I ran trails my first year with the front sway bar connected, and was disappointed with a couple instances of being stopped by what looked like minor articulation challenges. So over the winter I was busy shopping for a rear locker to solve 'the problem. '
The second year we experimented with the front disconnected (test runs and Ciff's, real runs at Camp Jeep, Jeep Jamboree Paragon, etc.). We were amazed at the spectacular increase in performance. We have since shelved the idea of lockers as unnecessary! Just disconnecting the front took care of all our needs (short of a modest lift that is). It is well worth the minutes under the car before and after the trail. No doubts. We ran into a second Libby owner who did and felt the same, and read enough happy praise in LOST trail stories to seal the case.
I have painted up the parts I remove with marks and arrows that show 'front' and 'up' and even the upper and lower torque specs for when I put them back on. And unlike my Grand, the Libby has enough clearance around the bolts for a wrench and a torque wrench, without having to jack it up. So only a blanket is needed to lay on.
Once I had only a couple miles to the trailhead from the hotel, and decided to 'loosen' the bolts before driving there, to save some minutes before the sunrise run. I was afraid of driving even the straight road without the front sway, for fear of having to dodge a deer or something and rolling over. But the slightly 'loosened' (imagine 20ftlb instead of 100) bolts made a heck of a racket on every bump.
So I ran back to the hotel after the trail without the bar connected as an experiment, and lived.
It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. My TJ gets way, way more 'drunk' when disconnected than the Libby. But I still won't do a highway or anything too far or too fast.
Photos from the more violent runs show the rear axle is flexing impressively as is. So we have not felt yet the need to disconnect back there.
