General Suspension: Installing rear sway bar.
Senior Member
Joined: 05-10-07
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From: West Babylon, NY
Have you added one to your car? Cuz I have... and I will tell you... It is doing much more than "just adding weight". You may want to speak with some of the guys that are autoX'ing their cobalts and see if they feel the rear sway is "doing nothing but adding weight"
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Joined: 05-21-06
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From: Gainesville, FL
also, in a front drive car, a semi independant rear has some benefits compared to a fully independant rear...
basically, when a car is going around a circle, logically, you want all four wheels on the ground to provide maximum grip... however, most of the car makers build cars to understeer slightly as they are pushed twords the limit, because it is assumed that a driver can more easily deal witha car that's not turning enough than one that is spinning out of control.
now, that said, a car that is setup to understeer can be an issue if the front suddenly has a lot less grip than the rear, it can go from slight understeer to no steering at all.
making the rear semi independant does two things, A it makes the car more stable and comfortable during normal driving, also it allows for a very small amount of controlled slide at the limit of traction. this is why nissan, gm, etc have used semi independant rear front drive cars for years.
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Joined: 11-13-05
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From: Pittsburgh/Norfolk
uhhh... i hope that you mean "in theory" and that you wouldn't really do that.
also, in a front drive car, a semi independant rear has some benefits compared to a fully independant rear...
basically, when a car is going around a circle, logically, you want all four wheels on the ground to provide maximum grip... however, most of the car makers build cars to understeer slightly as they are pushed twords the limit, because it is assumed that a driver can more easily deal witha car that's not turning enough than one that is spinning out of control.
now, that said, a car that is setup to understeer can be an issue if the front suddenly has a lot less grip than the rear, it can go from slight understeer to no steering at all.
making the rear semi independant does two things, A it makes the car more stable and comfortable during normal driving, also it allows for a very small amount of controlled slide at the limit of traction. this is why nissan, gm, etc have used semi independant rear front drive cars for years.
also, in a front drive car, a semi independant rear has some benefits compared to a fully independant rear...
basically, when a car is going around a circle, logically, you want all four wheels on the ground to provide maximum grip... however, most of the car makers build cars to understeer slightly as they are pushed twords the limit, because it is assumed that a driver can more easily deal witha car that's not turning enough than one that is spinning out of control.
now, that said, a car that is setup to understeer can be an issue if the front suddenly has a lot less grip than the rear, it can go from slight understeer to no steering at all.
making the rear semi independant does two things, A it makes the car more stable and comfortable during normal driving, also it allows for a very small amount of controlled slide at the limit of traction. this is why nissan, gm, etc have used semi independant rear front drive cars for years.
exactly
i'm not by any means suggesting this it was more so to illustrate a point
Last edited by redlineblueline; Oct 8, 2007 at 12:55 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Its funny, but I have heard people say that about cutting the axle, in reality you would have to re-structure the center but you could do it, and it would function like a fully independant suspension. Cost would far outweigh the benefits though.
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Joined: 06-21-07
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From: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Think of our rear axle like a solid rear axle from wheel hub to sheel hub. Pretty much the same concept. Mount the center that is attached to nothing... Like this.
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If you mounted the center of the roll bar in two places to the unibody with these
it would then be a fully functional swaybar. The points on the body of course would have to be reinforced but then you would see what that thing could really do.
Right now that sway bar is doing little to nothing but adding weight.
Great right up though by the way.
If you mounted the center of the roll bar in two places to the unibody with these
it would then be a fully functional swaybar. The points on the body of course would have to be reinforced but then you would see what that thing could really do.
Right now that sway bar is doing little to nothing but adding weight.
Great right up though by the way.
We have torsion beam suspension that acts semi independent. It is essentially an “H” shape with one end of the “H” attached to pivot points with bushings on the body and the other end of the “H” attached to the wheels and springs. When one wheel moves the center beam twists and allows the wheel to move semi-independently.
The stock sway bar runs inside the torsion beam and attaches to the ends of the “H” NOT the body of the car. This makes it twist less and lessens body roll.
The aftermarket sway bar does the same thing in addition to our stock one.
Examples
http://www.autozine.org/technical_sc...spension21.htm
Actually our suspension works on a different principal.
We have torsion beam suspension that acts semi independent. It is essentially an “H” shape with one end of the “H” attached to pivot points with bushings on the body and the other end of the “H” attached to the wheels and springs. When one wheel moves the center beam twists and allows the wheel to move semi-independently.
The stock sway bar runs inside the torsion beam and attaches to the ends of the “H” NOT the body of the car. This makes it twist less and lessens body roll.
The aftermarket sway bar does the same thing in addition to our stock one.
Examples
http://www.autozine.org/technical_sc...spension21.htm
We have torsion beam suspension that acts semi independent. It is essentially an “H” shape with one end of the “H” attached to pivot points with bushings on the body and the other end of the “H” attached to the wheels and springs. When one wheel moves the center beam twists and allows the wheel to move semi-independently.
The stock sway bar runs inside the torsion beam and attaches to the ends of the “H” NOT the body of the car. This makes it twist less and lessens body roll.
The aftermarket sway bar does the same thing in addition to our stock one.
Examples
http://www.autozine.org/technical_sc...spension21.htm
New Member
Joined: 06-21-07
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From: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
New Member
Joined: 07-05-09
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From: Port Orchard WA
one quick question.. i see where you put the brackets to bolt the sway bar too.. but i can see in the picture that one goes nuts up and the other nuts down...are you just showing where the flange goes or is that how its supposed to be mounted? thanks for the info
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Joined: 03-01-12
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From: uxbridge
the eibach rear bar is awsome it mounts in revers of the one at the top of the thread. i installed it with the front as well and the difference is great. i can get the right rear up in the air around the corners now. also sportline springs and new struts/shocks. car handle right now =))))
I think it's a big problem with his write up, pictures suck, in one pic the sway bar is lined up upside down, then flanges are shown going in upside down... someone needs to update this guy's pics so people don't get confused putting it in the wrong way and then end up with clunking sounds
Wow, I posted in this thread 5 years ago. I bought my first Cobalt this year. Anyway our torsion beam is the connection between the two wheels. So it is the sway bar, when you add an aftermarket sway bar to our cars you are just stiffening the torsion beam. See Powell rear axle. Its just welded up steel tube for stiffening. Its doing the same thing but you can accomplish the same thing with a piece of DOM and a few welds cheaply. The aftermarket just uses the term sway bar for marketing and makes it bolt on for shadetree mechanics ease of installation.
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