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Non Badlands "Sway Bar Disconnect" Videos?

TaiKoi

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I've never had a truck with stability bar disconnect and right now I'm not planning on getting the Badlands. I don't plan to do intense rock crawling in my Bronco but maybe some mild crawling if the trail requires it. I feel like most of the testing videos out there show Broncos with the disconnect ability. I was hoping to see some off road trail testing videos without the disconnect. Or are all of those videos with the disconnect? I'm just not familiar enough with the disconnect stuff to know if it's just natural flex or if Ford is only showing off Broncos that have it?

If anyone could point me to some videos that show a 2021 Bronco without sway bar disconnect going over rocks and stuff, that'd be awesome. Or if you just wanna leave some thoughts on having it VS not having for somewhat casual use. Does not having it make THAT much of a difference if I'm not trying to do the real moab rock crawling stuff?

Thanks
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Lab00Rat

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Badlands, "most capable."
 

icd70

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I've never had a truck with stability bar disconnect and right now I'm not planning on getting the Badlands. I don't plan to do intense rock crawling in my Bronco but maybe some mild crawling if the trail requires it. I feel like most of the testing videos out there show Broncos with the disconnect ability. I was hoping to see some off road trail testing videos without the disconnect. Or are all of those videos with the disconnect? I'm just not familiar enough with the disconnect stuff to know if it's just natural flex or if Ford is only showing off Broncos that have it?

If anyone could point me to some videos that show a 2021 Bronco without sway bar disconnect going over rocks and stuff, that'd be awesome. Or if you just wanna leave some thoughts on having it VS not having for somewhat casual use. Does not having it make THAT much of a difference if I'm not trying to do the real moab rock crawling stuff?

Thanks
I asked about this as I was trying to decided if I wanted the Wildtrak or the Badlands. I was advised that there are very few times where you really have to have it and if I get to the point where I'm doing stuff that crazy I could just put a winch on the front and pull myself through...
My Bronco will see road time as well as light to med off-road so I I feel like the Wildtrak is a better fit for me.
 
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TaiKoi

TaiKoi

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I asked about this as I was trying to decided if I wanted the Wildtrak or the Badlands. I was advised that there are very few times where you really have to have it and if I get to the point where I'm doing stuff that crazy I could just put a winch on the front and pull myself through...
My Bronco will see road time as well as light to med off-road so I I feel like the Wildtrak is a better fit for me.
That's kinda how I feel about it too. I want to maximize the comfort of my capable off road vehicle. I want it to be fast, fun and capable and as comfortable as I can get it. This will be my daily driver so I want it to be nice to drive on 6 - 12 hour highway road trips to California and whatnot while being freakin awesome off road. I'm pretty settled on the WildTrak for those reasons but that sway bar is the only thing that has me thinking. It's not the easiest or cheapest aftermarket thing to do I would assume. I'd love to have that pre-runner suspension feel on trails but I guess at max 25 mph disconnect I wouldn't really get that too much anyway hm?
 

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icd70

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That's kinda how I feel about it too. I want to maximize the comfort of my capable off road vehicle. I want it to be fast, fun and capable and as comfortable as I can get it. This will be my daily driver so I want it to be nice to drive on 6 - 12 hour highway road trips to California and whatnot while being freakin awesome off road. I'm pretty settled on the WildTrak for those reasons but that sway bar is the only thing that has me thinking. It's not the easiest or cheapest aftermarket thing to do I would assume. I'd love to have that pre-runner suspension feel on trails but I guess at max 25 mph disconnect I wouldn't really get that too much anyway hm?
yea hell if I know what to do I want everything! But at the end of they day I have the same needs you do and I can't afford to have one as a weekend warrior yet so I guess Wildtrax it stays....
 
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TaiKoi

TaiKoi

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yea hell if I know what to do I want everything! But at the end of they day I have the same needs you do and I can't afford to have one as a weekend warrior yet so I guess Wildtrax it stays....
Exactly! haha we are the same. That Warthog thing would probably bridge the gap for us but $$$$ and who knows when that's gonna be available.
 

icd70

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Exactly! haha we are the same. That Warthog thing would probably bridge the gap for us but $$$$ and who knows when that's gonna be available.
Dear God I'm going to go broke if that thing happens !
 

BroncoKong Jr.

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I want to maximize the comfort of my capable off road vehicle. I want it to be fast, fun and capable and as comfortable as I can get it. This will be my daily driver so I want it to be nice to drive on 6 - 12 hour highway road trips to California and whatnot while being freakin awesome off road.
Wouldn't Badlands and Wildtrak be essentially the same in that respect?
 
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TaiKoi

TaiKoi

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Wouldn't Badlands and Wildtrak be essentially the same in that respect?
If you add all the "comfort" (Lux) options to the Badlands with the 2.7 and auto transmission, it'll be quite a bit more $ than the WildTrak. That cost really comes down to the disconnecting stability bar and upgraded bash plate & bumper. Otherwise yes, a fully optioned Badlands might be the best choice. Unless there's no carpeted flooring option on the Badlands? Or other comfort options that aren't available on Badlands? not sure what those are if there are any.
 

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BroncoKong Jr.

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If you add all the "comfort" (Lux) options to the Badlands with the 2.7 and auto transmission, it'll be quite a bit more $ than the WildTrak. That cost really comes down to the disconnecting stability bar and upgraded bash plate & bumper. Otherwise yes, a fully optioned Badlands might be the best choice. Unless there's no carpeted flooring option on the Badlands? Or other comfort options that aren't available on Badlands? not sure what those are if there are any.
Oh, OK. I see what you're saying. Leather seats are available on Badlands but I'm not sure about carpet.
 

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If you add all the "comfort" (Lux) options to the Badlands with the 2.7 and auto transmission, it'll be quite a bit more $ than the WildTrak. That cost really comes down to the disconnecting stability bar and upgraded bash plate & bumper. Otherwise yes, a fully optioned Badlands might be the best choice. Unless there's no carpeted flooring option on the Badlands? Or other comfort options that aren't available on Badlands? not sure what those are if there are any.
Not sure about "quite a bit more expensive." For those that dont want 35" tires not really.
3k?
Im going loaded badlands because I want the steel bumpers etc but dont want sasquatch package.
 

BuckeyeinNV

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Some of the Broncos at the ride along event were non-Badlands with Sasquatch. You'd have to watch through all of the videos to find out which ones were which and if there's anything interesting to gleam from them, and I'm not going to do that, lol.
 

BackcountryBirds

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There have been a couple threads on this recently. The outcome was a lot of arguing and not much of a consensus. Opinions vary quite a bit from some saying it's even more essential on an IFS to others saying it adds almost zero extra capability off-road on an IFS.

There are a couple good youtube videos that explain how they work and the difference between IFS and SFA that would probably help you decide for yourself.

I have used them on a Jeep and a Power Wagon and would consider them extremely valuable off-road and certainly increase capability but those have SFAs. With SFAs you get a fulcrum effect where the compressed wheel goes up and the axle presses down the opposite tire. You also get more clearance inherently since you get a straight line between wheels.

On a IFS you have the disadvantages of the compressed tire side losing ground clearance. You also have the disadvantage of not as much weight being forced on the opposite non-compressed tire potentially. It's great that if drops a few inches and touches the ground but if there isn't much weight on top of it you aren't going to get much traction.

Most all agree that at a minimum it will improve the ride quality at lower speeds so there is that advantage at a minimum although that doesn't necessarily equate to off-road capability.

If I had limited money and it was between a lesser model with Sasquatch package or a Badlands with sway bar disconnect and 33s, I would take the extra ground clearance of the 35s in almost every off-road situation (of course Badlands also gives you enhanced bash plates so I'm just talking sway bar disco difference).

Finally, some may tell you that you can manually disconnect the sway bar but I'm not sure how hard or easy that may be on the bronco and it's there for safety so that's not a great idea in my opinion, especially if you forget to reconnect before getting back on the highway. Don't think your insurance company would like this one either.

Bottom line, nobody knows for sure at this point. We really need to wait for some real world tests on Broncos with and without this feature to know for sure.
 
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TaiKoi

TaiKoi

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There have been a couple threads on this recently. The outcome was a lot of arguing and not much of a consensus. Opinions vary quite a bit from some saying it's even more essential on an IFS to others saying it adds almost zero extra capability off-road on an IFS.

There are a couple good youtube videos that explain how they work and the difference between IFS and SFA that would probably help you decide for yourself.

I have used them on a Jeep and a Power Wagon and would consider them extremely valuable off-road and certainly increase capability but those have SFAs. With SFAs you get a fulcrum effect where the compressed wheel goes up and the axle presses down the opposite tire. You also get more clearance inherently since you get a straight line between wheels.

On a IFS you have the disadvantages of the compressed tire side losing ground clearance. You also have the disadvantage of not as much weight being forced on the opposite non-compressed tire potentially. It's great that if drops a few inches and touches the ground but if there isn't much weight on top of it you aren't going to get much traction.

Most all agree that at a minimum it will improve the ride quality at lower speeds so there is that advantage at a minimum although that doesn't necessarily equate to off-road capability.

If I had limited money and it was between a lesser model with Sasquatch package or a Badlands with sway bar disconnect and 33s, I would take the extra ground clearance of the 35s in almost every off-road situation (of course Badlands also gives you enhanced bash plates so I'm just talking sway bar disco difference).

Finally, some may tell you that you can manually disconnect the sway bar but I'm not sure how hard or easy that may be on the bronco and it's there for safety so that's not a great idea in my opinion, especially if you forget to reconnect before getting back on the highway. Don't think your insurance company would like this one either.

Bottom line, nobody knows for sure at this point. We really need to wait for some real world tests on Broncos with and without this feature to know for sure.
This was a lot of really good explanation and thoughts! Thank you!
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