I have probably a dumb question, but I can't understand how the rear anti-sway bar works. It is a solid metal bar that pretty much connects the axle to the frame. If one wheel goes over a bump, the axle rotates but the frame stays level. Does the bar physically twist out of shape to accomodate the axle rotation?

 

Hi Jim,

There are few truly dumb questions. Your description exactly describes how anti-roll barswork.It's theresistance to twisting that is howanti-roll barseffectively increase the axle's resistance to roll relative to the chassis that makes them work. The rolling motion of the body couples the inside wheel's springresistance to compression and the anti-roll bar's resistence rates to transfer the additional roll resistance to the outside tire. Simple huh?

Cheers/Chip

 

thanks for the explanation. I still can't see how it's possible to go over a large bump (say one wheel over a speed bump) without a lot of jarring motion, since the sway bar is trying to keep the axle and frame aligned. Do beefier after-market sway bars significantly increase road harshness? In the worst-case, if I had a sway bar that resisted any twisting, would the axle and frame be constantly aligned?

 

Yes larger swaybars increase the jarring when one wheel goes over a speedbump (or in a pothole). But if both go over the speedbump, then you won't notice it at all.

 

Thanks that makes sense. However I do notice some of my worst jolts are when both wheels hit a dip or rise in the road. The back end seems to get slammed to the ground and all my internal organs shift This I believe is because I am hitting the axle bump stops in the rear (i have less than a finger width space between the top of the bump stop and the frame). I know the Steeda springs are supposed to be a 1.5" drop, but it seems more like 2" or even more. I am considering shaving off the top of the bump stops to see if that improves the jolts.