rear swaybar & traction

[leanburn]

i have a serious traction issue with my 74 cuda. i was planning on useing a set of caltracs since i have had good luck with them in the past but then i got talking with a local hot rodder and he claims that a rear swaybar made a night and day difference on his road runner. now i'm thinking of a sway bar and snubber that way i get some better cornering too. anyone have any input, does a swaybar actually aid traction that much or is it strictly for body roll?

[ChallengerHK]

Others who know much more than I on this topic will chime on soon I'm sure. I don't see how a sway bar could affect traction very much, though.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I don't see how a sway bar could affect traction very much.

  Me either.   

[torredcuda]

Most drag racers remove the front sway bar as it aids in letting the front end rise transfering wieght to the rear tires.Never heard adding a sway bar could aid traction???
    

[Topcat]

Wouldn't a rear sway bar would off set some of the rear weight transfer on a launch from all going to the right rear wheel? For lower horsepowered cars, I wouldn't think it would be a big deal. But once you start going up in the torque on takeoff and launch, it most likely would increase the ET. right?

[72bluNblu]

 

The swaybar will help equalize the load between the rear tires. If you're loading just the right rear the body will roll as well, and the sway bar will help keep the back end level, which should help a little keeping things hooked up. I'm not sure it would make a HUGE difference, but it should help.

[Topcat]

Probably explains why Chrysler never put rear sway bars on Danas.

[gkring]

Somewhere around the 400 horsepower level you will see benefits from a rear sway bar as far as drag style traction. You want the car to leave as level as possible. That's the idea behind the RT and Cudas having extra leafs in the springs on one side. The drag race style we used on faster leaf and coil spring cars around here are stiff, welded to the frame, and allow very little side to side load transfer. www.wolferacecraft.com shows the style Ihave used in the past. if you want to try a stock style one for serious drag racing get one that is much stiffer than what you would want for road course handling.

[Moparal]

My 72 cuda bickel pro stock tube chassis car has one on it. It helps keep both wheels planted. All pro stock cars have them. Wanna see mine. I will be driving my car spring 2009

[Chryco Psycho]

my tube chassis Cuda had a rear sway bar to help keep both rear tires planted equally

[Aussie Challenger]

  Front not neded on a drag car, if you put one on the rear for a drag car then you should preload it so as to offset the body roll, use a strong bar though.   
  On a cruiser it can enhance the cornering of the vehicle.   

[GoodysGotaCuda]

given the slowness of my car, i dont think it would be an advantage. since the body comes 'up' as soon as i'm rolling

[HP2]

It isn't so simple as add a sway bar and you'll have increased traction. Ultimately traction is all in the tires. However, how you do the initial hit and then continue to load the tires can be a big factor. It really depends on the chassis, power level, and violence of the launch on whether or not a rear sway bar would make an appreciable difference.

[Moparal]

Mine is rather large now that you mention it, it goes in this car, which the body is off right now, and re doing some tubes

[Nereth]

In a corner, the rear sway bar will increase the difference in loadings on the rear, and thus cause oversteer.

With an IRS, under straight acceleration, ideally it would do nothing at all.

With a live axle under straight acceleration, I'm thinking the only way to counter the load transfer left to right or right to left, will be either asymmetries, or to try to transfer the torque back to the front (where, at this very moment, there is an equal and opposite torque acting! yay!). I'm not sure... but I think the only way to do that would be with a stiffer chassis and then maybe also more roll hardness in the rear, less in the front? The idea being to make the front suspension need to deflect a whole heap to react the torque (hence softer front roll hardness), then the stiff chassis helps transfer as much of that deflection as possible to the rear, where it puts pressure through the springs on the rear tyres, and hopefully reacts some of the torque through them, which should reverse some of the load transfer.