Roll centres and sway bars
#16
Re: Roll bars make independent suspensions less independent.
Originally posted by Disaster
Roll (aka sway or anti-roll) bars make independent suspensions less independent. It ties the left and right independent suspensions together. This reduces the roll of the body....transfers some of the suspension load/travel to the other side. It will help keep the Cg lower in turns and reduce the left/right weight transfer when cornering.
Roll (aka sway or anti-roll) bars make independent suspensions less independent. It ties the left and right independent suspensions together. This reduces the roll of the body....transfers some of the suspension load/travel to the other side. It will help keep the Cg lower in turns and reduce the left/right weight transfer when cornering.
From my experience with rubber tires on carpet, a anti roll bar makes the car more consistent. Or more predictable. (This is assuming, you use a sligthly softer spring, when adding the bars).
As somebody else says, the bars harden the suspension, bu it feels differnt than using harder springs. One reason, is that bars ONLY affect side to side weight transfer, while springs affect BOTH side-to-side AND front/rear transfer.
Also, only use bars on smooth surfaces. On bumpy tracks, they can really mess things up.
#17
Tech Adept
Stiffening occurs with unequal loading.
Originally posted by Cole Trickle
Well spoken.
As somebody else says, the bars harden the suspension, bu it feels differnt than using harder springs. One reason, is that bars ONLY affect side to side weight transfer, while springs affect BOTH side-to-side AND front/rear transfer.
Also, only use bars on smooth surfaces. On bumpy tracks, they can really mess things up.
Well spoken.
As somebody else says, the bars harden the suspension, bu it feels differnt than using harder springs. One reason, is that bars ONLY affect side to side weight transfer, while springs affect BOTH side-to-side AND front/rear transfer.
Also, only use bars on smooth surfaces. On bumpy tracks, they can really mess things up.
The downside to a swaybar is that you've coupled the right and left suspension such that one side can not react without transferring load into the other. This a very small tradeoff on a smooth racetrack but is less acceptable for rough roads where you really want the tires to move independently and quickly. You would never want this, for example, on a rock crawling type vehicle.
There have been vehicles designed with sophisticated active suspensions that will allow any tire to move independently while at the same time reduce cornering roll. These work by changing the damping or spring rate of either suspension side based on measured cornering forces.