Is it better to have a smaller sway bar in back?

[Lefty]

Let's put a little more detail in the answer to the original question, so we are all clear.

Basically, the front sway bar is there primarily to control the amount of body roll in corners. A larger front sway bar reduces body roll in the corner. It does this by increasing the load that is transferred to the outside tire, which increases understeer.

The rear sway bar is used to dial in whether the vehicle understeers or oversteers, and how much. Note that all production American vehicles are designed to understeer, because most American drivers are poor, and a vehicle that does not understeer requires a much better driver. (Most drivers over-correct in a panic, and a vehicle that understeers does not respond as quickly so it helps save people from their bad reactions.)

As you make the rear sway bar larger, it reduces the amount the vehicle understeers and eventually you get the rear bar large enough that it will cause the vehicle to oversteer.

When you take the front sway bar from 5/8" to 1" as you did, you reduce the body roll significantly (a 1" bar is more than 2x the stiffness of a 5/8" bar). But you also increase the understeer significantly. So, to get the vehicle back to a similar balance in handling, you need to also increase the size of the rear sway bar. How much to increase the rear bar is a function of the balance you want and the weight balance of the vehicle. So, you will likely not need to make the rear bar much larger to get back to a more reasonable handling situation.

And, in case it is not obvious, making the sway bars stiffer reduces off-road capability, because it limits how much the various wheels can individually articulate going over rough terrain. This is one of the main reason that serious off-road vehicles have no sway bars or have sway bar disconnect systems.

So, I would suggest a larger than 5/8" rear bar, but you probably do not want to go all the way to 1" like you did in the front. 3/4" or 7/8" will likely be enough.

Excellent, thank you! Maybe i should go back to the U-PULL yard and look for one, perhaps that smaller Explorer bar would do the trick. And in the mean time,

Perhaps even those leaf spring clamps are enough.

 

[Lefty]

Yep, rubydist has the right idea.
The balance between front and rear sway bars has a big impact on overall vehicle handling. If you want more oversteer, increase the size of the rear sway bar.

Agreed.

 

[19Walt93]

Yep, rubydist has the right idea.
The balance between front and rear sway bars has a big impact on overall vehicle handling. If you want more oversteer, increase the size of the rear sway bar.

Close but backwards, a bigger rear bar will increase understeer, a smaller bar increases oversteer and makes a vehicle feel loose.

 

[Lefty]

I don’t have anything to say about what rear sway bar is best… yet…

My green Ranger got the Explorer front sway bar. In the rear my goal is to use all the Explorer goodies (sway bar, traction bars, dampener shock, rear mounted shocks, spring under axle) plus pack clamps. We shall see how that goes. I’m hoping for a lowered monster in disguise.

My Choptop I did removeable links in the front, got Explorer front links and drilled the lower to take a 1/2” hitch pin and bam, removeable links. I’m not convinced it helps that much, it’s still a big spring toy. Even with new tires.

I’m ok with that though, I accepted it for what it is when I built it. The green Ranger was built as everything my Choptop wasn’t. Everything I build has a purpose. My F-150 is a fricking tank, because it’s my work truck. I have a plan for all of my fleet.

An Explorer has both dampener shocks and shocks?

 

[Josh B]

An Explorer has both dampener shocks and shocks?

Mine has one for each side and a sideways one in the middle

 

[Josh B]

I am not the typical driver at all, and all I've ever used is left, right, or dead on steering. ( I suppose this isn't saying a lot for the typical driver eh )

I'm totally lost due to terminology, no clear idea of understeer, oversteer, or body roll, and why would anybody want to do any of that

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Understeer; when you turn the wheel but keep going straight.
Oversteer; when you turn the wheel and the ass end kicks out.
Body roll; when turning and the body leans over. Sway bars prevent this.

 

[Lefty]

Mine has one for each side and a sideways one in the middle

Very good! I'm going to go hunting for one of those.

 

[Blmpkn]

Bigger rear Bars are to reduce understeer. Something I'll never forget from my subaru days.

 

[Lefty]

I am not the typical driver at all, and all I've ever used is left, right, or dead on steering. ( I suppose this isn't saying a lot for the typical driver eh )

I'm totally lost due to terminology, no clear idea of understeer, oversteer, or body roll, and why would anybody want to do any of that

We're not NASCAR drivers. We don't need to fine tune the suspension to get to the grocery store and back, Most of the time we don't notice and could care less about sway bars. But then again we encounter emergencies in which we must make split second decisions. We slam on the brakes and swerve.

Suddenly, ever foot and every inch matters. The Ranger is not a sports car, nor is it even a car. It's a truck. It's front end heavy; and, even if it came with stock sway bars, the body will pitch forward and off to one side or the other, putting undo and unequal pressure on the tires which perform best when level to the road.

An uprated set of sway bars will help to keep the truck closer to level, turn and stop faster. But the question remains, what is the right balance between front and back?

 

[stmitch]

Close but backwards, a bigger rear bar will increase understeer, a smaller bar increases oversteer and makes a vehicle feel loose.

That's backwards from anything I've ever read or experienced. Consensus seems to be that a smaller rear bar will increase body roll, but reduce oversteer/increase understeer. Bigger rear bars will reduce the impacts of understeer/increase oversteer.

https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/Anti-Roll-Bars-How-to-choose-the-right-sway-bar-for-your-car

What are Oversteer and Understeer and How Can They Be Fixed?

Lack of dynamic front wheel or rear wheel grip is caused by oversteer or understeer. Learn more about these conditions and how to fix them.

whitelineperformance.com

 

[Lefty]

We're not NASCAR drivers. We don't need to fine tune the suspension to get to the grocery store and back, Most of the time we don't notice and could care less about sway bars. But then again we encounter emergencies in which we must make split second decisions. We slam on the brakes and swerve.

Suddenly, ever foot and every inch matters. The Ranger is not a sports car, nor is it even a car. It's a truck. It's front end heavy; and, even if it came with stock sway bars, the body will pitch forward and off to one side or the other, putting undo and unequal pressure on the tires which perform best when level to the road.

An uprated set of sway bars will help to turn and stop faster. This is important, real important, especially if we have done a little work such as installing larger wheels and tires or raised the center of gravity in any way.

 

[Josh B]

I only asked that question to see how dizzy yall would be before I asked the next one

Mine rides so true, most especially when cornering I'd better not mess with it.
Maybe if I swap the Explorer rear axle I'll bring the bar along too

 

[Lefty]

I only asked that question to see how dizzy yall would be before I asked the next one

Mine rides so true, most especially when cornering I'd better not mess with it.
Maybe if I swap the Explorer rear axle I'll bring the bar along too

Personally, I find this interesting. I like to learn. A quick check with a tape measure tells me that Ford, in its wisdom, put in 5/8" sway bars on both front and back on some models. A one inch bar on the front was an immediate improvement. Perhaps one inch on both front and back is the way to go.

 

[Josh B]

I can't really ask for more atm.
I grew up on bicycles and motorcycles, had a 750 Kawasaki near 130, moved into cars and trucks, never wanted to hear anything about swaying or rolling.
My little Ranger takes two corners coming in from town as if it were at the race track, I go into the last one, the one with fences all around and no houses nearby, at near 20, in 3rd gear and accelerating at that point, doing 45 when I come out of it, which is the speed limit there anyway.
Cheap thrill but I enjoy it