Sway Bar Delete Myth????

[bobster]

Did the sway bar delete Friday, and it seemed when the wheels were hanging from the lift there was no more suspension release when the sway bar was disconnected? I've had many cars in the past and disconnected and or removed the sway bars to help release the front suspension but is it different on these cars? Are people doing it just because it's been done before? I know you still get the weight reduction but even that was a lot less than I figured.

 

[twistedneck]

If you had stock sway bars there was a definite home position of the bar because it was glued to the bushings.

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Aside: The bonded / glued bars are better for getting the steering wheel centered and wheels centered on their own after a corner. price paid is the parasitic rate, i.e. when the bar is providing its own spring rate when both wheels front whees are displaced evenly. over a speed bump, the bar now wants to add more spring rate to the system, difference is once you get past the home position of the bar and get closer to rebound something like curb weight - bar is suddenly now trying to go back up to go home resulting in a reduced spring rate effect.

thats why for lowered setups and our current factory front stabar you generally get a nice spring rate boost by lowering the car. the reduction part of the spring rate isn't felt much because a lowered car hardly gets into the rebound zone of travel. except when you are in a hard turn, the outside wheel compresses up, pulls the stabar with it per normal but now there is a new forcing winding up and resisting the roll - the glued bushing on the outboard side. the inside wheel that would normally float upward equal to the outside wheel, pulling the inside tire up in the air.. that wheel is not as good at picking up the inside wheel now so roll rate is reduced.

only real difference is glued bushings actively provide stiffness against roll on the outside tire, vs. non glued that rely on picking up the inside tire in order to provide roll rate and on center feel. seems like the active stiffening via bonded bushings is better at on center feel.
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so you made a useful change if your goal is a better launch.

 

[bobster]

My main reason for ever taking them off was for weight transfer from the front of the car to the back(drag racing), letting the suspension travel further up to increase the rise of the front end, which with this set up I don't believe is happening the same way.