Do I miss out on much without sway bar disconnect?

[privateer35]

Would I be missing out on any capabilities if I choose a Wildtrak over a Badlands with Squatch? The only major thing I can think of is the sway bar disconnect.

What would I not be able to do if I chose to go without it?

From my understanding, sway bar disconnects matter much more on a solid front axle set up.

Edit: Shoutout to the mods for making better titles for my posts, I appreciate it!

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[Philly]

For the Bronco, the suspension was designed with disconnecting the sway bar in mind. It greatly increases the travel of the front suspension. I don't have pictures on hand, but I have seen pictures of the sway bar links and you can easily disconnect manually with a couple of wrenches. This means that the hydraulic disconnect is more of a creature comfort than a necessity.

The only other features you would miss with a Wildtrak over a Badlands are the Marine Grade Vinyl interior with rubberized washout floors with active drains and the Rock Crawl GOAT mode.

Disconnecting the sway bar is awesome for even mild trail riding because it lets your suspension do its job without being being limited and really smooths everything out. Granted, I have only done this on my Wrangler which has SFA, but it will improve an already more comfortable ride in the Bronco. Also, I manually disconnect my sway bar. It was annoying at first, but I bought some quick disconnects with my lift and now it takes maybe 1 minute per side if the pins are stuck.

 

[SamG]

No - you miss almost nothing.
The Sway Bar disconnect is purely there to say the Bronco has it. Barely adds any flex as seen on many videos recently.

top pic is with sway connected. bottom with disconnect.

 

[jayhawkco]

Would I be missing out on much if I choose a Wildtrak over a Badlands with Squatch? The only major thing I can think of is the sway bar disconnect.

What would I not be able to do if I chose to go without it?

From my understanding, sway bar disconnects matter much more on a solid front axle set up.

You won't be able to do as much "hardcore" rock crawling. Your ride will also just be bumpier on lesser trails. For 90% of the crowd on this website, you won't ever use it.

Chris

 

[Economisto]

I remember hearing someone say its most noticeable on long bumpy trails by making the ride smoother by having them disconnected and reduces fatigue. Articulation probably doesn't change much for rock crawling though.

 

[dejones64]

My understanding is that it's for off-roading on very uneven ground or rock climbing, where 1 or more tires comes off the ground. I'm sure the experts out here can explain it better than I.

I plan on going with Badlands and am pretty sure I'll use it maybe 1% of the time I own it.

 

[pan-y-cerveza]

No - you miss almost nothing.
The Sway Bar disconnect is purely there to say the Bronco has it. Barely adds any flex as seen on many videos recently.

top pic is with sway connected. bottom with disconnect.

I agree it adds very little. But...on an IFS vs an SFA you want any more articulation you can get.

That being said....buying a Bronco without the disconnect button is no big deal. You can add a manual disconnect later or just unbolt it.

 

[jayhawkco]

My understanding is that it's for off-roading on very uneven ground or rock climbing, where 1 or more tires comes off the ground. I'm sure the experts out here can explain it better than I.

I plan on going with Badlands and am pretty sure I'll use it maybe 1% of the time I own it.

Exactly. It increases articulation, or the amount of range that your front wheels can travel from "flat". So, if you're going over large rocks, it allows your suspension to angle more without making the whole truck tip sideways as much.

Chris

 

[RG7]

It’s a convenience feature, not an extra capability. As mentioned before, you can still DC your sway bar manually with a wrench and ratchet in about 5 minutes. So you’re not losing any functionality if you don’t get it.

 

[Nickp]

All you need to do is unbolt one of these to manually disconnect. (Will need to look closer but your best bet is probably to unbolt the bottom one, then bungee cord it to the actual sway bar so it’s out of the way.)

also need to do it on both sides.

 

[LandCruiser]

IF you have an LT kit, which clearly the Bronco DOES NOT with all the tire in the air pictures I've been seeing on rock crawls with no obvious difference with the sway bars connected or not, then you should remove your anti sway bars to make the most of your front articulation and long travel.

Automatic discos seem to be spotty at best with Jeeps and most people seem to just remove them if you rock hump on weekends, especially the Land Cruiser and 4Runner bois, who are an odd bunch.

*I do not advocate running with the bars disconnected on the streets, you will die horribly and your family will sue Ford and the tire and suspension manufacturers even though people have been doing it for years with other IFS and SFA rigs with no ill effect as long as you have reasonable expectations of diminished handling and evasion.

 

[BackcountryBirds]

I thinks it will offer marginal improvement on an IFS vehicle. If it's between spending the money for the extra clearance of a sasquatch or a stock non-squatch badlands with disco you will in all likelihood get better off-road performance out of the extra clearance sasquatch 99.9% of the time. If it was a SFA vehicle, I would say it's worth the cost.

This is one of those topic that's not going to be fully answered until the bronco is tested independently. This is also an area I believe Jeep will remain on top by a considerable margin.

 

[PSUTE]

It all depends on what you're building it to do. Would never use it myself, but if I was in the southwest I would. Up here in Appalachia,I am building a snow machine...

 

[Efthreeoh]

It’s a convenience feature, not an extra capability. As mentioned before, you can still DC your sway bar manually with a wrench and ratchet in about 5 minutes. So you’re not losing any functionality if you don’t get it.

I'd say with the availability of battery-powered impact guns now on the market that easily travel with the vehicle, disconnecting the swaybar is very easy. An impact gun is far less expensive than replacing an electromechanical device that sits under the cassis.

 

[Dlerojo]

aftermarket will make manual quick release at some point.

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