Rear sway bars

Does anyone have any experience in fabricating sway bars? Are they a certain type of steel? I know that there are several applications for 308s and all out there, but was exploring putting a bit stiffer bar on the rear on a Mondial.

All advice welcome.

thanks

 

I had run across Saner Performance Fabrication in the past but backed away when I read some feedback that they are pretty slow. If this doesn't bother you, email John at [email protected].

If you have the clearance, you can look at assembling a separate bar and arms such as the ones here:
http://1speedway.com/Swaybars.htm
however if I remember correctly, the Mondial bar was considerably more curved.

Good luck.



Lou

 

I don't have an answer to your actual question, but in general the rear sway bar is the last thing you mess with. Increasing rear roll stiffness tends to cause over-steer which can make the car unsafe to drive. If you already have stiffer springs and front sway bar then

"never mind" (in my best Rosanne Rosanadana voice )

 

This guy is a really good guy and he has made some custom bars for us. Nothing fancy but if you can get away with a straight bar with just bends on the ends he can make one up for you. He does mainy mustang bars. To answer the other part of your question they are made out of spring steel and need to be heat treated after they are bent to shape. http://www.swaybar.com/

 

I have dealt with both of those companies, and ended up having my own fabricated. I can put you in touch with the person that makes this. It is 4130 with 4130 blades, then heat treated. Various stiffnesses are made by using different wall thickness of tubing.


JM
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Thanks for all of the replies.
Is there a standard way or number to cross compare? deflection/lb force? I would not be adverse to fabrication if I had an objective measure.

 

Just exactly what is the car doing that you are trying to correct?

Increasing rear roll stiffness by use of a stiffer anti-sway bar is seldom desirable, more often a stiffer rear spring will give better results. The reason is that a sway bar transfers load from the inside wheel to the already laden and overworked outside rear wheel, just what we don't want. Stiffer rear springs will give more roll resistance without transference of load, albeit at the cost of less compliance with the pavement, but then most race tracks are quite smooth nowadays.

You can also play around with the bump rubbers on the shocks far cheaper that making a anti-sway bar

On the race car I run an undersize rear bar at it's softest setting and tune with the front bar. I'd leave the damn thing off if it weren't for appearances sake.

In any case you want E4130 normalized, then heat treat to Rockwell 34-36 after forming.

 

How much does he charge for those bars?

 

I tried talking to Saner but he didnt seem "enthusiastic" at all so i said forget it. I am actually just going to order new mounts with polyurethane bushings from ENERGY SUSPENSION which should stiffen things a bit over the stock rotted rubber.

I actually remember reading somewhere on this forum or maybe ferrarilist that stiffer rear sway bars actually really helped the mondial.

I know its not the same car but I added front and rear stiffer sway bars to my Subaru WRX and it was a night and day difference. I could track the car much easier and "read" the road better.

-Nate

 

All I'm saying is that rear roll stiffness is like salt, a certain amount enhances flavor, too much ruins the meal.

Everyone has to satisfy their own taste.

 

An adjustable anti-roll bar is pretty much a must. It needs to be able to be fine tuned.

 

Thats exactly what I had on my wrx. It had three separate locking points for progressively stiffer ride. I believe whiteline was the company.

Too bad we cant do some kind of front strut crossbar stiffener too.