Front sway bar removal
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 197
Likes: 0
From: Carriere Mississippi
Front sway bar removal
Guys, Ive got a 92 conv. I do a good bit a drag racing, All I do is drive the car back and forth to work 12mile round trip, when Im not racing. If I take the sway bar off the front is it worth it? I know I will loose some handling but, Will it improve my e.t? B/c of weight reduction/transfer. I would be grateful for some opinions. Thank you
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 325
Likes: 2
From: Chattanooga TN
the E.T. improvement would be un-noticeable. its not much weight loss really, and it doesnt have much effect on weight transfer either. but the car will ride better without it.
even though handling isnt much of a concern, it will make the car quite oversteer prone in sudden manouvers, such as avoiding other cars, ect.
mine will be going back on... but i traded out with a friend, my Z51 bars, for his base bars. they considerably lighter (hollow).
if you are concerned about weight transfer from the friction of the sway bar bushings, you can coat them with dielectric silicone grease, to allow for free movement. you can also reduce the bushing tension on the bars by shimming the bushing brackets, with a washer under each bracket bolt hole, and the frame.
even though handling isnt much of a concern, it will make the car quite oversteer prone in sudden manouvers, such as avoiding other cars, ect.
mine will be going back on... but i traded out with a friend, my Z51 bars, for his base bars. they considerably lighter (hollow).
if you are concerned about weight transfer from the friction of the sway bar bushings, you can coat them with dielectric silicone grease, to allow for free movement. you can also reduce the bushing tension on the bars by shimming the bushing brackets, with a washer under each bracket bolt hole, and the frame.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
My 60' times improved by about .04 - .05 seconds when I removed my front sway bar. Consequently, it has been off for years. I don't do a lot of hard of fast cornering, and I haven't missed my bar at all. The removal of the sway bar has NO effect on the ride quality. Just think about how it works.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 325
Likes: 2
From: Chattanooga TN
My 60' times improved by about .04 - .05 seconds when I removed my front sway bar. Consequently, it has been off for years. I don't do a lot of hard of fast cornering, and I haven't missed my bar at all. The removal of the sway bar has NO effect on the ride quality. Just think about how it works.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
it certainly helped the ride on my car... lets do look at how sway bars work... they basically partially tie both sides of the suspension together, effectively making an independent suspension,
semi-independent...
if the left wheel hits a pothole, the swaybar transmits some of the suspension motion into the right side suspension...
remove it if you like. normal manuvers wont be affected much, but do be aware that sudden hard emegency manuvers at road speeds, could cause sudden severe and dangerous handling effects.
Last edited by BigLee; Apr 27, 2007 at 02:50 PM.
Safety Car
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From: Orange County NY
St. Jude Donor '10-'11-'12-'13
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Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 283
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Removal of the Sway Bar? Alternative..
Guys, Ive got a 92 conv. I do a good bit a drag racing, All I do is drive the car back and forth to work 12mile round trip, when Im not racing. If I take the sway bar off the front is it worth it? I know I will loose some handling but, Will it improve my e.t? B/c of weight reduction/transfer. I would be grateful for some opinions. Thank you
I don't know much about front sway bar removal.....but how about removing that picture (muscular dude) in your profile and replacing that with some curvy woman of some sort....lol.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: 2003 Points Champ Great Lakes Corvette Challenge; 2006/2007 Winner MSD True Street
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by Aardwolf
I've seen the gains without the bar, what is the effect? CFI does the car twist less with it unhooked, allowing for more even traction?
flag. As usual, YMMV. It costs nothing to try it for yourself. If it doesn't work for you, it costs the same, nothing, to restore it to original.RACE ON!!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,951
Likes: 3
From: Mount Vernon OH
Weight Locations
The location of the weight reduction is important and the swaybar is in the front of the car and low relating to the profile of the car. If you are removing weight from the nose of the car it will allow the car to weight transfer better than if you remove weight in the mid or rear of the car.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 197
Likes: 0
From: Carriere Mississippi
The location of the weight reduction is important and the swaybar is in the front of the car and low relating to the profile of the car. If you are removing weight from the nose of the car it will allow the car to weight transfer better than if you remove weight in the mid or rear of the car.
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 325
Likes: 2
From: Chattanooga TN
yeah, its under 20 lbs (i think my Z51 bar was 17 lbs. total) off the front of the car. actually ahead of the front wheel centerline, which is ideal.
expect less than two hundredths of a second improvement from the weight loss alone.
as for the friction issue, as i already mentioned above, it can be all but completey eliminated with some dielectric silicone grease applied to the inside of the bushings, and perhaps a washer or two between the bracket and frame...
who knows what this is worth in E.T. improvement. very little for certain.
just be aware that this can easily lead to severe stability issues on street driven vehicles... like both me and a friend of mine have found out the hard way...
i`ve driven mine longterm without the sway bar as well... mine will be going back on...
expect less than two hundredths of a second improvement from the weight loss alone.
as for the friction issue, as i already mentioned above, it can be all but completey eliminated with some dielectric silicone grease applied to the inside of the bushings, and perhaps a washer or two between the bracket and frame...
who knows what this is worth in E.T. improvement. very little for certain.
just be aware that this can easily lead to severe stability issues on street driven vehicles... like both me and a friend of mine have found out the hard way...
i`ve driven mine longterm without the sway bar as well... mine will be going back on...
Last edited by BigLee; Apr 30, 2007 at 02:08 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by BigLee
as for the friction issue, as i already mentioned above, it can be all but completey eliminated with some dielectric silicone grease applied to the inside of the bushings, and perhaps a washer or two between the bracket and frame...
Originally Posted by BigLee
who knows what this is worth in E.T. improvement. very little for certain.
RACE ON!!!
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 325
Likes: 2
From: Chattanooga TN
it lessens the "clamp load" that the bushing exerts on the bar.
its an old trick used by road racers to fine tune the sway bar, and by drag racers to minimize friction.
applying the silicone grease takes almost all the friction away, between the bar and bushing.
i`m not saying there isnt a gain, just that there is a large "margin of error" around E.T. differences that small.
its an old trick used by road racers to fine tune the sway bar, and by drag racers to minimize friction.
applying the silicone grease takes almost all the friction away, between the bar and bushing.
It has been documented. See post #3, above.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by BigLee
it lessens the "clamp load" that the bushing exerts on the bar.
its an old trick used by road racers to fine tune the sway bar, and by drag racers to minimize friction.
its an old trick used by road racers to fine tune the sway bar, and by drag racers to minimize friction.
Originally Posted by BigLee
i`m not saying there isnt a gain, just that there is a large "margin of error" around E.T. differences that small.
RACE ON!!!