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RE: [T3] Front sway bar, Part 2


A rear anti-sway bar does a very good job at keeping the body from rolling.
Coupled with sticky tires (and the fact all our weight is in the rear, over
the drivetrain ;) one can really take a corner that will throw many drivers
off.

Something to consider, however, that is a negative side effect of the rear
sway bar, is the lifting of the inside tire.  When the car takes a corner,
for example's sake we'll say a right hand turn, the sway bar will lift the
inside (right) tire.  Not necessarily off the ground (unless you're REALLY
turning hard, in which you stand a good chance of spinning-out) but the
amount of weight on that wheel will be less.  Now, with the standard
transmission/transaxle, the wheel with *less* traction gets more of the
power.  Inherent yuckie of a differential, gotta live with it.  When this
happens, drive power will be lessened , maybe even totally lost, when the
inside wheel starts gaining all the drive power.  If the weight on the wheel
is really light, almost all the drive power wil Wit and the wheel will
spin (maybe even 'chirp') and the outside wheel, the one with the most grip,
will be doing nothing but coasting along.  You have now lost some, or all,
throttle control of the car.

What does this mean?  Well, if you drop in a limited-slip differential (LSD)
and you are running with a sway bar not only will you make me very jealous
but when you take a corner the wheel with *more* grip (the left wheel in our
above example) will receive the drive power.  You gain better control due to
less body roll thanks to the sway bar but also throttle control because the
LSD is putting the drive power to the wheel with the most grip.

The only company that I'm aware of that makes a LSD for the Type I tranny
only is Quaiffe.  Price is about $1500 for the differential only.  Hmmm, too
many "only"s in that sentence.

Remember, the wheel lift phenomenon will occur with the front end as well.
Unless you have a front-wheel drive car (hate 'em) this isn't as big a
worry.

   Toby Erkson
   air_cooled_nut@pobox.com  <-- Please use this address for email
   '72 VW Squareback 1.6L bored and stroked to 2.0L, Berg five-speed
   '95 VW Jetta III GL 2.0L, P-Chipped, Jamex sport suspension
   Portland, Oregon, http://www.icbm.org/

>-----Original Message-----
>I picked  up a front sway bar for my square at last show.  I 
>want to know
>the pros and cons of  installing them.

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