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Sway bars (a.k.a "stabilizer" or "anti-roll" bars) are an important part of any vehicle's suspension, and are designed so that they may easily be altered or replaced to tune the vehicle's handling balance
Purpose
A sway bar is a type of torsion spring that connects the left- and right-side wheels together to decrease body roll.
Function
A properly tuned sway bar still allows the wheels on either side to move up and down unhindered, but resists any attempt for one side to go up while the other goes down. This reduces body roll while cornering.
Stability
Body roll reduces the stability of the axle because it causes much of the vehicle's weight to shift to one side while cornering, causing a loss of grip on the light-side wheel and overloading of the heavy side.
Handling Balance
Sway bars are often used to make fine adjustments to a vehicle's handling balance. For instance, front wheel drive cars have thicker front sway bars and thinner rear bars to reduce their natural tendency to under-steer (push under cornering).
Removing Bars
Some people remove or disconnect sway bars when going off-road, but a vehicle should never be driven on the highway in this condition.
Source:
Swedishbricks.com: Sway Bar FAQ
Nasioc.com: Official Sway Bar FAQ
Legacycentral.com: Sway Bar FAQ
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