X2, and well said... My question is, why do you have the passenger side mounted on the outside of your sway bar? Just my thoughts, but I think the angle is a bit off the way it's installed. If you put it on the inside and still run the bolt in the direction it is now, I don't see why it would be an issue? You would not run your front sway links on the outside, so I'm not sure why the rears would be any different. I'd think that it's going pose a problem during flex.. Just my .2

 

That's what the guy whose garage I'm using recommended said. He's built a couple older Jeeps from the ground up, pretty much, but he hasn't done a lotta work on the JK's. He said if I took the entire swaybar off and left it off, I'd probably never notice.

When I mentioned this to Chris @ Full Traction, he didn't agree. Said it was gonna mess up my road handling. Couple folks on another forum also felt that way. There's also the liability issue: If I get into a wreck and the other dude's lawyer finds out I was driving w/out the rear swaybar, I'm probably toast. Then again, probably be toast cuz of the lift, anyway...

Hell, I don't know what to do...

 

They are engineered by Full Traction to run on the outside. And, as I've said, if I run the passenger side on the inside, it's gonna get smashed by the trackbar mount.

 

Think of it this way, engineers get paid $$$$ a year to design vehicles that have to pass all kinds of safety tests and specifications in order for that vehicle to be manufactured and sold to the public. That means, that every part on that vehicle was needed for some reason or another in order to accomplish production. When it comes to steering and handling components on a vehicle, I tend to agree with engineers. I'm just an Army guy with half a degree, but I'd probably go with leaving the sway bar on and troubleshooting to find and solve the actual problem. There are 100's of us out there with lifts that do not have this issue, so I don't believe it to be common...

 

I don't blame you for putting it back on if it is something you are worried about. The front sway bar was the first thing to come off on my YJ and I never had any problems there either. It's all up to what you are comfortable with. I understand that engineers get paid to come up with these parts...but l also believe that the "rules and regs" concerning vehicle safety along with everything else in this country have gotten a little excessive. We are talking about Jeeps not Land Rovers. If you drive 75% on road and don't trust yourself to be able to handle a little play in the rear then keep that baby on! I also agree with the other guys that with 4.5 Backspacing you shouldn't be having any clearance issues at all. Install all of the parts as the instruction suggest, get her on the ground and if things aren't matching up right start worrying about how to fix it...

Good luck!

 

Stil thinking out-loud.

Maybe the 2012 is set-up different?

Don't know which " 3 inch Full Traction" lift you have, but found this:

http://www.4wd.com/aux_incl/pdf.ashx...3.pdf&line=FUL

"PLEASE NOTE:
The required wheel size - minimum diameter of 16".
Recommended width of 8” with a 4.0” offset from the
inward side."

Maybe offset problem?

 

That's what I'm thinking. Gonna have to call FT again in the a.m. and see...When I bought the lift (I've got the 3" premium plus) I told Steve, their engineer, what tires I was gonna run and he said no problem. But that was almost 2 months ago (DT's were on backorder forever.)

I'm either gonna have to get spacers or run without a rear swaybar. Probably try to figure out which one is the lesser of two evils.

Thanks for the help folks.

 

Ah, I didn't realize your axle was fully dropped in those pictures. You should probably adjust everything while it's on the ground then see what it looks like with the body in the air and the axle dropped to its lowest point. That is when your drivers side link will be closest to the tire. If its not touching then you are fine. Keep in mind this scenario can only happen if you are high centered or jumping. If the passenger side tire is stuffed then the driver side tire will be tilted away from the sway bar giving more room.

Now if the driver side tire is stuffed and the passenger side tire is dropped(the opposite of above) the axle won't shift sideways as much. This is because of how the trackbar is attached.

 

The rear sway bar is very weak. If you pull it off, you can twist it by hand. If you pull it off, it'd hard to tell its gone. It's really personal preference.

 

I had the same problem on my 2012 JKU with a RockKrawler 2.5 in Max Travel kit. The shop
that installed it told me up front that they could only install the lift if I lose the swaybar. They
said all 2007& up JKs had the issue. After I installed AEV Pintler wheels with the correct
backspacing, I put the swaybar back on. Without the swaybar it was driveable, but I preferred it back on. The shop owner said he left his swaybar off his own JK.

The wheel backspacing is what is giving you the clearance problems.