Which Bronco Series Have the Rear Sway Bar in 2022?

By Laura Zielinski

The 2021 Bronco is known for its incredible ride, and for 2022, Ford introduced some changes that improve the suspension even further. Besides introducing the HOSS 3.0 system for Wildtrak, Ford added a rear sway bar as standard for some Broncos. People have been noticing the silent change since the end of January, but it’s still not common knowledge to all. Let’s go over what this means, and which Broncos have the addition.

What is a sway bar?

An anti-sway bar, called a sway bar in shorthand, is also known as a stabilizer bar. All Broncos have had one form of front sway bar since launch. The First Edition, Badlands, and Bronco Raptor have a disconnecting front sta-bar. The other series have fixed front bars.

What does a sway bar do?

Sway bars help in the handling of a vehicle. In understanding that further, there are a few terms to know:

• Understeer: You’re entering a corner at speed, and even though you want to turn, the vehicle continues straight because the front tires have lost grip. The rear wheels overpower what you’re telling the front to do, and you take the turn wide.
• Oversteer: You’re attempting to corner, the front tires stick, and the rear tires lose traction. The rear of the vehicle comes out from behind you, over-rotating through the turn.
• Body roll: This is the load transfer experienced when turning. It’s what you’ll feel in understeer and oversteer. Vehicles lean to the outside of a turn when force is applied.

Body roll isn’t bad, but controlling it will keep the vehicle level. Keeping the vehicle level means more tire contact with the ground. More tire contact means better traction. Stabilizer bars reduce body roll and add stability by transferring movement between wheels.

Which Broncos have a rear sway bar for 2022?

Ford added the rear sway bar to 4-door Broncos equipped with the Sasquatch package. MY22 Wildtraks with HOSS 3.0 also have a rear sway bar.

What does the addition do for me?

The rear sway bar will give you more of what the front sway bar accomplishes: help with stability when cornering. Vehicle weight will be better distributed across all four tires. You’ll feel its benefits most at higher rates of speed.

The alternative to a rear sway bar can be stiffer rear springs. Stiff rear springs can counteract body roll, but stiff springs take away from ride comfortability. A rear sway bar keeps ride quality while controlling handling. Basically, when comparing a rear sway bar-equipped Bronco to one without, you’re going to feel increased stability and notice better road manners.

Is my 2021 4-door Bronco with Sasquatch unsafe without it?

Nope! Rear sway bars were optional equipment even up until ten years ago.

There will be a difference in a 2021’s handling vs. a 2022 when encountering understeer. Many vehicles come set from the factory set to understeer since it’s “safer” than oversteering. Whether you have a rear sway bar or not, you can affect understeer by easing off the gas and not locking the wheel in a turn.

Without one, you may feel more body roll, but your 2021’s springs are stiff enough to handle it.