Who has their front ARB removed?

[biosurf]

Dont shoot me for asking an ARB question but most of what I've read when searching is related to having the rear removed.

I was half way through writing a post about them as in my head (no physics not mechanics in there so may well be wrong) is it should make the ride safer as you are less likely to have a wheel in the air when cornering and therefore less likely to lost traction and all the other nastiness that goes with this (particulalrly gaining all that traction when the wheel comes back down)
Just searched and turns out Mr F has asked this far more succinctly than I was going to some years ago http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/forums/sh...&highlight=arb but there wasnt much conclusive agreement.

So whats the thoughts of those that have done it? a) Safer cos although it feels scary you actually have more rubber to tarmac contact or b) less safe because although this is true, the force generated by the top heavy vehicle rolling will increase the overall roll so much as to lift the wheel anyway (despite its increased travel) and make it more likely to flip over?


As an addendum.. anyone making disconnects yet? or made any for themselves?

[Gamedawn]

I've run both my old 2.4 and my current 3.0 with no arb's. They both ran a 2" suspension and 1" body lift with heavy duty springs and torsion bars and to be honest I couldn't really tell any difference in the handling. You could still hustle it through corners and the body roll didn't seem to be any worse.

I did run the 2.4 with disconnects on the front for a while but after one off road session I forget to reconnect them and when I realised there was no difference I threw the bar away completely. I think the reason I got away with it while so many seem to complain of unacceptable body roll is the stiffer suspension and perhaps the added weight of a winch and bumper up front.

The 3.0 has risen a little more and sprouted some extreme muds and is starting to get a little unwieldy around corners but it's still acceptable for what it is.

[MattF]

Much prefer mine without. If you still had original shocks and springs, it may be more noticable an effect due to those being knackered and spongy, but with good springs/shocks, no problems whatsoever. Only thing I would say to note is to just take the first few corners steadily when you first remove the front bar. You will have to adjust your cornering compensation slightly. It's no biggie, but just a note.

[sv1000spilot]

Have taken both of mine off. Much better off road, and slightly more body roll on the road.

As these aren't sports cars I don't think it's that much of an issue. Just remember to slow down in the corners.

[wishbone]

Had front off for a week when I went camping and my new mounts hadn't turned up. Hated it. Have front and rear fitted on mine. I'd rather slide than roll tbh.

Understand how it could be beneficial off road though.

Rob.

[lord lucan]

Had front off for a week when I went camping and my new mounts hadn't turned up. Hated it. Have front and rear fitted on mine. I'd rather slide than roll tbh.

Understand how it could be beneficial off road though.

Rob.

totally agree, if you dont do much off road keep them connected.

[Jonny77]

I ran with just the front for a while, then I took the front off too and got used to it. Then fitted 33's, body lift and ES9000's and didnt like the way it felt like it was gonna fall over all the time. The front is now back on with some disconnects for off road use.
For pages and pages of debates, search 'sway bar' on Yotatech. The common outcome is to leave the front, remove the rear and fit a front locker to help with the crap IFS articulation.

[wishbone]

On yotatech the common answer is to ""SAS it dude the ifs is the devils ass""

Thats pretty much the answer to everything there



Rob.

btw I'm running the es9000 gas shocks and milner heavy duty rear springs. hth the original poster.

[BUSHWHACKER]

If it's your daily driver, leave them on.

[Apache]

I found removing the back makes bu99er all difference (on LC springs anyway) and removing the front increases body roll a bit, and a lot when loaded up.

I wonder if you are one of the people who didn't notice much difference, whether the bushes were sha99ed because when I rebushed my front ARB with Milners polybushes it made a bigger difference to the handling than changing the front shocks did!

After a while with both off, I now run with the front on most of the time. It only takes 5 minutes to disconnect a drop link after all.

[PC-Surf]

I run with the front off only. Only be cause it bent and I never got round to replacing or taking the rear off. Initially I found no real difference especially when I put bigger wheels on. But then for no apparent reason it started rolling a bit more. Not sure if it was just my mind or not. Having mine looked at next week so it might bring somthing to light. We'll see. Even now it isn't a massive difference. And I travel solely on winding country roads. No motorways over here. Not big enough!

[potif]

i always seemed to loose the back end on a certain roundabout whilst driving to work. Went for th MOT a few weeks ago and one failure was off side rear anti roll bar bracket snapped - fitted a new one and found handling much better - they are there for a reason.

[nero279]

they are there for a reason

yup, to give a flatter ride which is more comfortable on the road. I'd be more worried that my shocks & springs were knackered than my ARB had fallen off if the handling became poor(er than usual). As has already been mentioned the ARB could partially mask this if one shock was poor and the other still OK.

[TonyN]

yup, to give a flatter ride which is more comfortable on the road.

Exactly, our truck is built for offroad flex, so ARB's are in the bin (both ends).

If it means we take more care round corners, so be it. Big shocks and best suspension set up help cornering, but road legal 4x4's are compromise, offroad ability and onroad handling don't mix, the very things that make your truck handle nicely are your worst enemy offroad. You have to choose how far you want to go, and live with the consequenses.

A truck with floppy suspension isn't dangerous driven within its limits. Only numpty driving makes it bad.

[potif]

So, out of interest will it pass an MOT without the ARBs fitted?