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Sway Bars


Slater

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Hollow bars are only stiffer if larger diamater.

A solid bar of the same diamater will ALWAYS be stiffer than a hollow bar of the SAME diameter.

That's why you see some aftermarket hollow bars that are HUGE - like giant pieces of pipe. It's because they must be that way to get the same stiffness per inch as a solid bar of a much smaller diamater.

As long as they're made of the same material. Ah, reading all this takes me back to my statics class :(

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As long as they're made of the same material. Ah, reading all this takes me back to my statics class :(

They are both plain steel. The only thing you could do is heat treat it, but you can tell by looking at the bar that it is not heat treated.

- Slater

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I just measured my set of R sway bars - the front is 21mm. It is uninstalled so I was able to check if it was hollow by tapping it w/ a hammer but it did NOT sound hollow. It sounded and felt like it was solid iron. The rears are installed and I recall measuring them before putting them on - they were also 21mm which I surprised me cause it's thicker than the Volvo specs. I agree w/ Slater that this could be from the rubberized paint adding thickness. So there.

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the way you take the turn makes a big difference in the car's traction, maybe you guys need to take turns a little wider.  Of course if you early apex and then try to cut the wheel you are going to understeer

What sway bar configuration are you referring to?

You're exactly right on the apexing...it's harder to do with R compound tires though.

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I just measured my set of R sway bars - the front is 21mm. It is uninstalled so I was able to check if it was hollow by tapping it w/ a hammer but it did NOT sound hollow. It sounded and felt like it was solid iron. The rears are installed and I recall measuring them before putting them on - they were also 21mm which I surprised me cause it's thicker than the Volvo specs. I agree w/ Slater that this could be from the rubberized paint adding thickness. So there.

Nah, you're not going to get that much buildup. Most paint is a few thou at the most. Plus it's already been taken into account on the measurements i took. That's why I was getting 22.4mm on IPDs "22mm" bar.

So if your bar measured 21mm that means it's 20.something.

- Slater

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