Double rear sway bar experiment (pic for Marcus)

[Rusty G]

I was under the wagon fixing more stuff from my pothole adventure and got to thinking.

Why not see if the car will like more rear bar.

I already have a 1" aftermarket bar which mounts on it's own brackets. I also welded them in when I boxed the arms.

Figured I could add a second bar to the stock mounting point and see if the car liked it. Took some twising to get it in but I added another 7/8" bar.

I love it, made a huge difference in the car.

Now the search is on for a larger single bar to replace the 2, something in the 1 1/4" area should be right if my math is correct.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q220/78grandam/884315913308_0_BG1.jpg


http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q220/78grandam/194315913308_0_BG1.jpg


Marcus, you seemed intriqued on the phone and since you were having email trouble I thought I would post it for you to see.

[Marcus SC&C]

I have to admit it`s the first time I`ve seen that done... :) Mark SC&C

[ironworks]

So what does it sound like with 2 different mufflers?

Rodger

[Silver69Camaro]

Did you corner hard enough with that to see if it oversteers? Two bars would be a huge increase in roll stiffness, and I would expect it to almost give most vehicles a snap oversteer condition. A 1-1/4" bar is absolutely massive and I'd never attempt it, unless if it's a F350 with a towing package.

[pro-tour79]

I would take it one further ....weld the housing to the frame :wow:

[Rusty G]

Ironworks,sound is not bad. I hate Slowmasters, it is on the "to do" list to be replaced.

Silver69Camaro, the car is a true daily driver and I never speed ;). I can take turns at double thier posted speed though.:D

I don't feel 1 1/4 is that massive. The 2 bars now are only slightly "stiffer" then what a single 1 1/4 would be.

One thing to remember is a Gbody bar is bolted to the lower control arm, it acts like a big lever, think breaker bar.

I did some quick and dirty math comparing a 1 1/4" bar mount "Fbody style" vs. "Gbody style".

Since the lever is roughly twice as long it reduces it's "effectiveness" by 45% compared to Fbody mounted bar.

So the 1 1/4" bar on my car is equivalent to a 11/16" bar on 3rd gene Fbody.

I am a drag racer, so take this all with a grain of salt since this is my first attempt to make a car turn.

The front bar is a 36mm Fbody bar, does it seem like a better match now?

Feel free to tell me if my thoughts on this are wrong.

I am always willing to learn.

Oh,pro-tour79, nice!:lol:

[deuce_454]

I would take it one further ....weld the housing to the frame :wow:

and run solid rear tires

[Rusty G]

"and run solid rear tires"

Ouch, that hurts from a gbody guy!:lol:

[XLexusTech]

More Cow Bell
:rofl:

[mazspeed]

Does the car have a gun rack?

[terryr]

I've seen this quite a few times on Volvos. They use two stock bars.

[Rusty G]

No Cow Bells, but I do gots a lectric horn that plays Dixie just like the General Lee, yuck yuck.

No gun rack but I guess could Bugee it to the roof rack, being a Wagon and all.

Geez, you guys are brutal, I guy tries something using his brain and not his wallet and gets crushed.:rolleyes:

Maybe I need to post on that Volvo board.:rofl:

[Rick Dorion]

Hey , no volvo bashing :)

My 92 240 wagon uses the door handles as roll limiters.

[JRouche]

No Cow Bells, but I do gots a lectric horn that plays Dixie just like the General Lee, yuck yuck.

No gun rack but I guess could Bugee it to the roof rack, being a Wagon and all.

Geez, you guys are brutal, I guy tries something using his brain and not his wallet and gets crushed.:rolleyes:

Maybe I need to post on that Volvo board.:rofl:

Hey Rusty, me, for one, I like your attitude. Some of our father's father's thought like you do. Ingenuity is what they called it. Kinda a lost art here in the states. Oh, but folks in the way outback of Australia are still on board with out of the box thinking. So many inventors doing business there. Maybe us folks in the states have come to rely on others to do our extreme thinking for us.

Hillbilly or not (Im a HB by nature) I like the thinking and the way you go about things. Good or not so good it doesnt matter, you are looking for the solution to your issue and making do.

Had a very good friend years ago. He was a biker, long and true to his ability to come up with simple solutions to his everyday issues. Some of them were scary and I shook my head. I learned ALOT from him and my other machinist friends, some long gone.

There is no ONE right way to accomplish a task, there are many means to the end of the same goal. There will be folks saying its unsafe, wont work, theres a better way, yer a fool, why do it... I tend to listen to them, then go about it in my own way. And I do fail sometimes. Then I learn, then fail again, then fix it. I do enjoy learning see, thats why I dont mind failing. JR

[Derek69SS]

Honestly, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea if both bars were a little smaller... no reason 2 small bars would be any less effective than 1 big one. I just think you're in the "too much" range, which will result in oversteer that you likely won't be able to tune out of it, especially with those no-hops raising the RCH even higher than stock.

I do like the "lets try what we have" attitude though, sure beats paying big money for something else if you can make it work. :thumbsup:

[Rusty G]

Thanks guys, I have been spending so much time on the Volvo boards I forgot to check here.:D

"Oh, but folks in the way outback of Australia are still on board with out of the box thinking." There's a box?

I do like to try things myself and for the most part no one gets hurt.

The "stiffness" of the 2 bars is less then some single aftermarket bars that are availible for the car.

This works on this car, maybe because of the soft springs (140#) and shocks( Edelbrock IAS)? Maybe due to it's weight. just under 4000# with driver?

Funny thing the rear used to come around alot easier.

Just yesterday I took a curve at speed that was wet, and the tail started to go,very slight countersteer,slight lift of the pedal and I just kept going.

I am still learning this "handling" thing.

Kinda used to the abuse though.

I used a stock Fbody rear bar on my Cutlass to straighten it's launch. Many said it would not work or it would snap the links etc etc.

It cost me about $20 to make.

Here it is mocked up. The muffler clamps were replaced with grade 8 leaf spring U bolts.
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q220/78grandam/325309831308_0_BG1.jpg

I guess it worked Ok.:unibrow:

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q220/78grandam/928232261308_0_BG1-1.jpg