sway bar - yes? No?

[Mick058]

i need to work out whats required - seeking advice

here's what i have

58 shell on a 68 auto pan (IRS, ball joint front)

i have 6inchx16 fuchs ont he front, 2 inch narrowed beam with dropped spindles.
The rear is 8inchx16 fuchs, IRS, coil over shocks.

Do i need sway bars? I have none on at the moment. Does having a 2inch narrowed beam make you need a front sway bar more or less?

Cheers guys

[Chris V]

I've never messed with a narrowed front end...but making the rear track wider to me has been like adding a front sway bar on a car that had none.

[FJCamper]

Gentlemen,

A narrowed front beam still needs a sway bar, just a smaller diameter.

A narrow front beam rides stiffer than a standard, with the same thickness torsion leaves inside. The torsion leaves have less length and therefore more leverage is needed to twist them as far.

FJC

[Mick058]

what mm would you suggest? i have a pretty heavy duty one for the rear but haven't fitted it yet - its 22mm i think.

It wont cause the car to understeer?

[FJCamper]

How we set up our Whiteline

Hi Mick,

Sounds like you have a Whiteline 22mm rear bar. Leave it off until you get the front end sorted out.

You need 19mm or less for a front bar. Less is better.

You may have a hard time finding a smaller front bar than a 19mm. If that is the case, adjust the rear bar to it's softest setting. A narrow front beam, a 19mm front bar, and a 22mm rear bar will make your car absolutely pivot around its central axis in a low to moderate speed corner, which is great for street use.

At high speeds, you will go into snap oversteer. You may find a rear bar is not necessary.

FJC

[Mick058]

may be a dumb question.

Which way for softer setting? inner or outter holes?

So always need a front, may get away without a back sway bar?

[FJCamper]

Hi Mick,

The outer holes on a sway bar are the softest setting.

You always need a front bar, but rear bars are optional. a rear bar really quickens up the responses and handling at low to medium speeds, but if you have too much rear bar, at high speeds that quickened response becomes overreaction and ... crash.

FJC

[Mick058]

thanks for the advise, will keep this in mind.

Is asking what kind of speed will cause oversteer, like asking how long is a piece of string?

[FJCamper]

Hi Mick,

I'm refering to street speeds, perhaps 35mph to 55mph, what people drive in town and in neighborhoods, where an abrupt twist of the steering wheel to avoid a car, dog, pedestrian, etc., can cause oversteer if your rear suspension is too stiff.

Properly set up and driven, you can make a VW with front and rear sway bars seem to pivot from a central axis in an abrupt turn and never lose speed.

But do that same thing at 60mph and up and the rear end will keep turning while the front end is going straight. At 75mph to 100mph, you are in danger in a turn, sharp or otherwise, if you don't have some mitigating understeer to balance the response.

FJC