Author Topic: Rear sway bar  (Read 518 times)

Offline farmboy70

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Rear sway bar
« on: December 20, 2009 - 10:31:21 AM »
I have a factory rear bar, would I be better off getting a larger aftermarket bar to go with the factory front or should I add a larger front as well?
I'm trying to improve on the handling but not a road racer.
The car has larger t-bars, Edelbrock shocks, 235-60r-15 fronts 295-50r-15 rear tires, 1 " over arch leaf springs.
Who's bar would you recommend?
Thanks
Dave




Offline HP2

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Re: Rear sway bar
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2009 - 11:40:33 AM »
Adding sway bar rate at either end will cause the end with the bigger rate to slide first. So if you go too big out back, you car will be loose in the rear. Too big in the front and it will feel like it is not steering where you want.

If you have both factory bars, I would stick with them. The extra t-bar rate will help with the heavy front weight bias, the stock rear bar will help balance the inherent understeer. FWIW, the difference in rate between the stock .75 and an aftermarket 1.0 is only around 40# of force because of the significant difference in mounting points, assuming we are talking about the typical aftermarket axle hung unit. I have not had a chance to measure the layout and application of a Hotchkis bar yet, but since they are adjustable I'd say you can "tune" them to your liking. If your just driving on the street, you may or may not notice a big difference in the tuning range. There are lots of variables in driver ability when it comes to tuning.


Offline Topcat

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Re: Rear sway bar
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2009 - 11:53:07 AM »
When you use the term tuning, do you mean how tight the end points are tightened on each end of the links? Or at the mounting?
Mike, Fremont, CA.


Offline HP2

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Re: Rear sway bar
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2009 - 12:03:19 PM »
In this case, tuning means how much force the bar applies to the tires. The Hotchkis rear bars have three mounting positions on the arm of their bar. By moving the mounting point up the bar, you shorten the effective length of the arm and apply more force. Just looking at their picture of the set up, I'd guess each hole changes the rate about 75-100#.