Hey guys, I was just sitting here thinking about whether I should get the rrm sway bar when one of my friends asked me why I wanted it. So I explained to her how they work and she had a strange idea. She does alot of art work with metal and can weld just about anything. So she and I came up with an idea. She suggested that I take the bar off and she will weld a strong piece of metal in the center of the bar to keep it from flexing. I already stuck some universal fit energy suspension bushings on, so together I think it might just work. I just wanted some opinions because I'm probably wrong. Thanks
Sarah Ann

 

It's possible to fab your own bar I'm sure. But that said, I'd just go with a bar from progress, you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

Fox

 

Hey, Fox. Thanks for the reply, I'm just going for the cheap way out because this way wouldn't cost me anything except a little elbow grease. Do you think it would be sufficient though?

 

OH, and it wouldn't be a new bar, just the same bar but with another piece of metal welded to the center of the old bar to make it stiffer.

 

If your friend can do it then I'd say go for it but I think it would take more than just tacing on another piece to stiffen up the bar. You have to remember that these aftermarket bars are tested to work with our cars, what you are suggesting will be a one off type of application that will require you and your friend to do some serious work.

Also if you put a stiffer sway bar on you might want to think about stronger perches as a stiffer bar could very well break the stock perches that are there.

One thing that concerns me however is the fact that your friend, while having some metal working knowledge, might not have any idea the types of engineering specs required for a task such as this. It's just something to consider.

Fox

 

you would just be reinforcing the center part? what about the arms that connect to the perches, those are just as important to reinforce.

 

+1

Fox

 

i think he meant "cutting" out the center part of the sway bar, and then weld another bar of the same length as the center piece on to the side pieces that are attached to the car (i have no idea what all those craps are called, but ehhh i gotta learn hehe)

 

Reread the her first post. She is saying that her friend will weld on a stronger piece to the existing sway bar. That in effect will stiffen the bar. In theory it would do just that. But would it work in reality is another question. There is still going to be flex in the other parts of the bar and the the perches are another weak point to take into consideration.

Fox

 

i really dont think its worth the time or money, you can find a progress anitsway bar for 100-150 used on here, then sell your stocker to some es for like 50 bucks, not much money for greater performance and safety

 

Hopefully this isn't too off topic (sorry if it is Sarah Ann) but a beefier sway bar is "the" best suspension bar you can add right? I mean this should be added before strut, tie etc?

 

they say it will improve the handleing the most over the other bars... which is why people do it first. I couldnt really tell ya as i did the sway (which you could definatly tell improved handleing) then i added all the other bars at once... again you could tell they help

 

Z - yes, it is the biggest suspension help. Makes the most difference.

 

Sarah, you have a great idea going on here, but you have to think about a few different factors:

1, the main part of the sway bar twists as one side of the suspension goes up and the other side goes down. So what makes a sway bar beefier is its resistance to twist, or torsion strength. That means for your extra piece to be effective, you'd have to have it welded (adhered) to the other bar through its entire length, which can not be done with one pipe sleeved over the other. Now, if that sleeve had small holes in it, you could weld all of those holes so that the two bars are attached all the way down.

2, as mentioned above, once you make the center part stiffer, are you sure the end links will be strong enough to not snap under the load? I've seen people snap their stock OZ sway bars in autocross. So adding stress to it might not be a good idea. They seem to snap most often on the perches, so you'd want to make or buy beefier ones of those too.

Best of luck, it's nice to see enginuity out there!

 

Thanks for your reply. I guess I'm going to play it safe, there are just too many variables that I don't feel qualified to account for. So I'm just going to get the rrm bar. I think I will still have my friend reinforce the old bar so if anyone wants to test it out let me know. I also have energy suspension bushings to go with it. Thanks.
Sarah