adjustable sway bars and preload
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From: Boston, MA, USA
adjustable sway bars and preload
I have a question about adjustable sway bars.
I'm not exactly sure how they work. I've setup race cars and scaled them etc but never worked with one that was adjustable. I know when we corner weight the car we make sure the sway bar has no preload by disconnecting one of the endlinks.
Now I've seen 2 types of adjustable bars. Some have adjustable endlinks that you can crank up to increase the sway bar preload and other adjustable bars have a series of holes where the endlink attaches to that changes the stiffness. Are the adjustable endlinks there just to remove preload? Or does that change the stiffness? Is swaybar stiffness the same as preload? What are the advantages of an adjustable endlink as opposed to the swaybars with different mounting holes for the endlinks? TIA
s
I'm not exactly sure how they work. I've setup race cars and scaled them etc but never worked with one that was adjustable. I know when we corner weight the car we make sure the sway bar has no preload by disconnecting one of the endlinks.
Now I've seen 2 types of adjustable bars. Some have adjustable endlinks that you can crank up to increase the sway bar preload and other adjustable bars have a series of holes where the endlink attaches to that changes the stiffness. Are the adjustable endlinks there just to remove preload? Or does that change the stiffness? Is swaybar stiffness the same as preload? What are the advantages of an adjustable endlink as opposed to the swaybars with different mounting holes for the endlinks? TIA
s
Re: adjustable sway bars and preload (stevel)
The end-links don't act as a lever arm. They only push directly at the sway bar. This means that their length won't change the rate of the bar. They are only made adjustable to remove preload (or add it) to different bar settings. If your sway bar has 3 holes on each end for adjustability, you acctually have about 5 different sway bar stiffness settings. The additional 2 can be made by attaching either end link to offset holes. Then you use the adjustable end link to remove any preload
Example: (the numbers represent the position of the end link on the sway bar)
1 - 1 = softest
2 - 1 = second softest (1-2 = same rate)
2 - 2 = medium (1-3 & 3-1 = same rate)
2 - 3 = second hardest (3-2 = same rate)
3 - 3 = hardest
Example: (the numbers represent the position of the end link on the sway bar)
1 - 1 = softest
2 - 1 = second softest (1-2 = same rate)
2 - 2 = medium (1-3 & 3-1 = same rate)
2 - 3 = second hardest (3-2 = same rate)
3 - 3 = hardest
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From: Locash
Re: adjustable sway bars and preload (94eg!)
You don't preload swaybars except for circle track racing, where you want one side to corner and you don't care about turning the other direction.
Adjustable swaybars work by changing the length of the swaybar. The shorter the swaybar, the stiffer. When you mount the end links closer together, this effectively shortens the swaybar.
Take a metal coat hanger and bend it roughly the shape of a swaybar. Grab it by the arms and twist. Now cut it down to 1/8th of its size and twist it again. The shorter coat hanger is much more difficult to twist, in other words, it's stiffer.
Adjustable swaybars work by changing the length of the swaybar. The shorter the swaybar, the stiffer. When you mount the end links closer together, this effectively shortens the swaybar.
Take a metal coat hanger and bend it roughly the shape of a swaybar. Grab it by the arms and twist. Now cut it down to 1/8th of its size and twist it again. The shorter coat hanger is much more difficult to twist, in other words, it's stiffer.
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Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Austin, Texas
Re: adjustable sway bars and preload (shaundrake)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shaundrake »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Take a metal coat hanger and bend it roughly the shape of a swaybar. Grab it by the arms and twist. Now cut it down to 1/8th of its size and twist it again. The shorter coat hanger is much more difficult to twist, in other words, it's stiffer.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Good Analogy
Good Analogy
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