Pete MCQ writes:
>Would anyone care to elaborate on the use and selection of
>sway bars, front and rear, for the GT-6...including comments
>about bar diameter ...
As a general rule of thumb, increasing the size of the sway bar
reduces the grip at that end, thereby increasing the relative grip
at the other end. A big caveat to this is the reduction in roll and
any camber / toe change it causes. In a swing axle car, roll can
induce a large positive camber change, so reducing the amount
of roll with a larger sway bar can improve the grip at that end by
keeping the tire squarer to the ground.
The increase in stiffness of a sway bar (or spring) is to the
_fourth_ power of the increase in bar (coil wire) diameter, all
other things being equal. This means a change from, e.g.,
7/8" to 1" ( a 14.3% dia. increase) results in an increase in
stiffness of about 70.6%.
The easiest way to play with sway bar stiffness is to use end
links that can be moved on the bar, giving the suspension different
amounts of leverage. This usually means fabricating a few pieces,
but they aren't too difficult to make.
All this and more can be researched in the excellent book:
"How to Make Your Car Handle", Fred Puhn, HPBooks, 1981,
ISBN 0-912656-46-8
>(tho I am considering a PAECO stage 2 engine)...
I've heard some _very_ bad things about PAECO. I'd recommend
against them.
Dave Williamson (silikal@aol.com) Spits in bits
|