b454rat
I'm Awesome
My Tahoe doesn't have a rear bar, since I want to lower it and corner with it, thought bout getting one off a 3500HD in a yard near me. Dunno if it would fit, it is a MONSTER lol. Think it's like 2" thick lol.
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
My Tahoe doesn't have a rear bar, since I want to lower it and corner with it, thought bout getting one off a 3500HD in a yard near me. Dunno if it would fit, it is a MONSTER lol. Think it's like 2" thick lol.
My 98 Tahoe 4WD 2 door has one in the front which is 1 3/16" diameter, but it doesn't have one in the rear. Ive often thought about installing one in the rear...
a Tubular bar is reacts as a larger bar in that it has 2 working surfaces I played with the idea of making a tubular bar for a 70 chevelle wagon I had using a rear bar from same era common Monte Carlo .Making out of .125 wall CRO/Mo tubing ended up being 2.5 times stiffer I also had a Sunbeam Tiger with a front bar that was made from Sched 60 water pipe & was a HUGE Difference on that car on a sprint car a torsion bar that is tubular works a lot better because it reacts quicker than a solid bar Just Some Thoughts Keep the Shiny Side Up
I cut the bolt holes on the front of the sway bar brackets so they were just slots, then bolted them onto the exhaust clamps with washers on them and welded the washers in place. I just got the transmission back in on Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to start racking up some miles and see how it handles. I can already tell it has less body roll.Re above carried over post. EtA - did you have to drill the damper mounts on the axle for the clamps or were there holes there already
Wow, I don't check in for a day and the conversation runs away!
I cut the bolt holes on the front of the sway bar brackets so they were just slots, then bolted them onto the exhaust clamps with washers on them and welded the washers in place. I just got the transmission back in on Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to start racking up some miles and see how it handles. I can already tell it has less body roll.
Even though Colin Chapman's backbone chassis looks flimsy compared to a truck frame, you have to remember the entire car weighed less than a ton. After Lotus came out with their backbone chassis, GM experimented with the X-frame, but on much larger cars. It was not successful. In '69 they went back to perimeter frames and fully boxed them on the Cadillacs.
Yes, the rear axle looks like a Jaguar rearend and also a Corvette rear end. It's a compromise over using dedicated suspension arms and a separate dedicated driveshaft, but Chapman was all about reducing unsprung weight, and in a light chassis like that it probably performs better than the Jaguar or Corvette versions.
Good post.
But I'm taking issue with the above!
Lack of rear bar causes the front to push as without roll resistance at the rear all the roll goes to the front outer tyre and the increased load there increases that tyre's slip angle. When it runs out of slip angle it runs out of grip (assuming the chassis is stiff enough to transfer the roll without flexing). A stiiffer front bar has the same effect as the inner tyre does less having transferred the weight to the outer - increasing its slip angle.
Conversely, the greater weight transfer to the outer rear tyre from the inner rear tyre when a rear bar is fitted increases the outer rear tyre's slip angle and thus the tendency is toward oversteer (loose) - while reducing the weight transfer at the front due it occurring at the rear.
Not to mention roll centre heights....