anti-sway bars
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anti-sway bars
I have a 88 f-150 w/ anti-sway bars front and rear. I have never really liked the way it rides (stiff and sort of rough). I just put new shocks and tires on it and it didn't seem to help. I was wondering if I pull off the sway bars it would give me a softer ride? Any suggestions?
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Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Concord, NC
Sway bars will not affect ride harshness. An anti-sway bar's job is to limit roll or sway in the vehicle during cornering. As the suspension on one side compresses and the other side droops, the sway bar opposes this movement to keep the platform more level, and also changes some of the weight transfer characteristics. If you don't have sway bars, the vehicle will be more unstable in cornering situations, unless the suspension has been tuned without a sway bar, but I doubt that on the truck. The sway bar moves freely if both sides of the suspension move the same, as the suspension would over most dips and bumps. It's not until turns that the sway bar has any affect on the suspension. Leave the sway bars on the truck.
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Joined: Jan 2003
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From: 3rd Rock
Originally Posted by cmud
I have a 88 f-150 w/ anti-sway bars front and rear. I have never really liked the way it rides (stiff and sort of rough). I just put new shocks and tires on it and it didn't seem to help. I was wondering if I pull off the sway bars it would give me a softer ride? Any suggestions?
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Joined: Dec 2002
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From: USA
With stock rubber bushings in the sway bars, I agree with EPNCSU2006, the sway bars don't make the ride harsher. However, I changed my front and rear sway bar bushings to polyurethane, and that did cause the ride to be harsher than it was before. I don't advise that you remove the front sway bar, but you can remove the rear if you think it softens the ride any. The trucks came with front sway bars as standard equipment. The rear sway bar is not standard on 150's or F250's, so you can drive the truck without the rear bar if you don't need it. I would first try lowering the rear tire pressure a little when the truck is unloaded and see if that does the trick for you. Don't forget to pump the tires back up when you load up the bed.
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