For all you guys that switched from SLS to springs have you altered or removed your rear sway? It looks like the factory sway bar for the air bags trucks was a larger diameter which leads me to believe it's stiffer by comparison to the sway installed on a sprung vehicle. The thought occurred to me while ordering bushes to rebuild my sway bar.

I no longer have bags and am now a 'lifted' sprung vehicle w/ an SLS sway bar. Is this limiting me in a negative way? I do have some reservations removing it completely well just because, I have medium springs, not heavy duties? Thoughts? Suggestions?

I should add this is my daily driver and looking to keep it somewhat highway friendly.

 

Any time you remove a sway bar, it will have both negative and positive effects.
It is obvious that by your mods, you like to wheel and in that case, it can be a big plus to disconnect them when off road.
On the highway, to me, it is a negative effect in that if you have to swerve to miss something, your top heavy can become real unstable.
My advise is to try it on the road and see how much it will effect your rig.

 

Hmmmm, that's interesting. I've converted from sls to springs. Didn't know there's a sway bar difference. I kept mine, but I dont wheel hard where the limited flex is noticed. I may look into getting a smaller sway or some quick disconnects.

 

My 2004 Discovery has factory original springs, and I know a guy who also has a 2004, but his has SLS air bag springs. I have not worked on either, but I have studied both systems, and looked them over closely, intently, and one of the first things I noticed was that the SLS versions DO, INDEED, have a larger diameter sway bar. Obviously, the larger diameter will not flex as much, at same rate, as smaller dia. sway bar on coil spring suspension Discoveries. If I were contemplating converting from SLS to coils, I would also include the conversion to the slightly smaller dia. roll bar, to give same Rover designed performance specifications intended for coil sprung vehicles. When you have lifted your Rover, what bearing that would have on all this, I would have no idea, for I am not a fan of lifting vehicles--your undercarriage clearances remain much the same as original, due to fact the the axles are same height as originally, unless you increase tire diameters. Doing any or all of this " lifting," raises center of gravity considerably, making for potentially dangerous rolling of vehicle on highway, or in mountains when you push the limit too far, all bad news that has killed too many people in the past!

 

Sprung Rover Rear Sway Bar Bush


Air bag Rover Sway Bar Bush

 

Mike, is it safe to assume that I'll need spring retainers in the rear to keep the springs from popping out while flexing?

Will I need any sort of spring retainers for the fronts if I add quick disconnects/or completely remove the front sway all together? I'm a noob when it comes to suspension bits.