Sway Bars - Front and Rear

[89 MJ]

I've been doing research on sway bars both for the front and rear of the MJ. I would like to upgrade the front too, but at the very least, I am wanting to run a rear sway bar. My truck is lifted, but that is irrelevant. The truck is lifted and it is staying that way, I'm not afraid of modifying sway bar end links if I have to. My truck is a SWB, so the bar must go behind the rear axle. I am also not willing to give up my 31" spare mounted in the factory location. Here's the other kicker: my truck has an 8.8 in the rear which does not have a centered pumpkin. I drive this truck pretty hard through corners and now that I have buckets that hold me in the seat nicely, its time to address the next handling shortfalls, shocks and sway bars. I know it is a solid axle Jeep and will never be a sports car, however this truck is mostly a pavement princess and it hauls stuff fairly regularly. The sway bars become a safety feature at that point. 

 

I know that some XJs came with a 28mm (~1.125" for those of us who despise the metric system) front sway bar. This is the route I will go if there is not something better out there for the front, but finding a used one in good shape might be tricky. The only aftermarket one I saw was the Addco 516 1.125" bar, but it looks like its possibly out of stock. Has anyone found any other 1.125"-1.250" bars that work that are either aftermarket or from a different vehicle?

 

Now for the rear bar. I have found a few options here.

There is the Addco 468. This seems to be out of stock and I do not like that it attaches to the shock mounts. That would be a lot of force on the shock mounts. Would it be fine? Probably, but I just don't like it. It is 7/8", which is the size I want for a rear bar.

Next is the WJ rear sway bar, done in this thread. I really like that this is a run of the mill part that is not some aftermarket piece, but there are aftermarket upgrades. I also really like the mounting and might copy that depending on the route I go. I do not like the potential for interference with the leaf springs, nor the fact that a stock one is only 9/16".

The third option is the 95-05 Blazer rear bar. This is probably my favorite so far. Its a GM part, so there is plenty of aftermarket support for it. Its also big. I believe it is 0.875", like the Addco. 

Next week, I am hoping to be checking out a 98 Explorer rear sway bar. I believe it is a 9/16" bar, but there seem to be some aftermarket options for upgrades. I also like that the mounting to the axle should be simple since it is a sway bar for an 8.8 going onto an 8.8. 

Has anyone done any of these rear sway bars or anything else worth considering?

[Eagle_SX4]

I installed a stock WJ rear bar on mine and am happy with it. The only issue that may pop up is interference with the leaf springs because the link end points end up directly above the leaf springs on each side. Barnes4wd sells TJ sway bar mount brackets that can be welded to your axle and they are the same bolt spacing as the WJ mounting brackets. 

 

I followed Hornbods thread for the installation except I mounted my bar about 4 inches higher on my axle and shortened the links so that there is less chance of leaf spring interference.

[89 MJ]

11 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

I installed a stock WJ rear bar on mine and am happy with it. The only issue that may pop up is interference with the leaf springs because the link end points end up directly above the leaf springs on each side. Barnes4wd sells TJ sway bar mount brackets that can be welded to your axle and they are the same bolt spacing as the WJ mounting brackets. 

 

I followed Hornbods thread for the installation except I mounted my bar about 4 inches higher on my axle and shortened the links so that there is less chance of leaf spring interference.

Good to know, thank you. I really liked the end link brackets that he used. I kept the stock sway bar brackets on my 8.8 and the TJ ones look very similar, so with a little luck, I should be able to reuse them after slotting the holes if necessary. 

[Eagle_SX4]

I found the post I made about my sway bar there is a pic. It was before I shortened the links.

 

 

[watchamakalit]

 

I need to see where this goes.....

 

Only I have a d44

[89 MJ]

4 hours ago, watchamakalit said:

 

I need to see where this goes.....

 

Only I have a d44

You’ve got the bug now too  

 

5 hours ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

I found the post I made about my sway bar there is a pic. It was before I shortened the links.

 

 

That looks great, thank you! It being tucked up higher makes a huge difference. 
 

 

[watchamakalit]

7 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

You’ve got the bug now too  

 

That looks great, thank you! It being tucked up higher makes a huge difference.