I have a 05 polaris sportsman 500 ho. Im a big guy. Does the sway bar do anything with weight distribution? Also i do some rock and trail and mud rideing. If i disconnect the sway bar what will it do to the ride or the handling of the atv? Should i leave it on? thanks Polaris Man with Issues

 

Sway bars prevent body roll in turns at higher speeds. The higher the speed the more body roll thus the more need for a bigger or stiffer sway bar.

Given your weight I would think it a benifit for ride comfort, in trail riding.

I think people remove it for two reasons, 1 for tire clearence, 2 for better tire traction in very rough situations like rock climbing at slow speeds where body roll is of no concequence.

 

Might want to look at going with stiffer springs. Here's a link to the quick-disconnect swaybar mod. http://www.atvnation.com/modules/AMS...hp?storyid=168

 

Quick disconnects is a standard feature on Jeeps set up for rock crawling, but i never ran mine disconnected unless it was slow crawling and i needed all four on the ground. Sounds to me your need is for stiffer springs. Disconnecting the sway bars on a quad, like my jeep, may be fine for slow rock crawling, but I wouldn't want to be flying down the trails disconnected, you will end up with a lot of body lean and possible roll over.

 

the heavier the load being carried on the bike(IE the rider) would have more body roll w/ the bar disconnected and to me make it more dangous. imo

 

Ditto Sten. Definitely do not want it disconnected unless you're crawling in some nasty stuff! Highly suggest the hd springs unless you have the $ to get a set of elka shocks.