I'm just wondering how these things actually work. Are they a magic device that helps body roll and doesn't inhibit flex, or do they suck. What is their secret?

Just wondering:D

It's like A torsion bar , and yes they work very well ...

You can build your own for ~100.00 less than Currie by shopping the stock car supply pages.

Originally posted by Old Scout
You can build your own for ~100.00 less than Currie by shopping the stock car supply pages.

sweet ! thanks for the info

Do you have any links??

Originally posted by fish


sweet ! thanks for the info

Do you have any links??

Since your a newbie just this once!


:flipoff2:


http://www.speedwaymotors.com/

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/

http://www.afcoracing.com/

THANK MAN:beer:

Originally posted by fish
It's like A torsion bar , and yes they work very well ...

So, why do they work so well. I'm not planning on buying one, I'm just curious.

The big trick in building your own is determining what diameter you need.

-D

The big trick in building your own is determining what diameter you need.

....

also, torqued length, moment arm length, and material

Yup...And try calling Currie sometime and ask them what it is! All I ever get, is "....Uh....Lemmie go ask John..."

I've got an issue with my frame rails...I'm only 31" inches to the outside...Curries system is 35.5" (or something like that)....I mentioned this to them and they had no idea what to do, other than offer me the "universal kit" for $399!! I asked them what's different about the "universal" kit and the standard kit, and all I got was "....Uh....Lemmie go ask John..."

Turns out the universal kit comes with your choice of 12" or 16" arms and bolt on bushings (for under mounting on the frame rails). That's when the discusison got into moment arm length and diameter of the tortion bar itself. Well, I say "discussion", but in reality it wasn't....Again, I got a lot of silence, the sounds of pages turning, and no answers.

I'd love to order from Stockcarproducts, but I have no idea what diameter I need, what lenght arm I need, and such...And if I'm ordering a custom length those things would be nice to know.

Time to do some research.

--D

Call Jason Bunch at Tri-county gear. He is really knowledgable on diameter and length. RunDog

You probably want something in the 3/4" to 7/8" diameter. I've messed with a lot of these and can say from experience that anything much thicker isn't going to work well.

Also, get the longest swaybar arm you can...it will put less stress on the bar and you'll get better results.

Swaybars rule.

CJ

But the issue with arm length is that as it (the arms) increase in length, the relative tortional stiffness of the rod decreases, yes? For instance, if I placed a 18" arm on a 3/4" dia tortion bar, then my relative rotational resistance would be less than if I was running a 14" bar (4" lbs per inch less leverage on the axle...If I'm remembering my structures class stuff correctly). Maybe it's not enough to worry about but...

So, essentially CJ, what worked for you with your 60/swayaway set-up (arm length and rod diameter)?

--D

Originally posted by RockRover
The big trick in building your own is determining what diameter you need.

-D
Right awn!:flipoff2:

This isn't something you can mathematically work out to figure out what you need. You've got to put something on there and then decide what needs to be changed. Get the longest arms you can and some diameter bar, then you can calculate from there the correct diameter you want.

Stiffness = Diameter of Bar ^ 4.

CJ

This is al good info guys as I'm thinking of putting some on my rig. Only thing I'm not getting is how far these bars wil bend or twist without damaging them? If you have a off road rig with quite a bit of wheel travel will the bars bend as far as the rest of the suspension? I realize that they are designed to limit this effect but what if they were forced to go past thier normal limit like say if you had a tire stuck in a crevasse or something like that?:)

The torsion bars probably twist about 1 degree per inch. There are so many variables but 1 is probably a good guess. The longer the swaybar arm is, the less twist on the bar there will be. This is good since it will help keep the bar from breaking. That is why I said run the longest arm possible.

CJ

Does someone know the assymbled length, outside of arm to outside of arm, of Curries sway bar?

Any one ever mess around with using VW torsion bars for a sway bar setup? Seams like it would be a good idea, since you can buy weld in adjesters and set your preload, ect. Just a thought I've had for some time. Since I used to be into rails, I know there are alot of stock torsion bars laying around.