[Wiisass]

Originally Posted by tastyratz

==Notes to be considered when selecting a swaybar upgrade==

-Stock swaybars are hollow as well as several aftermarket replacements. Testing has found the tube is the strongest shape and while maintaining a proportionate wall thickness a tubular swaybar will provide only 5% less stiffness for one made out of
solid metal in the same diameter but will have a significantly lower weight, sometimes a reduction as much as 10-20lbs. This has no heavy polar impact since its so low on the chassis but will impact braking/acceleration respectively.

This is a gross generalization which just shouldn't be in something like this. You can't just throw out numbers like that. The difference in stiffness depends on the OD and ID of the hollow bar. If you're comparing a solid bar to a hollow bar, both having the same OD, the hollow bar gets softer as the ID decreases. Also, your weight reduction numbers seem really high. That's something that you can calculate with just an estimate of the overall length of the bar and what material is being used.

Also, I don't know what you mean about braking and acceleration being affected. Is this just a comment because of the slight decrease in weight of the overall car. If not, I wouldn't talk about acceleration and braking when talking about sway bars. That just introduces several other things that you need to consider, including bending moments on the bar, friction in the d-mount bushing, etc. Things that most people don't need to be worried with.

-Adjustability is something to weigh in consider if thats a concern for you.

Does anyone know if the non-adjustable aftermarket bars are the exact same dimensions as the stock bars. If not that's something that should be considered. If that moment arm length is longer or shorter on the new bar, the comparison using the bar size can not be used anymore.

Originally Posted by drift freaq

Tasty, you should also mention the fact that though heim joints improve performance by eliminating mushy or squishyness they also transfer body torque straight to your chassis. If your chassis is not stitch welded or reinforced with cage it will cause wear and tear on the factory chassis, thereby shortening chassis life.

Do you mean this for a general note on heim joints or a specific note to heim joints as sway bar endlinks. Because if it's just for sway bar endlinks, I doubt that it's really an issue. If anything it could shorten the life of the LCA, just because of the more direct load path of the bending moment right into the middle of the arm. Otherwise, you can't really say that sway bar endlinks being solid joints rather than soft bushings can shorten the life of the chassis.

Also the word to use for "mushy or squishyness" is compliance. By elimating this compliance you are more effectively using the sway bar. A sway bar generates a certain spring rate, when using soft bushings some of this effect is absorbed into the bushings and not realized at the point it should be which is at the tire.