Rear Sway Bar stuff

[Frenchy]

So I just wanted to start this particular post since I'm sure there are some that have been considering a Rear Sway Bar for their Ranger and just aren't too sure if it is a good idea or not.

As we all know the Ranger only has the Front Sway Bar. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as many vehicles on the market have been like this. Other vehicles may have a Rear Sway Bar from the Factory as well.

What is the benefit of a Rear Sway Bar? You have added stability in corners. What downside is there? You get less articulation in the rear.

Besides that I don't see any key things to point out.

Now if you are thinking about one you need to ask yourself some questions. First off if your Ranger is a 4WD, how often do you take it OffRoad? And when I say OffRoad I don't mean a basic dirt road. I mean actually getting out and doing some good exploring and stuff. If you do so quite often then you might be best to leave it be. This comes down to the Articulation in the rear. Allowing the rear to articulate simply helps you keep traction and have less chance of needing to use a Locker(assuming you have one on the truck). If you don't have enough Articulation then you have a higher chance of balancing on two wheels. That can be fun without a locker to say the least.

If you don't go OffRoad then it.might be an alright idea. Some have stated that it helps with Towing. I myself can't confirm nor deny this claim. Honestly when it comes to Towing as long as the tow setup is correct you should be fine. That said it probably would not hurt to add the extra stability.

For a vehicle that isn't towing, it clearly depends on how you want to approach it. From my personal experience with my 2019 Ranger and my 1993 Nissan Pathfinder I can say that even a basic street vehicle will notice some basic stability increases. But if it wasn't included from the factory then it isn't a requirement.

A great example is my 93 Pathfinder. From the factory it has Front and Rear Sway Bars. After i got it I could tell it was a bit worn out on the suspension. After doing a bunch of repairs I did notice it gets better, but it felt like something was missing. Eventually I got back to the Rear Sway Bar. After replacing the bushings and links it felt great. Also thanks to it being designed to go OffRoad from the Factory I feel it still articulates enough. If it didn't have a Factory Rear Sway Bar then I would probably leave it alone for my particular needs and use.

With that all said and don't I would also like some of the other experienced members like @Wes Siler and @Grumpaw to join in and get their input. I would not be surprised if I might be missing something.

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[ctechbob]

Without changing anything else in the suspension, adding a rear swaybar will also increase the tendency of the truck to oversteer. Not necessarily a good thing in a vehicle with a lightly loaded rear end to begin with.

Not saying they don't have their place, but I would exercise caution driving around unloaded with one the first few times until you get used to it.

 

[Grumpaw]

Look at the Roadmaster Active Suspension Kit. Takes the place of, but act's just like a sway bar, air bag set up, and traction bar set up, but without the problems of each.
I have a set up on my Ranger, and it works great, especially when towing. When running solo, it acts just like a sway bar, but since it is attached to the rear leaf springs, it acts independently....no oversteer.
Works with 4 wheel drive, but unlike a sway bar, doesn't affect articulation.
And, a set up costs less than a sway bar setup.

 

[RedDakooter05]

I'd like one cause im sick of my truck leaning so bad in the sharp curves this city puts everywhere.

Feels like I have to lean into the turns like I'm in a motorcycle...

 

[pismo1]

Look at the Roadmaster Active Suspension Kit. Takes the place of, but act's just like a sway bar, air bag set up, and traction bar set up, but without the problems of each.
I have a set up on my Ranger, and it works great, especially when towing. When running solo, it acts just like a sway bar, but since it is attached to the rear leaf springs, it acts independently....no oversteer.
Works with 4 wheel drive, but unlike a sway bar, doesn't affect articulation.
And, a set up costs less than a sway bar setup.

Looks like an easy install,but the instructions look generic.How was the install on the Ranger?

 

[Racket]

I'd like to improve the handling too and @Grumpaw turned me on to the Roadmaster solution (I haven't bought one yet). On the one hand I'm reluctant to add complexity to the suspension but the design does allow independent articulation vs what a sway bar does. Leaf spring rears aren't sophisticated to begin with.

The Roadmasters are less expensive than the Helwig rear bar.

 

[The Last Ranger]

Look at the Roadmaster Active Suspension Kit. Takes the place of, but act's just like a sway bar, air bag set up, and traction bar set up, but without the problems of each.
I have a set up on my Ranger, and it works great, especially when towing. When running solo, it acts just like a sway bar, but since it is attached to the rear leaf springs, it acts independently....no oversteer.
Works with 4 wheel drive, but unlike a sway bar, doesn't affect articulation.
And, a set up costs less than a sway bar setup.

Grumpaw, which model did you install as I'm interested, thx

 

[Fitzmotor]

I am a firm believer of rear sway bars, I have added them on almost every single vehicle I have owned, or installed bigger ones.

The only vehicle it backfired on was a 91 Bronco, they are twitchy stock, a bigger rear bar made it so sensitive you could not take your eyes off the road.

Yes they can lend to a looser or oversteer rear end, I prefer that over a front end that pushes or has understeer, besides, sometimes in a fast turn you can go from a understeer condition to a snap oversteer situation.

To me the rear bar on the Ranger helped as they always do, you really notice it when you are in the side to side rocking situation, driveways especially and speed bumps.

Where I really noticed it was the lane changes on the highway, the rear end follows the steering input much better, it's quicker, if you had to do a quick left-right reaction at speed, the stock rear end would still have the energy going left when you are well into the final correction to the right, because the body roll is still moving left, does that make sense? with the rear bar it slows that sway effect.

A member here, Doug I think, before he got booted, said to skip the soft setting on the bar and go straight to firm, I tried them all and he was right, I can easily tell the difference between med and firm, much less soft, I have a lot of intersections here that have deep gutters, so it's like driveway almost, if the wife was not braced, she would thunk her head into the door glass when the suspension bounced back, it's not the initial suspension bounce, you get that with heavy or light bars, it's when the whole chassis/body bounces back, that is what the sway bar helps control as well.

I do tend to drive very hard and for anyone who does, the rear bar makes the truck neutral/balanced, as an example, in a race car, you want the front and the rear end to be neutral/balanced, so in a high speed turn, traction is equal front and rear, our trucks are not race cars but the principal is the same. I can hammer a long sweeping on ramp and both the front and rear tires lightly squeal in a gentle unnoticeable drift, it's just right.

I once talked to a chassis designer about this very subject, he said they design understeer into production vehicles on purpose, it is much easier to get out of trouble in a understeer situation than it is a oversteer situation.

That's my .02 only worth .01

 

[Grumpaw]

Looks like an easy install,but the instructions look generic.How was the install on the Ranger?

Easy install. If I remember, the instructions were for a Ford F-150, but the Ranger install is exactly the same. Get rear end up...jackstands on both sides, remove wheels and let rear end hang. Install is just nut n bolt....45-60 minutes and done.
Kit 4515R
I was 73 at time of install and had no problems.

 

[Grumpaw]

Grumpaw, which model did you install as I'm interested, thx

Kit 4515R is for the Ranger.

 

[The Last Ranger]

Kit 4515R is for the Ranger.

Thanks for the info, my only negative thought it adds height to the hitch by a few inches. My trailer is very low so I would have to have a receiver with a hell of a drop.

Does the rear sway bar add height to the vehicle????

 

[Frenchy]

Thanks for the info, my only negative thought it adds height to the hitch by a few inches. My trailer is very low so I would have to have a receiver with a hell of a drop.

Does the rear sway bar add height to the vehicle????

Sway bar will not add height to the vehicle. If anything it might attempt to bring it down due to the links but even then there's not enough weight to actually cause that to happen. That said I'm pretty sure I had close to an 8-in drop hitch on my Ranger that was lifted

 

[The Last Ranger]

Sway bar will not add height to the vehicle. If anything it might attempt to bring it down due to the links but even then there's not enough weight to actually cause that to happen. That said I'm pretty sure I had close to an 8-in drop hitch on my Ranger that was lifted

Ok thanks for the reply, I might just have to bite the bullet on the sway bar then but I like the roadmaster setup.

 

[Grumpaw]

Ok thanks for the reply, I might just have to bite the bullet on the sway bar then but I like the roadmaster setup.

The Roadmaster set up added about an inch to my 2 wheel drive.
But, didn't bother me, and if you think about it, almost everyone and their brother either raises their Ranger, adds stiffer shocks, adds bigger tires, lifts, ect., so to me, in the long run, it's a wash.
All those "little" things add a bit of height, so the inch didn't bother me.
I use a long 11 hole shank for my hitch set up, so extra inch didn't matter.
I will tell you that the addition of the Roadmaster kit, and the Blue Sumo's made a huge difference in the ride and handling that is especially noticeable when towing.
Running solo the ride is perfect as neither adds any harshness to the ride.

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