from an actual practical perspective. How important is the "swaybar" disconnect in the badlands?

[Pegdragger]

Sway bar disconnects can be useful, but as you can see there are opinions on both sides. If you are not doing some significant (tough) off road driving then you would never likely have a need for them.

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[Ramble_Offroad]

I’m buying a 2D Badlands specifically because it has the swaybar disco feature. Dual lockers, MGV, etc is all cool also. I have a built 2012 Tacoma on skinny 35s with the swaybar removed, extended travel coils, etc.

Here are a couple points from my perspective as a off-road & camping enthusiast.

- more wheel travel is always better, I’ll take what I can get. Plus it automatically connects again at speed & can be released under load, that’s cool.

- swaybar disco will also help provide a more compliant & comfortable ride on multi day wheeling trips.

- my daughter will be driving soon, so removing the sway bar completely is no longer an option as I imagine she will borrow my Bronco from time to time. Plus as the Bronco is new we have no tribal knowledge about how it will behave with the swaybar removed.

- I plan to keep my Tacoma & reinstalling the swaybar. Third vehicle for the family & 2nd vehicle for camping trips.

- adding a swaybar disconnect on a IFS vehicle is completely different than solid axel vehicles. Just disconnecting it leaves the bar in place creating potential conflicts. Sure you could bungee it down but I don’t consider that a viable option. The Tacoma community has been asking for a quick disco system for years. IMPO they don’t exist outside of one or two guys selling parts on eBay and I’ve never seen a solution that is a complete long term solution from a major aftermarket vendor that I would trust.

Like I said above, this is just my perspective, but anybody who thinks they can “just add a quick disco to their Bronco” later is going to be disappointed. They don’t exist and due to liability I’d wager they won’t exist in the future.

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[dgorsett]

I don’t know man, I could be wrong, but to me it looks like you really got to get under there to reconnect it. Even with the jeep I often have to get in there with a crow bar to pop the second link on. Maybe being an IFS will be easier. I’m sure aftermarket will come up with a solution if it’s a problem

Yeah, it's located behind the axle, looks like alot of crawling around in the muck. My Jeep is in front and has that open front fender-no problem.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

Im getting a badlands but the main reason im getting it is for overlanding and i see it as the most capable.

However after watching several videos of the "disconnect" feature that makes the badlands unique. I have to wonder if its all that impressive or even useful (very small articulation difference).

Will we really not know until the car is out? Or so some of you with IFS experience off road know better? Is this going to be a big deal of a feature or kind of a gimmick?

Where you will really notice it is on those trails with diagonal drainage cuts. You can switch on the disconnect, speed up the trail to each cut, slow down, and then the suspension will ease over the cut one at a time without nearly as much rocking back and forth. Then speed back up again.

The disconnect engages and disengages with your speed.

 

[Felix808]

Personally I would prefer manual or better yet no sway bar; ran that way for years with front & rear removed.

I’m not sure how easy it will be to add manual disconnects, to me it looks like they would be hard to get to. The Jeeps couldn’t be in an easier place, but they can still be a pain on uneven ground and it always seems to be wet or muddy if you have to crawl under there to do it. With that being said if didn’t look very impressive in the video clips but hoping it’s more practical when actually using it.

They are simple to add as it's just an end link & usually you only disconnect them at the beginning of the trail and reconnect them at the end. I got tired of doing this and tossed them both on my XJ. Ran 10+ years without them. Driving styles my vary

 

[Rick Astley]

There was an excellent article about the Bronco's IFS that also specifically touches on the sway bar. It's mostly unbiased and gives you more information than you have now. Will let you read it and follow up with any other questions from it if you like. The author is a member here as well, @Hammerheadfistpunch

Excellent IFS vs SFA Article -- 2021 Bronco's Advantages In Having Independent Front Suspension

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