Sway Bar Relocation Kits

Raise a vehicle and every part of the suspension moves down relative to the body. Every part except the sway bar, which stays bolted to the chassis exactly where the factory put it.

A sway bar relocation kit drops the mounting point to match, so the bar sits level again and works the way it was engineered to rather than fighting the lift.

Why Lifting a Vehicle Leaves the Sway Bar Behind

The bar mounts to the chassis in the middle and connects to the suspension at each end, and that relationship is designed around one ride height.

Once the suspension end drops away and the chassis end does not, the links are stretched between two points further apart than they used to be. They pull the ends of the bar downward and hold them there, so the bar is twisted before the vehicle has moved at all.

This is the part most people miss when planning a lift. Springs, shocks and arms all get attention, and the sway bar is treated as something that simply carries on working. It does carry on working, just not as well, and the loss is gradual enough that it gets attributed to the lift generally rather than to one component.

What Preload Does to a Sway Bar

Preload is the term for a bar that is already twisted while the vehicle is sitting still, and it causes two separate problems.

The first is that the bar has already used part of its available travel before you have turned the wheel. It has less left to give at the point where you actually want resistance, so the vehicle leans further in corners than the bar's rating suggests it should.

The second is that the bar sits unevenly if the vehicle is not perfectly level side to side, which almost none are once they are loaded. That means it resists lean more in one direction than the other, so the vehicle behaves differently turning left than turning right. It is a subtle thing that most drivers feel without being able to name.

A preloaded bar also puts constant load through the links, the mounts and the bushes, which shortens the life of all three. Links that keep failing on a lifted vehicle are usually the symptom rather than the cause.

Sway Bar Extension or Sway Bar Relocation Kit

Extended links are the obvious first answer, so it is worth being clear about what each option actually changes.

A sway bar extension restores the distance between the bar and the suspension, which takes the preload out and lets the bar sit untwisted. On a modest lift that is often all the correction needed, and it is the cheaper route.

What a longer link cannot change is the angle of anything. The bar is still mounted where the factory put it, so on a vehicle with real lift it sits high relative to the suspension and the links run at a steeper angle than they were designed for.

A sway bar relocation kit moves the mounting point instead of compensating for it. The bar drops to sit level with the suspension, the links return to something close to their intended angle, and the geometry works rather than being worked around.

Link Angle and Why It Costs You Bar Rate

Angle matters because a link only transfers its full load when it works roughly in line with the movement it is resisting.

Set a link at an angle and part of the force pushes sideways instead of up and down, and the bar simply never receives that portion. The steeper the angle, the more effort is wasted, and the loss compounds with the preload already in the system.

The practical result is a lifted vehicle getting noticeably less from its sway bar than the specification suggests. You get more vehicle sway through corners, a body that takes longer to settle after a direction change, and a vehicle that feels loose on a loaded highway run or a corrugated road.

Plenty of people conclude they need a heavier bar at that point, when what they actually have is a correctly sized bar that cannot deliver. Relocating the mount is considerably cheaper than buying a bar that will have exactly the same problem.

Sway Bar Clearance and Binding at Full Articulation

There is a durability argument alongside the handling one, and on a 4WD it matters more.

Suspension travel changes with a lift, and a bar sitting high with steeply angled links has less room to work through that travel. Links can bind at the extremes of articulation, which loads the joints in a direction they were never designed for and shortens their life considerably.

In some cases the bar or the links end up close enough to a tyre, a control arm or the chassis to make contact at full droop or full compression. That is easy to miss in a driveway, because it only happens at travel extremes the vehicle never reaches on a level surface.

Dropping the bar restores the clearance along with the geometry, which is why a sway bar relocation kit is worth fitting on a vehicle that sees real articulation rather than one that has simply been raised for looks. On a touring 4WD the binding is what shortens link life, and the links are what people keep replacing without ever addressing why.

Sway Bar Spacers and How Much Drop You Need

Not every lift needs the same amount of correction, and the range reflects that.

A sway bar spacer repositions the bar lower on its existing mounting points, which suits a moderate lift and keeps the job simple. There is no fabrication, nothing is cut, and the original bracket stays on the vehicle.

Drop brackets replace or extend the mounting point itself, moving the bar further down than a spacer can manage. That suits a larger ride height change where a spacer would run out of adjustment before the bar reached level.

The amount of drop you need is roughly the amount the suspension moved, though it is not always exactly that because the bar and the links do not sit on the same plane. Coverage is designed around specific lift heights for specific vehicles, so check the listing for the range each kit was built to suit rather than assuming more drop is always better.

Fitting more drop than the lift requires pushes the geometry past level in the opposite direction, which recreates the same problem with the angles reversed.

Signs Your Vehicle Needs a Sway Bar Relocation Kit

• The vehicle has been lifted and the sway bar has not been touched since
• More lean and slower settling than before the lift, with no other explanation
• The bar visibly sitting at an angle instead of level across the vehicle
• Links running at a noticeably steeper angle than they used to
• Sway bar links wearing out or breaking sooner than they should
• Contact marks on a link, a tyre, an arm or the chassis
• Audible binding from the bar or links at full articulation off road
• A heavier bar that never delivered the improvement you paid for

The quick version takes about a minute to do yourself. Look at the bar with the vehicle on level ground, because it should sit roughly horizontal with the links close to vertical. The further from that it sits, the more there is to gain.

Setting Link Length After Fitting a Sway Bar Relocation Kit

Fit the relocation kit before you set link length, since moving the mounting point changes the distance the links have to span and doing it the other way means doing it twice.

Work with the vehicle on all four wheels at static ride height rather than at full droop on a hoist, because where the suspension sits when the vehicle is parked is where everything needs to be neutral.

Once the mount is repositioned, set the links so the ball ends sit in the middle of their range and the bar is untwisted, then confirm both sides measure the same. Never force a link into place to make it reach, because that reintroduces exactly the preload the kit was fitted to remove.

Cycle the suspension through its full travel before calling it finished and check clearance at both extremes. The problem a sway bar relocation kit solves is a travel problem, so it has to be verified through travel rather than at ride height.

No wheel alignment is required, though it is worth rechecking the fasteners after a few hundred kilometres and again after the first serious trip.

Find Sway Bar Relocation Kits for Your Vehicle

Select your vehicle to see the sway bar relocation kits, spacers and extended links available for it, and check the lift height each one suits. Every Nolathane component is backed by our warranty, a fitment guarantee and 60 day returns. 4x4 Lift Kits Nolathane 4x4 lift kits are a quick and easy way to raise a standard-height 4WD ute or pick-up while keeping its standard suspension. Using precision strut spacers at the front and spacer blocks at the rear, they add ground clearance, make room for slightly larger tyres, and give your vehicle a stronger, more capable stance, without replacing your springs and shock absorbers.

Relocation kits sit within Nolathane's sway bars and sway bar kits range, alongside sway bar brackets for worn or damaged mounts.

Each kit is developed and tested by Nolathane?s research and development team, so the lift for each application maintains a safe working height for the vehicle?s standard suspension. That makes them a practical, cost-effective way to improve off-road capability for work, touring and weekend adventures.