Front swaybar deconnection....anyone tried it

[dsc_pat]

this is the kind of discussion i am talking about

as for the guy telling me to calm down, w/o my intervention this topic would be only filled with crap; you tell me who makes the conversation now. just keep your comment for yourself, and contribute to the topic with something that's worth it, else just go away...

Yeah, I believe you when you say that OEM spring rates were chosen considering there IS a massive front bar, and disconnecting it will just make it worst....this is the kind of opinion i wanted.

As for slowing down, you're very right, it could be a problem coming from the driver, of course. My case is car-related, the chassis was tuned for severe understeer in OE mod, but the rear swaybar just doesn't cut it with sticky tires....i am not a profesionnal race car driver, but i,ve got my load of experience with FWD and race track.

I'll try to disconnect the front bar anyway @ my next event and see how it feels...since I am not modding my yaris any more than tires and brake pads...

thanks

[WRBlue]

Softning the front bar decreases understeer - similar to increasing the rear bar, which increases oversteer.

Removing the front bar all together probally is too far though - too much body roll overcomming the adhesion of the inside tires. Disconnecting usually will cause issues with suspension geometry - the bar is a spring which also keeps things aligned. For example, a big bar on a WRX actually decreases understeer on most cars because the suspension geometry doesn't change as much cornering. I've only seen the removal of front bars done for drag racing to lower weight cause they don't have to turn.

BUT most Lotus 7's were built without sways at all...

My suggestion would be bend your own. Its not too hard, especially if you've got the OEM one off. Technically any cage building shop can bend one cheap. Strength increases and decreases to the 4th power, so just 1mm can make a big difference.

If you look at the equasion for sway bar strength:
................................500,000 x D^4
K (lbs/in) = -----------------------------------------
....................(0.4244 x A^2 x B) + (0.2264 x C^3)

..................B
.......----------------
.A|../......................\ C
...|./........................\

A - Length of end perpendicular to B (torque arm - inches)
B - Length of center section (inches)
C - Length of end (inches)
D - Diameter bar (inches)

You can see that by increasing the center section, the torque arm, or the actual length of the bar end will decrease stiffness, while diameter increases it.
If I were to bend a thinner bar, I'd also drill multiple holes on the ends to make the torque arm and bar end longer or shorter to tune the bar. Theoretically you could make a thinner bar that goes from stiffer than stock to weaker than stock and be lighter than OEM with just adjusting the end links.

Originally Posted by dsc_pat

My case is car-related, the chassis was tuned for severe understeer in OE mod, but the rear swaybar just doesn't cut it with sticky tires....

I don't know about Canada, but US liftbacks don't have a rear bar.

[dsc_pat]

thanks a HEAP

the rear bar is a TRD, wich isn't stock. it is pretty weak imo...the design looks good but it doesn't feel performance oriented like a progress or other rear bar wich have a more direct design. It could also be that there is so much understeer and body roll to fight against, that the effect isn't very noticable.

as for having a custom bar made, this is a great idea and i've got a pretty good plug in a chassis/cage shop since I went for jobs there a couple times.

thanks

Patrick