Hey just lifted Gen 3 Montero XLS(not sport) and thinking about removing rear sway bar but had some questions:
1. If im offroading 15% of the time and driving on the road the other 85% of the time is it worth the traction loss and lower suspension control since the car has a high flip rate?
2. Will it cause any other parts to break or higher the risk breaking parts?(for example almost half lifted trucks where i live are straight piped bc it sounds good, but straight piping kills back pressure which can cause engine problems in the future)
3. Also Montero still runs amazingly even tho 210,000 miles because i take care of it really well but with 2in Polyethylene spacers and original stock coils will it cause to much stress on coils or will i have to buy new coils?
4. how much does the flexiblity increase with removal?

THANK YOU FOR HELP IN ADVANCE AND PLEASE TRY TO BE REALISTIC AS POSSIBLE WITH ANSWERS. I Say that because at the moment i am 17 and live with parents and pay for everything i do not including car and pay for everything with car and only make 400$ every 2 weeks so if it can cause a problem costing over 1000$ to fix in the first 2 years i wont be able to pay for the damages. THANKYOU. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Is removing Rear Sway Bar worth it? multiple choice, up to 2 choices

YES WORTH IT! (14%, 1 Votes)

YES IF I offroad more (14%, 1 Votes)

YES because I will only lose a little safety that drivng more cautious will make up for it! (29%, 2 Votes)

YES If I can afford MINOR repairs in the future (0%, 0 Votes)

NOT worth it because of REAR Polyethyene spacers/taller and wider TIRES AND RIMS (0%, 0 Votes)

NOT worth it because of AGE/MILEAGE of Gen3 Montero (0%, 0 Votes)

NOT worth it if driving PAVED roads more often (14%, 1 Votes)

NOT WORTH IT! (29%, 2 Votes)

Total Votes: 7 Voting on this poll ends: 05/21/11 07:03 AM

Removing your sway bar will not cause or increase the likelihood of anything else breaking.

Your analogy about exhaust is completely wrong. Removing backpressure from an engine's exhaust system will not cause any other problems, and anybody who tells you that it has is sadly misinformed. There could be some correlation between vehicles with straight pipes and the driving styles of their owners that could contribute to vehicle breakage, though. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It's a swaybar. Cant you try without it and then put it back on if you don't like how it rides? Most of the time, I feel that running without swaybars just requires a slight driving style change. the one thing I have noticed tho, is that if you are doing freeway speeds and have to suddenly change lanes to avoid something, the body roll is very noticeable and you have to be carefull not to over correct.

Yeah sway bar removal doesn?t instantly make the car unsafe and more tippy, Sway bars are for people who don?t know they?re driving an SUV. They also actually make it more tippy offroad, and like posted above it?s not the sudden change on the freeway it?s the over correction that will put you over and in that case a sway bar wouldn?t have saved you. You won?t tip over driving around a corner but you will take them slower like you should be anyways. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

That said, I've actually spoken with many people who believe that SUV's should be made to behave and drive as safe as cars without having to change their driving style. It's a key reason why there are so many SUV's today that are not off road capable.

If you remove them, drive accordingly which may mean even more defensively than you would a car. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Gen 2's, at least, you either have to disconnect the trailing arms on the rear suspension to get the bar off or cut it up. It's not that easy to remove/replace.

I had Toasty cut mine off.

John B.

Like everyone has said, a change in driving style is what's necessary. Being 17, the skills aren't there to know any better if you were to take it off. Get it into your head that it isn't an Eclipse from the Fast and The Furious and you should be good to go.

I've removed and reinstalled mine several times by disconnecting the bottoms of the rear shocks and maneuvering the sway bar out one side.

Guess I didn't look at it that hard, Ryan. I cut it off and didn't look back.

John B.

Is removing a sway bar really worth it. The Gen 3 isn't a made for rockcrawling with that unitbody. It'
s great for Aust and Kuwait, running sand Baja / Dakar style.
Independant suspention and and a young experience with driving and all- I'd say don't do it.
Alittle lift for unneeded larger tires, OK, but it's a gen 3.
Remember every time you modify something your have to modify something else to correct your modification.