Anit Roll Bars

[Whatmot]

ive been driving my vitara the past few months with the front roll bar removed. it was the first mod i did to it and made a massive difference offroad. but as you can imagine the road handling has been hinded, well it use to handle rubbish to start with, now its just scary :lol:

anyway, i was going to remove the rear roll bar and make some quick disconnects for the front bar. has anyone removed there anti roll bars? and what is it like to drive around corners?

any info appreciated, thanx tom

 

[jace]

think hummingbirds gonna be yer man he has his truck off road more than on it!

 

[Terranosaurus]

Yeah and sometimes I even get to drive it too.


I've taken both mine off completely handles ok, just leans a bit.

The rear is really easy to disconnect and reconnect at will, just drop one of the ball joints off. I used to do this when going out. The front is a different kettle of fish. I decided to just junk it all together cos it sits between the wishbones and would bang around if left in situ but disconnected.

 

[NNMan]

The Mav will have handeled much better than the Vitara to start with.

 

[Whatmot]

The Mav will have handeled much better than the Vitara to start with.

actually my vit handles really well, small light(ish) car, plus due to the type of suspension lift on it, the springs are firmed so my body roll is reduced. the only reason i say its scary is of the tyres i have fitted. i was thinking that because the mav weights more, and is taller then the body roll would probably be more, but then it depends on what kind of speed you take corners at :lol:

i think ill run the car with the bars on for now, and then take the rear off and see how it feels. like i said in the first post, i might fabricate some quick disconnects for the front like this

 

[NNMan]

I see,

I had a Vitara the same time my mate had a Mav, and the Mav was a much more comfortable ride, but as said they were both standard.

 

[jace]

which ones had reputation for rolling over was it sj40s or whatever they were quite like vitara not bad looking little jeep! heres few pics of mates vitara after bitve unscheduled off roading lol
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/WARST...ThroughHedgeNeverDrinkAnDriveOrThisWillHappen

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

the ones that 'alegedly' rolled over i htink was the original LJ's now a rarity, but little off roaders were new to the market and no 4x4 is as stable as a low slung road car in a fast tight bend!

I saw a demo video made by suzuki at the time and they were realy throwing them around with no problems, i think th issues were largely bad driving and bad press exagerating the facts.

after driving a heavily loaded T2 on the road many times i would not dream of disconnecting the anti roll bars for on road use, they do roll about a bit! (as do all 4x4's)

arent anti roll bars an MOT issue (i will check this with Dan in a few mins when he surfaces for a can of Stella) and how would it affect your insurance? I am only asking because as a young driver your licence can be very vulnerable!

 

[Whatmot]

I see,

I had a Vitara the same time my mate had a Mav, and the Mav was a much more comfortable ride, but as said they were both standard.

totally agree. i love the driving position in the mav, its also the first car ive driven with power steering :lol:

which ones had reputation for rolling over was it sj40s or whatever they were quite like vitara not bad looking little jeep! heres few pics of mates vitara after bitve unscheduled off roading lol
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/WARST...ThroughHedgeNeverDrinkAnDriveOrThisWillHappen

at the time there were a lot of accusations saying that the suzuki were dangerous because they would topple at speed, but at the time no one could prove it, then i heard of an experiment a motoring body did (cant remember the name), they threw the suzuki about (i think it was an sj) until it toppled. they proved that the force required to flip it was no more than a of any other 4x4 at the time

after driving a heavily loaded T2 on the road many times i would not dream of disconnecting the anti roll bars for on road use, they do roll about a bit! (as do all 4x4's)

arent anti roll bars an MOT issue (i will check this with Dan in a few mins when he surfaces for a can of Stella) and how would it affect your insurance? I am only asking because as a young driver your licence can be very vulnerable!

ive heard that too. but i think it depends on how friendly your mot man is, or whether he notices it missing. i was told on the suzuki to remove any 'give aways' ie mounts

i declared my mods to the insurance company. they were ok with it

 

[jace]

i bought that vitara for mate he sold it to another mate she drove it round for ages with slipping clutch i told her as soon as clutch was changed shed go through hedge after being on lash took her two weeks she reversed it outve hedge carried on picked her duaghter up went home the lot tough little cars shame it had to die really

 

[gilly]

off road i would think axles can move about more so wheels are more likely to stop on the ground?On road , more lean however at the first British truck grand prix at donny the hot mod was to dispense with anti roll bars i think it gave more warning as to when the rear end was about to let go ,dont forget a loaded vehicle will have more need for anti roll bars.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I have had a phone a friend moment and no anti roll bars should not affect MOT (but depends on the vehicle.) if they are removed all together.

Funny but he also reminded me of a friend of ours who crashed his super fast mini at a race recently, he used to drag race it but fitted anti roll bars for the tack and flipped the car! so maybe not all that important after all!

 

[Terranosaurus]

I was late to a meeting last night and thus travelled a little faster than usual down some back roads to get there. The Mav (with no ARBs) was fine, totally predictable, just leant a little thats all.


ARBs are fitted for two reasons allow softer springs to be fitted for passenger comfort whilst still controlling roll for passenger comfort too. And to control suspension movement so as to limit camber/castor changes in roll. The later doesn't apply to beam axles and twin wishbone set ups already control camber changes pretty well, its more o an issue on Macpherson strut cars where the degree of roll is mirrored in the camber change.

You actually get more grip on the road as well as off without the ARBs attached. My tyres have to be really caked up in mud etc for me to spin t rears at all, whee before I could get it sideways quite easily. By allowing each wheel/tyre to do its own thing and not be influenced by the other side you get more grip. For instance during cornering the ARB will try to "pick up" the inside wheel (anyone remeber 3 wheeling escorts and cortinas?) which obviously loses it grip, the body may be more level but the weight will be lifted of the inside wheel.