Sway bars, Do I need them?

[Aussie Mike]

I guess this question has already been asked but I haven't been able to find any old posts.

I'm putting my front and rear suspension together at the moment and wasn't sure whether I sould fit swaybars. The car has an independant rear end, runs coilovers all round and 17" wheels. The provisions are there on my chassis for both front and rear bars.

How much of a difference they make? is any one using adjustable swaybars on a street car?

The car will be mainly street driven with an ocasional track day
Do you guys run both front and rear bars?

Cheers

[niles]

Sure you need them, if you want your Cobra to handle better that a London taxi!

Without them you will get excessive body learn when corning hard.
gn

[Aussie Mike]

I wouldn't have thought body roll would be that severe on a Cobra. With a low center of gravity and coil overs with firm spring rates.

[Back in Black]

The front sway bar is always larger than the rear sway bar, for a front engined car. I don't know what actual dimensions you would need, but your front/rear weight bias, based mostly on your motor weight, is the deciding factor. Also, the heavier the sway bars, the softer the springs needed for a good tight race car like ride. That gives a softer more comfortable ride, but great handling, all other factors equal.
You definitely need front/rear sway bars !! Install with the new poly bushings if at all possible !!

[Richard Hudgins]

Originally posted by Aussie Mike
I guess this question has already been asked but I haven't been able to find any old posts.

I'm putting my front and rear suspension together at the moment and wasn't sure whether I sould fit swaybars. The car has an independant rear end, runs coilovers all round and 17" wheels. The provisions are there on my chassis for both front and rear bars.

How much of a difference they make? is any one using adjustable swaybars on a street car?

The car will be mainly street driven with an ocasional track day
Do you guys run both front and rear bars?

Cheers

Hi AussieMike,

You may wish to visit Chassis design .

there is a fair amount of verbiage there about suspension and anti-roll bars.

If you have other questions, I will try to help out with numbers etc. However, I will need front weight, rear weight, spring rates, motion ratios, and damper rates to give you proper recommendations as to anti-roll sizing.

Hope this helps a bit.

[cobralee]

No matter if its an everyday car or weekend car, I would always recomend sway bars. It doesn't make a difference going straight, but on curves, fast or slow, it prevents leaning, as previously stated. The bigger diameter the better. If you run just one sway bar, make sure its the front, but front and rear are recommended.

I installed the poly urethane bushings which are fine, but on another car, I installed the graphite impregnated ply urethane, which supposedly lessens the squeak. I think it works.

[ERA535]

Aussie Mike,

How are you going to be driving your car?

I have a friend with the exact car I have and he removed his sway bars front and rear. His car rides better but when we get to driving through windy roads I can tell the bars aren't there.

Pat

[Aussie Mike]

Thanks for the replys guys.

I ordered a 20mm sway bar kit for the rear this afternoon. I'll probably make my own front bar or adapt one from a donor.

I'm tempted to have a go at machining up some blade style adjustable sway bars but I'll have to do some more research first.

Cheers

[cobrajeff]

I highly recommend anti-sway bars. Heck, I just put a 1.125" bar on the back of my Mountaineer this past week-end! I have always been a proponent of thicker sway bars, front AND rear.

Generally speaking, the thicker sway bars will provide good cornering ability, and allow a slightly softer spring rate for better boulevard cruising. Cornering is all about "balance" - and a car that is to serve two purposes - corner well AND ride well - will definately benefit from sway bars.

I have added thicker front bars, and then rear bars, to most all of my cars (early and late Mustangs) - I wouldn't even consider taking one off.

regards,
cobrajeff

[ERA535]

Jeff,
Oh I get it now!!
What I need to to get a real smooooth ride is to fit the biggest sway bars I can find on the car!!!!!
Maybe get my spring rates down to the 50 to 75 pound range!
I can't wait.....my wife says she thinks her car rides a little rough - this will make her really happy! Thanks!

[Monster]

First let me say that I have a an IRS rear and MGB based front with upgraded springs up front. I got my car on the raod in March and the next weekend took a trip to N.California up the coast Hwy1 (I live in the SF Bay area) very windy. I immediately found that I need to upgrade my suspension. I contacted Alden and told them the problem I was having "body roll so severe that my tires were rubbing the inner fender on every compression turn (those sharp uphill type turns) even when I slowed to 20MPH in some cases. They told me that I defiately needed to upgrade the "stock" Jag shocks I was using in the rear which I did. Next they told me to fit a front anti-swaybar which I have waited until this winter to do. After fitting the new adjustable shocks in the rear I took a trip to Tahoe another windy spirited drive. I found that the tire rub had been cured but I still had some body roll.
I don't agree with the previous post about "bigger is better". suspension is a group of parts that work together, the size of the anti-swaybar has a number of factors- spring rates, weight etc. and will affect your performance understeer or oversteer. I suggest consulting a suspension professional. Even for that once a year time to the track and weekend driving.
Suspension = control and you need all the control you can get with these machines.

good luck,
mike 'monster'

[Bob In Ct]

Hey Mike:
Besides reducing the lean of a car sway bars also contribute to the cornering balance of a car. Be very careful how you set your vehicle up. If the front has a stiffer bar than the back (or no bar in the back) the car will tend to understeer (tight). if the bar in back is too stiff as compared to the front, the car will oversteer (loose). This can be very dangerous in the hands of the unprepared.

It is normally considered safer to have understeer rather than oversteer condition. That is why all cars have front bars but many don't have rear bars. I won't get into coefficient of friction or Physics 101 but remember the end with the stiffer swaybar (assuming the springs are balanced) will break away first. It's important to get the car to go thru corners in a balanced manner (drift).

Good luck, Bob

[Dominik]

hi,

I agree that (anti-) sway bars are a must, athough it is said that Ken Miles prefered to race without.

I was too lazy to install them and used heavier springs (100 lbs.) instead which loosened all my teeth on a rough road.

dominik