I just recently bought a 2017 Limited EL 4WD. Rides great in straight line, but passengers seem to notice a fair amount of body roll in the mountains. I was thinking of possibly upgrading the sway bars. Searching on this and other sites is difficult (most results come up talking about tow hitches/trailer sway or sway bar end links for lifted trucks). The only option I've found is a set by Hellwig - does anyone have these and can the give a review? Are there other options out there?
School me on sway bars
- Thread starter Z4Mguy
- Start date
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tbone1004
Member
yes, that. I have a lifted Jeep WJ that got tamed quite quickly with a monster rear sway bar. Hoping there is something for this
The hellwig is your best bet, it is a thicker bar than what is installed stock. They put those thin bars on to bias the vehicle for oversteer. I guess they figure better to spin out than understeer and hit what you're trying to avoid. I put an upgraded (steeda) rear sway bar on my focus hatchback and the body roll dramatically decreased and now has a more neutral feel in the corners. I'm thinking of adding the hellwig bar myself but it's down on my long list of upgrades at this point. The independant rear suspension adds to the body roll effect since it's tuned soft for comfort.
The bar should be easy to swap out, shouldn't even have to jack it up, probably just 6 bolts (2 each on th bushings and one on either side at the sway bar end link). Unless you have a hard time with the rear stabilizer bars, then a slight lift on the control arm would be needed.
The bar should be easy to swap out, shouldn't even have to jack it up, probably just 6 bolts (2 each on th bushings and one on either side at the sway bar end link). Unless you have a hard time with the rear stabilizer bars, then a slight lift on the control arm would be needed.
Adding a stiffer rear bar does the opposite to what you just said.
Stiffening the rear decreases Understeer, and moves the vehicle towards neutral. Most vehicles understeer from the factory that is by far much more desirable thing to the average driver.
Stiffening the rear decreases Understeer, and moves the vehicle towards neutral. Most vehicles understeer from the factory that is by far much more desirable thing to the average driver.
Nope, pretty sure I've got that right. Understeer is when you "push" your front tires, like driving on ice, but the car doesn't follow where you point the wheels (this is an extreme example of course). Most cars are slightly biased to oversteer. Not a lot, but when pushed you'd rather the vehicle spin out than roll over.
powerboatr
Full Access Members
you are doing it wrong.
my expy seats two adults and two dogs....and the occasional grandchild. so sway ..
air pressure first on rear tires, ford sets it low. i run 42 up front and 40 in the back on the 20" wheel
makes a world of difference and costs nothing
my expy seats two adults and two dogs....and the occasional grandchild. so sway ..
air pressure first on rear tires, ford sets it low. i run 42 up front and 40 in the back on the 20" wheel
makes a world of difference and costs nothing
Nope, You are wrong, Sorry. How much time have you spent on a track? I am guessing not much.
I know exactly what push/tight, and loose is.
Also, most cars nowadays come from the factory tight, and favor moderate understeer. Most Front wheel drive and AWD generally favor Understeer inherently. Rear wheel drive cars especially performance vehicles, can have power induced oversteer, but with modern traction control, even that is hard.
Understeer for the average driver is easier to fix. Let off the gas and Understeer goes away under most cases and the car rotates more.
Stiffen up the rear, and the car rotates, because there is less body roll, because more force is transferred to the tires quicker. We could talk Spring rates and many other factors and how they affect handling, but that is a more detailed discussion.
I think we're musti looking at it from two different angles. The fact still remains, on an expedition, if you want to reduce body roll, a thicker rear sway bar and better tires will go a long way to improving the handling of such a large top heavy vehicle. It doesn't need race car suspension mind you, we're just talking a few mm larger diameter bar. This will reduce body roll and potentially increase the likely hood of spinning around due to more pressure being put on the tires but it's removing the top heavy shift of weight which can also contribute to an oversteer situation or potential rollover.
It will make your towing experience better as well, especially when combined with a properly setup wdh and firmer side wall tires. I air the rear tires to 42 when towing and use a 4 point friction anti sway wdh. I can still feel a little looseness in the rear end but chock that up to the flimsy stock tires and the independant rear suspension.
It will make your towing experience better as well, especially when combined with a properly setup wdh and firmer side wall tires. I air the rear tires to 42 when towing and use a 4 point friction anti sway wdh. I can still feel a little looseness in the rear end but chock that up to the flimsy stock tires and the independant rear suspension.
Not looking at it from 2 different angles. What I said was 100% accurate, what you said was not. If a vehicle already oversteers you would not want to stiffen the rear to decrease it, it would make it worse. My Expedition understeers most definitely. Not as bad as my AWD Edge, but still very noticeably.
You are correct that a stiffer bar will help the Expedition, and like you said improve towing characteristics. You are 100% on that.
You are correct that a stiffer bar will help the Expedition, and like you said improve towing characteristics. You are 100% on that.
