??13mm sway bars???

[shawnj]

What is this and why is it reccomended??

 

[WANN4STROKE]

yea, I want to know too!

David

 

[BETHEVIPER]

flatter cornering. 13 is the stiffest, makes it corner alot flatter but will make it a little stiffer hitting a bump.

 

[shawnj]

Me 3. Oh, it is my post, duh.

 

[sgilbert]

I did it and my take on it was 1 less sway, 2 making sides work together, thereby like having heavier springs, being able to let front down a little without lawn darting

 

[ROCKERDAN]

highly recommended for guys who ride HI SPEED GROOMED TRAILS.(awesome flat cornering)

if you ride in alot of JUNK all the time i wouldnt recommend it.(too much feedback from one side to other transferring up thru bars)

Dan

 

[Yamadog]

What is this and why is it reccomended??

We have been through this a 1000 times but for what its worth 1 more time. The 13mm sway bar is necessary (machine dependent) in order to couteract the forces enacted on the snow machine as it enters a turn. The difference between the roll center (geometrical pivot point of the suspension) and the center of gravity (the physical center of the mass) as centrifical forces work on each differently. The RX chasis has a wide gap between the 2 and with the original 10mm bar the allowable body roll would cause the inside ski to lift to a point where the machine could actually roll over. The sway bar is the link that ties the right and left side suspension together (doubling the spring rate) & helps eliminate body roll.

In a car some bady roll is necessary to cause the outside edge of a front tire to bite in a turn but to much roll causes the rear to become light and a loose condition occurs making the rear want to pass the front. A tight condintion occurs when there is too little roll and the front tires stay flat and the car pushes into the turn meaning you turn but the car goes straight.

Snowmobiles are the same but different (what did he say?) We have to look at the bite from the track and studs versus the ski keal and the amount of carbide. If you are running flat skis with 3" carbides and no studs 10 mm sway bar is fine you cannot exert enough force in a turn to lift the ski. If you run 196 studs with simmons skis with 2 - 8" carbides on each ski - you better hold on.

Did that help?????????????????

 

[apltx08]

The RX chasis has a wide gap between the 2 and with the original 10mm bar the allowable body roll would cause the inside ski to lift to a point where the machine could actually roll over.|

'03 had a 10mm, '04 to current have a 11mm OEM.

 

[Sasquatch]

I'm running 12mm bar as upgrade to stock 11mm. I run 196 up the middle and Simmons skis with staggered 6 and 4 inch carbides.

Huge difference between the stock 11mm and the 12mm. Way less body roll in a corner and little if any increase in side to side from one ski only bump impacts.

Stiffer sway bar is a must in my books.

 

[Mighty]

I have a 13 if someone wants to buy it.......

 

[duhr8m]

I got both 12 and 13. 13 is way agressive and will lift inside ski on cornering but will allow you to loosen up front springs to get better bumping out of front suspension in staight line bumps. I was at 250mm on front springs to keep sled from rolling to out side of corner and lost a lot of shock travel in bumps, now at 256mm and corners well and bumps like stock in straight line bumps, but way more inside ski lift. the 12mm has less inside ski lift and you can also run stock 256mm spring setting for staight line bumping. 12mm is more predictable.

 

[Len Todd]

What is this and why is it recommended??

Seeing how no one really just said what a sway-bar is:

It is the round rod that connects the left lower A-Arm to the right lower A-Arm.

It is used to keep the sled flatter in corners. For most folks, the 11mm is just fine. For the "more aggressive rider," they like to go heavier (i.e. 12 and 13 mm)

A few years back, I put in a 13, frogged around trying to make the sled handle correctly for weeks, and ended up taking it back out. In my opinion, I am not sure most folks are aware of the handling benefits of a 11mm bar that they give up, just to call themselves aggressive. But rest assured, there are riders out there that swear by the 13mm bar. And, it could be that the higher riding sleds need a little more sway-bar. But to me, it is like putting a Paddle Track on and then riding down the trail. The Paddle Track may come in handy once in a while, but overall all the OEM track rides a lot better. Again, this is my opinion, based on the fact that I have tested it, and ended up going back to 11mm. Maybe the 12mm is a good compromise, if you feel you need to change something to ride more aggressively.

 

[Rockmeister]

Really like the 13mm on my RX-1.

Made a major difference in lower body roll while cornering.

Even put it to REALLY good use a couple days ago.
Broke my right front shock & was able to ride back depending only on the Sway bar to keep the Right side of the sled off the ground.

Took it really easy on left turns, but can say the sway bar did a decent job of keeping the right side up off the ground without being too stiff.
(Did lean left alot to help take weight off the right side.)

Rock

(Edited to correct Sway Bar size.)

 

[Sasquatch]

Maybe the 12mm is a good compromise, if you feel you need to change something to ride more aggressively.[/color][/size]

I'm not a real aggressive rider but I like a sled to not body roll to the point of sudden roll over.

I found the stock 11mm and stock ski's deadly. The sled would roll over till the inside ski would lift, what would happen next only needed a small bump in the trail to give a little bounce to the front end. This would cause the inside ski to lift higher and the outside ski to tuck under the sled as it carved a tighter line. Now you had to turn to the outside of the corner to save the sled from a roll over putting you off the trail in some cases.

Now I'm sure if I was the type of rider to lean half off the sled in a corner this would have been way less pronounced or non existant. But that is not my riding style. I like to sit upright and ride. I lean my massive bulk from side to side in a corner but I stop far short of dragging a knee and replanting my butt.

The simmons ski's helped the problem by widening out the front but the problem was still there and caught me napping a few times. Instant heart workout.

So I added the 12mm bar and was instantly pleased with the result. Body roll was way more controlled. I could lift the inside ski and rail it around a corner while hitting small undulations in the trail with not even a hint of loss of control.

In my humble opinion if you have too much body roll, be it from in my case a lack pushing away from the table or again in my case inability to lay off the side of the sled like a superbike rider. A stiffer bar should do wonders. Stiffer springs would work as well, but in automotive stiffer bar is better then stiffer springs and I think it apply here as well.

Anyway the 12mm works for me. I would recommend it to anyone complaining about to much body roll. Something I think is exaggerated by the constant push to sit higher and higher on a sled. That combined with the heavier four stroke motor and long travel suspension makes for more body roll.

Just park your sled next to a sled built in 2000. Its a giant by comparision height wise. Everything sits way higher. Higher means more body roll. How you overcome that is by either lean more or stiffer bar. Aggression is the buzz word I guess and may be confusing.

The really aggressive rider wants more bar because he is leaning as hard as he can and it still wants to roll. Then on the other end of the spectrum is the non leaner who wants to ride moderatly fast but is fighting body roll.

Of the two I think the later is more common. Lots of us older folks coming off older style sleds that did not have body lean problems with our riding style.

Now again the the 13mm bar I have not tried. The only reason I replied to this is because I found the 11mm scary and unstable. I'm going to retry my stock ski's this winter with the 12mm and see if i want to go to a 13mm.

I love my simmons but on long trips my poor old arms are starting to ache from the workout they give. Might go to curves.

 

[Bradford]

I went with Pilot skis and found that they helped. This year, I'll be running a 13mm bar and stock skis with semi-aggressive snowtrackers. I was going to try a 12mm bar but read somewhere that the manufacture recommended the 13mm bar on the RS-Nytro due to the fox floats.

Has anyone compared the 12 and 13mm bar with floats?

Brad