Sway bars

GreenSuby

Forum Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2015
Messages
80
Location
Dapto. NSW
Car Year
2004
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
Manual
Gday all
When you go off road do you disconnect a sway bar (or both) to give better articulation?
With the sg forester having an lsd in the rear, id assume that if you can keep the wheels in contact with the ground more you will get more consistent drive.
If it is done, would there be problems with the extra movement in the rear suspension?
I'm not intending to do extreme wheeling, just wanting more off road performance.
Thanks
Greensuby
 
I have never done it, and since you are not contemplating anything extreme, you probably don't need to either. The VLSD should not be relied upon to deliver drive when one of the wheels is off the ground.
 
^ Nor I.

The vLSD works, but will not be the same as a conventional LSD.

When it's working, you can feel a conventional LSD working most of the time, even in a car as urbane as an E-Type Jaguar. This is not the case with a vLSD, which is all but undetectable most of the time. I have felt mine 'bite' only once, when crossing a culvert at the side of a track. It was unmistakable - i.e. felt like a conventional LSD ... ;).

However, there are other indications that it's working at other times when one would expect some rear wheel spin, and that doesn't happen. I am specifically thinking of towing my camper trailer up a 30°, wet track with small pebbles all over it. No rear wheel traction loss at all. Without the rear vLSD, this would occur, even without the CT. I know that it would, because it did with my '93 Impreza under similar conditions, even with no trailer. The Impreza had open diffs at front and rear.
 
I occasionally disconnect my sway bars when going off road. Most the time I can't be bothered, but when I do it make difficult tracks much easier.

Assuming you have the standard suspension in you SG, disconnecting the front sway bars gives you an extra 56mm of travel and disconnecting the rear sway bar gives you an extra 35mm of travel.

Both sway bars in means you can lift a wheel 257mm.
Both sway bars out means you can lift a wheel 348mm.

In some cases this is the difference between lifting a wheel and not. Other times it just means your wheels stay in contact with the ground for longer, giving you more consistent drive.

I don't think sway bars have even meant the difference between me making it or not, but they do make it easier and allow me to not rely on momentum as much, which is easier on the car.
 
Red do you know how much removing ONLY the rear gives you. I am not a fan of removing fronts except for severe OR as they are pretty much crucial on road in my opinion. The XV has a tram tracking feel that is even noticeable with the new much higher profile tyres( though nowhere near as bad) and I strongly suspect the rear swaybar. Fixing that AND getting a little extra articulation on the dirt would be nice.
 
In an SG with stock suspension, disconnecting only the rear gives you 292mm of total wheel travel. You gain more wheel travel disconnecting the front then the rear, due to the front being a thicker sway bar. Disconnecting the rear creates a little more under-steer. Disconnecting the front gives you a little more over-steer, but also makes the steering feel less responsive, the car leans ... and then the car turns the corner.

If I disconnect my sway bars I do it at the same time I air down, then reconnect them at the same time I air up. I bought a Subaru because I wanted good handling. While they are disconnected I cable tie the ends out the way, otherwise they knock on something.

I can also get the figures for an SG with king springs if any one wants them, but I don't know the figures of any other models.
 
Gday Redxs
Do you use "sway bar disconnects" or just un-bolt the links?
I was thinking of doing the rear bar but after your reply, the front looks like the best option if only doing 1.
Greensuby
 
I just unbolt mine. My fronts have the thread fixed onto the link, so i only need one spanner to undo them. My rears have a bolt through the link, so I need a spanner on either end. Making the front easier to disconnect.

If reconnecting them, make sure you do the nuts up reasonable tight, I've have a few times when mine have loosened after a week and start rattling/knocking.
 
I completely removed both sway bars years ago.

I have VTD, VCD and vLSD but there are still times when I can't progress along a track due to limited articulation :shake:
 
Last edited:
Liberty Valance said:
I completely removed both sway bars years ago.

I have VTD, VCD and vLSD but there are still times when I can't progress along a track due to limited articulation :shake:
Click to expand...

Try HotBits coilovers…24cm stroke front, 26cm stroke rear :iconwink:
 
They were custom built to my specs, you can follow this in my members journal.

I paid 2'200 USD all included (taxes, freight etc…)

If I had to re-order some today, I would change a few things :

- DT1 instead of DT2 as the compression knobs tend to leak and I have never needed to make compression harder.

-Buy the kit without the springs as their range of spring rates and lengths isn't large enough (I opted for Eibach and H&R springs)

-Re-use of the oem top mounts as their adjustable top pivot mounts aren't needed

-longer rear rods (285mm instead of 260mm) because 25mm of stroke is "lost" with the oem top mounts (lengthened at a friends machine shop to keep the stroke !)

I modified the upper spring seats of the rear oem SG top mounts to fit 60mm ID springs.

Changed the HotBits oil (Dexron 3 ATF) with Motorex fork oil 2,5W. Much smoother ride.

Calculated the spring rates for maximum flex (wheel travel)
 
And because its a sway bar thread…long time no sway bars !
 
I would be a bit wary of using the stock swaybars with any extended travel shocks.
They are VERY short arms and I suspect they are pretty much at the limits of their included angles at flex extremes ( maybe stock ones are beyond but hard to tell without doing the geometry).
In fact the trick with subies may be to just put longer softer arm bars in. These stockies look like they will force a very narrow linear range in the middle.
 
Has anyone got any links to quick disconnects and ways to keep them out of the way?

Was watching a youtube clip recently when one manufacture of disconnects was suggesting just disconnecting one side one to stop the bar from rattling around.

Would be a little bit of a pain to unbolt/rebolt each session.
Cheers
 
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