I re-drilled my swaybar links

[Bradford]

I'm looking for opinions on this mod. I drilled new holes in my swaybar links to help stiffen up the front end. It should cause the stock 11mm bar to flex more in hopes to make it corner a bit flatter.

Thoughts?? (be easy)

Brad

 

[rosco]

I think it will cause more inside ski lift. You have reduced the length of the arm, meanning that it will now take more input force to keep the other ski down. If the arm was longer for example then the mechanical advantage is much greater and not requireing as much force to induce a downward pressur at the opposite end of the bar.
I could be totaly off here but let us know what happens

 

[Bradford]

rosco, I guess I'm looking at it another way. With less mechanical advantage, it will take more pressure to keep the skis at different positions which should keep the sled flatter. Body roll is the result of the swaybar twisting, allowing the inside skis to lift. The heavy swaybars prevent the ski lift because they are stiffer. By making the links shorter, the bar should twist more for the same amount of ski movement. I'm hoping this will have a similar effect as the heaver bar. We'll see...

Brad

 

[rosco]

Not trying to argue here but think about this.

The bar is going to twist the same amount because both ends have a link attached that are the same size. The differance in yours is that you will now have a delay before the bar can transmit the force to the inside link. So it will take more outside body roll to input the same force as the original length. This means that you wont get an opposing downward output force to the inside link until the sled has rolled more onto the outside ski.

The idea of the larger diameter bar is that it doesn't twist as much and therefore transmits the force sooner ( by not twisting ) to the inside link to force the inside ski down.

 

[Rockmeister]

My line on this.

You DO gain leverage against the bar and may therefore make the bar act & appear thicker than it is, kinda like pre-loading a spring.
Wonder if it will fail early...
Hmmmm...

As far as making it slower, thinking this won't happen.
It is a torsional spring and you haven't changed the spring at all.
The leverage against the spring will change with the angle of the link to the lever, but, you have made a corresponding change to the other side, so I believe it makes the whole thing a wash...

In short, think it will have a positive result, less lift and flatter ride.

Funny dude, I thought this all through a while back...
Like the depth you think at!

 

[Bradford]

Like the depth you think at!

It's amazing what being cheep can do to the mind!

 

[Philscbx]

I'm looking for opinions on this mod. I drilled new holes in my swaybar links to help stiffen up the front end. It should cause the stock 11mm bar to flex more in hopes to make it corner a bit flatter.Brad

I think you are on the right track, but the difference might not be noticed.

Lets assume the new hole increased the spring rate by say 7-15 pounds, would it be noticed is hard to say. Even though it helped.

I've given a lot of thought over the years, even to redesign an existing compound torsion bar used in some applications.
But the space is limited. It's a design that makes a 2 foot long bar act like a 4 foot bar, or longer.

The other more radical make over would extend the action further out on the A arm.

One could start with a simple adaptor on the drilled lever to extend even an inch or two down the A arm. Now your twisting the bar more.

Or the creative types can mill a lever with 2 inch offset.

It would be interesting to see possible destructive testing in a jig. If nothing else, at least the numbers could be gauged and recorded.

Your car etc, has the bar near the ball joint vs the A frame pivot. This gives the most effect.

One of these days maybe.

 

[Rockmeister]

Like the depth you think at!

It's amazing what being cheep can do to the mind!

HAHHAHHA!

Know what you mean! Laffin

 

[Bradford]

The other more radical make over would extend the action further out on the A arm.

One could start with a simple adapter on the drilled lever to extend even an inch or two down the A arm. Now your twisting the bar more.

Funny, this was my first thought. I thought about moving the swivels to the outside of the links and A-arm brackets by using longer bolts and a spacer on inside of the brackets. My concern was having the twisting force out past the end of the swaybar rod. The relocated holes should provide the same effect. Maybe even more so

Wonder if it will fail early...
Hmmmm...

Yep! this is my other concern...

 

[Charged RTX]

It will have more ski lift. When the 03 RX-1 came out they had new links available in 04 which were longer to help with the unpredictable ski lift that sled had.

 

[Bradford]

It will have more ski lift. When the 03 RX-1 came out they had new links available in 04 which were longer to help with the unpredictable ski lift that sled had.

Didn't know that... but didn't the 04 have a heavier swaybar too?

This is interesting, So far, two say more ski lift, two say less ski lift, unless you include me. then it's 3 to 2...

Brad

 

[Charged RTX]

I am not sure about the sway bar. I think it has to do with the longer link working more linear than a short one. If you exagerate it some and shorten it by another inch to make the results more obvious. As you push up on one side it is not going to crank the swaybar as much as a longer link that connects in the same vertical line as the movment of the a arms.

 

[Bradford]

Thanks Charged RTX, I'm having second thoughts about this one. I was focused on increasing mechanical advantage. But what you gain on one side, you loose on the other. And you're right about the effect being less linear.

At least it's easy to put back to normal...

 

[Rockmeister]

Thanks Charged RTX, I'm having second thoughts about this one. I was focused on increasing mechanical advantage. But what you gain on one side, you loose on the other. And you're right about the effect being less linear.

At least it's easy to put back to normal...

Heck, I would try it first!
See how it does!

Inquiring minds... lol

 

[Bradford]

Heck, I would try it first!
See how it does!

Inquiring minds... lol

I had it out yesterday in a field and ungroomed power lines... Talk about "Rough Trail!". It seemed to work good. Placebo effect?? maybe...