Anti-Sway Bar material

[94Blue302GT]

does an anti-sway bar have to be made out of spring metal?
does anyone make a version that isn't made out of spring steel?
I was thinking (isn't that terrible, thinking of this while in class...)
that you could create your own, but out of a rigid piece that pivots, and just put it on a spring of somesort. any ideas?
Lee

 

[Rick 91GT]

Are you talking about a anti-roll bar for the rear or a sway bar like a stock set-up?

 

[94Blue302GT]

i guess i don't know what the difference is, don't they do the same thing?

 

[Rick 91GT]

NO

look under the suspension section on www.teamzmotorsports.net that is a anti-roll bar. Is that what you are asking about?

 

[Michael Yount]

Rick - pretty sure he's talking about what you call a "sway bar". Most of the rest of the globe (not this country) call them anti-sway or anti-roll bars - they minimize body roll or sway when the car is cornering.

The way most are designed they function EXACTLY like a spring that resists one side of the car being at a different height than the other side - that's why they're made out of spring steel. You could eliminate them completely by increasing the spring rates of the existing springs in the car. But that would compromise ride (significantly). Not sure what you had in mind design-wise. Can you elaborate - your description I find lacks quite a bit of detail.

 

[94Blue302GT]

well, don't they all do the same thing? reduce body roll? Basically, i was thinking of ditching the stock sway bar for something like you listed from that site, www.teamzmotorsports.net but i'm wondering if you need both or not? I"ll be redoing the entire rear geometry with a new torque box and everything in order to center it all on the center of gravity of the car for ideal traction. But, i want something of that nature in there, and i figure it's time to upgrade.
Lee

 

[Michael Yount]

Many drag racers pre-load an adjustable "anti-roll" bar to achieve maximum grip for launches. Set up that way, it DOES NOT provide optimum body roll resistance for cornering as it will resist body lean in the rear from turns in one direction more than turns in the other direction.

As usual - everything is a compromise. If you're trying to optimize for launch, you'll hurt cornering potential. And vice versa. If you're looking for a compromise between the two - set it up more for handling than launches. While neither is ideal for the other, running at the strip is less hurt by a cornering set up than cornering is hurt by a strip set up.

Make sense?

 

[Rick 91GT]

Many drag racers pre-load an adjustable "anti-roll" bar to achieve maximum grip for launches. Set up that way, it DOES NOT provide optimum body roll resistance for cornering as it will resist body lean in the rear from turns in one direction more than turns in the other direction.

As usual - everything is a compromise. If you're trying to optimize for launch, you'll hurt cornering potential. And vice versa. If you're looking for a compromise between the two - set it up more for handling than launches. While neither is ideal for the other, running at the strip is less hurt by a cornering set up than cornering is hurt by a strip set up.

Make sense?

Good answer Mike

Happy Holidays to you and yours

 

[Michael Yount]

Likewise - a safe and joyous holiday back at ya'....