[Healeys] 1" front anti-sway bar

rjhco rjh.co at tx.rr.com
Thu Jun 11 15:15:01 MDT 2009


The effect of increasing the diameter of your car's front anti-roll
(anti-sway) bar is tied to other chassis and suspension components of your
car.  The principal change will be to reduce body roll at the front of the
car (generally good to a point) and transfer weight (not always good).  The
result can be increased understeer or increased oversteer depending on the
balance of the car prior to the bar change.  With a soft chassis and body,
the rear of the car will see more roll than before the change, which may
increase or reduce grip at the rear of the car, depending on the car's
dynamics.

The ultimate purpose of front and rear sway bars is to balance the car's
roll couple distribution, which, in turn, is initially determined by the
car's static weight distribution, the stiffness of the chassis, the front
and rear spring rates, the front and rear roll centers, Panhard bar or
Watt's link location, type of rear axle and suspension set up of the front
and rear axles.

A front sway bar that is too stiff is detrimental to handling by causing too
much loss of grip on the front inside wheel (that is why some say it
promotes understeer).  What is too much depends on the car and how it
handles before and after the change.

Best regards,
Jim Hockert
Dallas, TX
BJ8 Open Roads


More information about the Healeys mailing list