar when the car corners the weight of the chassis
shifts toward the outside of the turn compressing the springs on that side. The
springs on the inside generally extend a little, or do nothing. Relatively to the
chassis itself, it appears that the outside suspension compresses and the inside doesn't.
A sway bar couples the suspensions on each side to each other, relative
to the chassis. If you could put the car up on a lift and actually compress
the suspension on one side by hand, then a sway bar makes the compression of one
side also try to compress the suspension on the other.

basically, a sway bar effectively increases the spring rate on whichever side
is compressed the MOST. If the sway bar were absolutely solid with no
twist so there's a 100% coupling between each side then
an attempt to compress one spring actually becomes an attempt to
compress both springs. It doubles the spring rate. If the bar has some
twist, then it may only increase the spring rate by say 50% on whichever side
is compressed the most.

So you're driving down the road and you go over
a bump that goes across the entire lane. The sway bar
does nothing. Both sides compress normally. You go around a
corner and the chassis starts to lean and compress the outside
suspension and now it's as though you have a bigger spring
out there, so the car remains more level. That's the good part.
Here's the bad part. You hit a bump with only one side, and it
behaves the same way, as though you have a stiffer spring,
so you feel uneven bumps more. You feel it crossing anything
diagonally as well, such as coming into or out of a parking lot
or driveway curb or a rock on the trail-limiting your flex.

Buy a set of disconnects. please.

^^^thats why you need it on the road. period.

 

I have a 2000 xj with a 5" lift on 31s(3" coils and spacer, shackles and AAL) i would have both sway bars but they wouldnt fit or broke, so i drive daily non highway speeds with none on the front or back. it sways a little but nothing to bad, i do have an adj track bar, seems to be alright and i live in a town with more pot holes then anywhere

 

Thanks for the advice, but ive had them out for about 3+ months now. The thread is really old.

 

If ya asked me it depends on the lift.. wranglers are pretty unstable with out a front sway bar but cherokees' are heavier and longer so they are alittle more forgiving.. with the lift your considering you could run with out a rear no problem hell you wont even be able to tell the difference whether it's there or not... the front is your call I have a JKS front sway bar with disconnects and I usually leave it tied up and off around town but on long highway trips I connect it to make it alittle more friendly.. I also run a 6.5in long arm with more sway than other lifts... my .02

 

its been several months since adding 3" to my already 2" i do have some concerns with the back more then the front, probably because im use to the front being disconnected. ive heard some cherokees dont even come with rear sway bar. when i go over several certain bumps in my town the axle moves kinda scary but nothing i cant live with until i have the money to fix it, also running with no rear shocks due to a axle bolt snapping off, much rather have that fixed then the sway bars.