Gen4 offroad modification

Hi all,
JB74 with 3" lift kit , 215/75-15 mud tyres,and front and rear e-locker,but looking for further modifications to improve off-road mobility
so I would like to know if by removing the front stabilizer bar I could have stability problems or something else, has any of you removed it ?
I saw that it greatly limits the progression as its extremes are very low and subject to bumps and bends.....
thank you
Giacomo 
 

If you have lockers then you don't really need massive articulation as having a wheel in the air isn't an issue for traction. As far as it goes for stability the bar doesn't limit movement that much in real world conditions. I ran for a few months without mine and you very quickly adapt your driving to accommodate the difference either on or off road so much that the initial benefit is soon lost so I put it back on.

Thank you Lambert,
in fact, the eventual elimination of the bar is not to have more articulation in the extreme twists, where they very well compensate for the lockers, but to have no obstacles in the progression
it often collides with large stones and therefore blocks progress, as well as the impact could bend it.....
I was more interested in knowing if road behavior on asphalt was affected with loss of stability or directionality

I would strongly recommend AGAINST the removal of the stabilizer bar on any vehicle that sees a significant amount of on road usage.

You're going to have increased body roll in turns, an increased tendency to lifting & spinning the inside rear tire when accelerating through a turn (for example moving off at an intersection) especially a right turn.

Removal will also further increase the possibility of rolling the vehicle if you need to make a sudden evasive manoeuvre, I say further increased because the 3" lift has already raised the center of gravity some.

On dirt I wouldn't be too concerned, but on asphalt at a reasonable clip, there's a real risk of a traction roll.

Thank you fordem,
this is exactly what I expected to hear, from someone who actually removed the bar and drove the vehicle on asphalt......
I assume that not even by fitting harder adjustable shock absorbers can you be 100% safe.....
Giacomo

wrote:

I would strongly recommend AGAINST the removal of the stabilizer bar on any vehicle that sees a significant amount of on road usage.

You're going to have increased body roll in turns, an increased tendency to lifting & spinning the inside rear tire when accelerating through a turn (for example moving off at an intersection) especially a right turn.

Removal will also further increase the possibility of rolling the vehicle if you need to make a sudden evasive manoeuvre, I say further increased because the 3" lift has already raised the center of gravity some.

On dirt I wouldn't be too concerned, but on asphalt at a reasonable clip, there's a real risk of a traction roll.

Not sure I can agree with this ‘real world’.

Plenty of vehicles have been sold without anti roll bars. I have two Land Rovers sat outside the house without them. Plus previously had a Disco 1 that didn’t come with anti roll bars from the factory. Some variants of the Defender didn’t have anti roll bars as standard right up until the end of production in 2016.

It will lean more for sure. But doesn’t mean it can’t be perfectly safe and drivable.

I’ve removed it and I don’t have any problems with 3 inch lift, but again for me it’s matter of taste, definitely there is no major issues without anti roll bar. So to understand whether you need it or not, just disable it, and have a ride for a week or two. this will give you all answers (remove/install quite easy)

Thanks to you as well 300bhpton
so I understand that since there are no real testimonies of people who have removed it, the only thing to do is to remove it and try....
Giacomo

Thank you VadJB74,
in fact that's what I just said and I'll do
Giacomo

wrote:

I’ve removed it and I don’t have any problems with 3 inch lift, but again for me it’s matter of taste, definitely there is no major issues without anti roll bar. So to understand whether you need it or not, just disable it, and have a ride for a week or two. this will give you all answers (remove/install quite easy)

Just my experience, you're going to get into the car and you going to drive it like a Grandma (or Grandpa), and never notice the difference, try a quick right-left-right-left swerve and see what happens...

When would you ever need to do this in a normal scenario?

You're driving down a residential street, there are cars parked on either side, a foot ball comes bouncing out in between cars with a kid in hot pursuit, if you're in the UK, let's say the ball and the kid come from your left, you're going to instinctively swerve right and step on the brake, you now need to straighten out before you hit the parked car on your right, so you're swerving left now - hopefully you weren't going too fast.

With the stabilizer fitted you have a chance of staying on all four wheels, with it removed, you're going over - the combination of the spring rebound from the first swerve adds to the body roll from the second swerve. - I was lucky, you may not be - I almost put my family under a truck.

I've had the stabilizer bar off of other vehicles since then, I have an idea of what to expect, the slight increase in body roll, not too bad, but bad enough that the inside rear wheel looses traction easily, and for most day to day usage, you'll be fine, but that one unexpected moment is what can end up being fatal.

Your choice.

As someone who has done track days in a Jimny I have to say that from experience a Jimny will understeer before tipping and that is going way way harder than you ever would on the street.