[bobcowan]

No, a sway bar will not change your bump steer. A sway bar is mostly used to fine tune the car in hard corners. Alignment and ride height settings are done with the sway bars disconnected.

Ride height is measured between the round tube frame and the ground, at the very front and very rear of the tube. It's important to set this correctly before doing anything else. Changes in ride height will affect the other measurements/adjustments.