Do I really need the stabilizer bar disconnect?

[Mcogen123]

I have a 24 Wildtrak and I’m trying to decide whether to invest in the disconnect. I live in Northern VA. We have some opportunities for rock crawling. But it is limited. My question is how much of a difference I should expect to see with a disconnect, and whether it is critical to the terrain I have available.

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[crenca]

Honestly, the only answer to your very general question is "it depends".

At some point, either by accident or on purpose you're going to run into a situation where a sway bar disconnect will be very helpful or even"critical".... Or not, as you may never push it to that point, or through skill choose different lines that allow your stock Wildtrak to be just fine.

At some point your own experience will answer the question. By the way, you can install Boss 4x4's "Walker links" as a solution to get you at least some of the articulation that a disconnect provides.

 

[B22-2023]

I have a 24 Wildtrak and I’m trying to decide whether to invest in the disconnect. I live in Northern VA. We have some opportunities for rock crawling. But it is limited. My question is how much of a difference I should expect to see with a disconnect, and whether it is critical to the terrain I have available.

It isn‘t critical, because you and your crew can probably get the Bronco out easily enough when the time comes, as the Wildtrak is plenty capable. Putting that Badlands disconnect on and programming everything isn’t a small job, but you’ll barely ever use it from the sounds of things.

Plenty of crawling including on boulders until I decided to put on manual sway bar disconnects, to ease up the ride on back roads and more articulation. But around town the assembly seems clunky.

If I were going to do it right for my style and amount of driving, would do the Walker links suggested by @crenca.

 

[MNBigfoot]

It isn‘t critical, because you and your crew can probably get the Bronco out easily enough when the time comes, as the Wildtrak is plenty capable. Putting that Badlands disconnect on and programming everything isn’t a small job, but you’ll barely ever use it from the sounds of things.

Plenty of crawling including on boulders until I decided to put on manual sway bar disconnects, to ease up the ride on back roads and more articulation. But around town the assembly seems clunky.

If I were going to do it right for my style and amount of driving, would do the Walker links suggested by @crenca.

I always heard the best way to hook it up is simply to a toggle, thus bepassing the nannies, is that not the rule of thumb now?

 

[Brian_B]

Not hard to unhook/rehook the stock sway bar manually if you can crawl under the truck. If it’s only a couple of times a year how much is that switch worth to you

 

[Mcogen123]

Good point on manually disconnecting it.

 

[Oldhippie]

I wired one up to switch and use it as soon as I get off pavement…much better ride and a game changer in the rough stuff….maybe the best mod after lift…

 

[geargeek]

Disco provides off-road comfort and a little better articulation, but you will be fine without it.

I drove a Badlands at the Off-Rodeo in Texas, so I switched back-and-forth. Going slow on bumpy/rocky roads was more comfortable with sta-bar disconnected. I did the hardest obstacles there both ways when I could - some difference, but it really depends on the situation. There wasn't anything there that I couldn't do connected.

While I could live without the disconnect on my Heritage Edition, with more off-road trips planned for the coming year, I wanted the comfort, so I ordered the OEM disconnect, and plan to wire it to an Aux switch. I'll be able to turn it on/off as I wish. It's a pretty straightforward install. You can probably talk your dealer into doing it if you're not a DIYer, or hire a mechanic. I ordered the part MB3Z-5482-X from Levittown Ford Parts for around $1,300 shipped. I also ordered the one-time use lock nuts, although you can use the current ones at your own risk.

A video on installation:
Stinky Fab's OEM Disconnect Installation Video

Also, important update on what is likely the more correct wiring (wiring solenoids in series):
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...nnect-technical-information.5659/post-2255825

 

[SierraBronco]

Another vote for Boss links

 

[zuke]

I have a 24 Wildtrak and I’m trying to decide whether to invest in the disconnect. I live in Northern VA. We have some opportunities for rock crawling. But it is limited. My question is how much of a difference I should expect to see with a disconnect, and whether it is critical to the terrain I have available.

There are plenty of places that you may go to from NoVa that disconnecting is beneficial from a comfort perspective, and a few places where it's beneficial from an articulation perspective. It's really more of a question of how often you'd use it that probably matters, If you're going to run to Peters Mill twice a year, not worth it... If you're going to go to The Cove, Rausch Creek, AOAA or even Flagpole once a month.... Then some sort of disconnect is worth it!

 

[Mcogen123]

Thanks all! Super helpful.​

 

[MJ12]

Disconnect noticeably smooths out the ride over rough terrain in general not only for rock crawling. I disconnect just as much on trails just for the improved ride quality. In my opinion even if you're not rock crawling much but ride some rougher trails then it is worth it.

 

[RideClimbNJ]

Did you do the Off Roadeo yet? If not, try driving a Bronco with the disco at the event. You can get some first hand experience.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

We did the Texas offroadeo in a Wildtrack as I wanted to mirror our Black Diamond as much as I could. We did everything without issue.

It is like comparing a potato to an orange but off roading on our own the articulation of our BD is far from impressive. I can pick up a rear wheel in our barnyard without trying too hard.

 

[Mcogen123]

So this all raises a question-is there any trustworthy kit for manually disconnecting? A search of forum strings suggests maybe not.

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