[Ansuman]

Has anyone tried any means to reduce the body roll of the Toyota Fortuner? I have a 2017 model Toyota Fortuner. I heard about using the rear sway bar. Is there any feedback or advice about using the sway bar?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Ansuman

Has anyone tried any means to reduce the body roll of the Toyota Fortuner?

It's hard to argue with physics & the way this tall SUV is built.

- Because it's a popular SUV, there are tons of aftermarket suspension options (Tein, Ironman, ARB & more). Take some time out and search deeply through Team-BHP. There are posts on all of these options. But be sure to thoroughly test-drive the suspension you're planning to buy first. I recently got an aftermarket AVO suspension for my body-on-frame SUV (Thar) and it has completely transformed the ride quality from "bumpy & annoying" to "compliant & liveable".

- Personally, if I owned a Fortuner, I'd focus more on improving the ride comfort than reducing body roll. But apparently, there are some suspensions that offer both for the Fortuner.

Some threads to get you started. Research, research, research. Be sure to come back & update this thread after your install, so it helps others .

Fortuner Ride Comfort

Tein for the Fortuner

My Fortuner with an after-market suspension

Ironman / ARB for Fortuner

Reduced Scorpio's body roll

[Kosfactor]

Before you go into the aftermarket scene, just have a once over with an experienced technician in a Toyota dealership - have them test drive the vehicle and check if its really how the vehicle is supposed to behave like or something is worn out underneath.

Ideally everything should feel tight and the vehicle should behave predictable around the bends, from the factory there is anti -roll bars \ sway bars in the suspension, messing around with it will certainly change the way the vehicle behaves - can be for better or worse but the negative aspects of suspension mods will often come to light when its too late.

Always remember Toyota knows how to make a comfortable body on frame vehicle, if Fortuner is different then it is intentional.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Before you go into the aftermarket scene, just have a once over with an experienced technician in a Toyota dealership - have them test drive the vehicle and check if its really how the vehicle is supposed to behave like or something is worn out underneath.

Solid advice . Will add further that, every time you think your car is misbehaving, drive another example of the same model to confirm whether the problem is specific to your car or the model itself.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by Ansuman

Has anyone tried any means to reduce the body roll of the Toyota Fortuner? I have a 2017 model Toyota Fortuner. I heard about using the rear sway bar. Is there any feedback or advice about using the sway bar?

In Indonesia and Thailand, a rear stabiliser bar/ sway bar is a very common aftermarket addition to the Fortuner. You can try that out.



https://www.instagram.com/p/CjP4MOoJ...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[ringoism]

I always understood the term "body roll" to basically mean the angle at which the body settles into on a turn of whichever radius at a given speed.

I think some people use the term more often to describe the sort of side-to-side rocking and sway that vehicles like the Scorpio are famous for.

But short of a very high-tech active suspension you can't have your cake and eat it too; And what's interesting is that corrections to these two differing dynamics can be mutually exclusive - meaning that certain things done to improve body roll (first definition) actually increase the swaying/rocking, and vice-versa.

Personally I think the general move towards crossovers from SUV's (same happened in the U.S. some years ago) comes down partly to the aformentioned physics - the fact that COG vehicles will always involve compromises in the ride&handling department.

Mechanics in H.P. call the sway bar a "jumping rod" which probably indicates that they have a limited grasp of what it does and why. They are not alone.

Won't get into it too deeply, but the basic function is to reduce roll by attempting to some degree to keep right and left side wheels in the same relative location to the body. Bigger the bar, the greater the effect. Some 4x4's (Rubicon) have automated sway bar disconnects for offroad use, where you want more articulation and a sway bar would prevent it.

As for practical effects will just say that:

1. A bigger sway (a.k.a. anti-roll) bar will decrease roll but actually noticeably INCREASE the side-to-side swaying on uneven surfaces.

2. A smaller sway bar will allow more roll in turns but smooths out the rocking motion on uneven surfaces.

So it's necessary to be clear about what you're aiming for, in relation to your own specific context / driving habits.

On roads with smooth, even pavement, larger sway bars are generally a boon; on uneven, undulating surfaces normally will create a rougher ride.

So-called "heavy duty" suspensions generally use larger ones, for more control in turns with heavy loads and at higher speeds. Which can make the perception of ride quality worse.

That said there are many approaches - roll can be reduced with OE sway bars by increasing spring rates - but that will increase the sort of "jiggliness" (now there's a proper technical term) on smaller sorts of bumps and surface roughness.

Shock absorber damping rates/curves of course also do play a role.

So it's potentially complex and there are compromises everywhere.

Also worth mentioning that going larger on the front bar, all other things being equal, increases understeer at the limit - whereas going larger on the back (or adding one where originally absent) increases oversteer - which OEM's tend to frown upon, since noobs can't manage oversteer as well. But icrease them both by the same margin, and you're balanced again... but rocking it nicely!

All this to say that unless you've got some tech knowledge and time for potentially fooling around till you get the improvements you desire, a properly engineered solution makes sense.

Also important to realize that so much depends on typical road quality encountered by passengers. OEM's try and tune them best they can according to tastes and habits of greatest number of customers at average speeds on sort of "average" roads. This is definitely not going to be the best for everyone.

I have no experience with Ironman and other offroad / aftermarket suspensions and not sure as to the tuning approaches taken, but as others advised it is good to research and if possible test-drive, because those tend to get expensive.

-Eric

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by ringoism

I always understood the term "body roll" to basically mean the angle at which the body settles into on a turn of whichever radius at a given speed.

I think some people use the term more often to describe the sort of side-to-side rocking and sway that vehicles like the Scorpio are famous for.

Often the stiffness of the rear end and the subsequent kick from the back on uneven surface is mistaken as body roll. I saw it recently mentioned as body roll in Altroz thread as well. I am sure it would take considerable amount of speed and steering lock to experience body roll in a vehicle like Altroz.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by ringoism

I always understood the term "body roll" to basically mean the angle at which the body settles into on a turn of whichever radius at a given speed.

This is not body roll. The angle at which the body settles on a turn of a given radius is yaw.

Originally Posted by ringoism

I think some people use the term more often to describe the sort of side-to-side rocking and sway that vehicles like the Scorpio are famous for.

This is body roll. The sideways sway of the body when the vehicle is making a turn. Or the angle at which the body turns on the lengthwise horizontal axis.

This diagram explains them:


Coming to Scorpio Vs Fortuner, both have body roll. Both pitch badly upon braking, while negotiating speed breakers, or while through uneven terrain. They are tall SUVs, so, they will have these for sure! My opinion is based on my driving preferences - I like driving low-slung cars that have better dynamics than tall SUVs. That is my idea of a 'car' anyway.

From my experience driving a Fortuner for a few hundred kilometers, it has body roll in abundance. I have a better opinion about Scorpio N. It drives better than a Fortuner, IMO.

I am no fan of Fortuner or Scorpio. In fact, I do not prefer tall SUVs at all.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Ansuman

Has anyone tried any means to reduce the body roll of the Toyota Fortuner? I have a 2017 model Toyota Fortuner. I heard about using the rear sway bar. Is there any feedback or advice about using the sway bar?

If it is the 2017 new gen fortuner it already has the rear sway bar. Its placed in front of the axle so not visible from the rear.

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

In Indonesia and Thailand, a rear stabiliser bar/ sway bar is a very common aftermarket addition to the Fortuner. You can try that out.

Attachment 2397070

Sway bar should connect the suspension arms or the axle with the body/chassis. This bar has two ends connected to both lower arms and no connection to the chassis and so it will not do anything except add weight.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by clevermax

This is not body roll. The angle at which the body settles on a turn of a given radius is yaw.

This is body roll. The sideways sway of the body when the vehicle is making a turn. Or the angle at which the body turns on the lengthwise horizontal axis.

This diagram explains them:
Attachment 2397328

Actually, the diagram shows the same thing I was trying to explain... maybe not very well.

Yaw is what happens with oversteer, i.e. rotation on a vertical axis - which is why it's a crucial component of ESC systems, which will apply brakes selectively to prevent a spin. Whereas roll is rotational movement along the horizontal axis - the degree of angular motion when cornering.

Pitching from side to side on undulations might be one type of "roll", but according to common english I'd think of that would be more like "sway" - a side-to-side / rocking motion.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Often the stiffness of the rear end and the subsequent kick from the back on uneven surface is mistaken as body roll. I saw it recently mentioned as body roll in Altroz thread as well. I am sure it would take considerable amount of speed and steering lock to experience body roll in a vehicle like Altroz.

Now "kick" presents another undefined term... :-)

Pre- Team-bhp in all earlier reading, what I'd always heard called "roll" had more to do with the motion associated with hard cornering, exacerbated by soft springing / smaller anti-roll bars - NOT the side-to-side rocking that can happen at low speeds on uneven surfaces, especially with harder springs / larger anti-roll bars.

My concern is that the same word is often being used to describe two things which are quite different to experience and which require different remedies, though both involve rotational motion on horizontal axis... As such, we are not exactly sure which of these issues the OP was referring to. Trouble being that a solution applied to one of these problems will typically make the other worse.

-Eric

[zeng]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Sway bar should connect the suspension arms or the axle with the body/chassis. This bar has two ends connected to both lower arms and no connection to the chassis and so it will not do anything except add weight.

Yeah typical sway bar is attached/linked to part of chassis frame, as well as lower arms.

What then is the 'benefits' if any, of this Fortuner socalled sway bar linking only the 2 lower arms but not the chassis?

[Livnletcarsliv]

As far as I know, one important thing is that, reducing body roll on a BOF car can be achieved only to a certain extent. If you to want to match it to a monocoque or significantly reduce it, there are a lot of changes/upgrades needed which I think then becomes a project car.

In the order of effectiveness, suspension upgrade gives you a better result than a sway bar upgrade. However, the catch here is that, the suspension upgrade should also not reduce the comfort (which happens most of the time). So try to find an upgrade that balances the body roll without compromising on the comfort.

As GTO mentioned, there are a lot of professionals across India who do a really good suspension upgrade. Please check it out.