porschefig

make my own sway bar?

porschefig

p.s. don't flame me!

Red 944

http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/j..._jan312003.htm

porschefig

"Excuses Exterminated

The truth is that many people confuse difficulty with impossibility. They assume that the greatest things can be achieved with the greatest ease. When they encounter resistance, they assume that the obstacles they face are insurmountable. At that point, failure is inevitable, and the process of rationalization begins. What is needed is a new belief, a new understanding of what is required to reach one’s potential. It is an understanding that the greatest things are necessarily difficult. Unless you embrace that simple fact, unless you relish the difficulty, unless you enjoy every minute spent overcoming the obstacles that others shy away from, you will never succeed in your endeavors"

.....so, you're saying I can....?

SamGrant951

...breathe whenever I think about you?

...speak whenever I talk about you?

sorry..had to do it!

porschefig

ok, helpful

how bout this:

what IS a sway bar (physically)

the ones i've held w/ my own two hands "APPEAR" to just be bent pipe

somebody elighten me w/o mocking me

seb928s

What kind of sway bar you looking to get I have one it's out of an early 944. If you are moving up then this won't be good for you. As far as I know it's just piece of metal that is bent. Hopefully someone can clear this up for us.

porschefig

exactly...
in the metals manufacturing class there is a big pile of metal that they have bent a certain way (not sure what). However, they are all uniformly bent and there is no kinks in the bends. AND they are even about the right thickness of metal. However, these particular peices aren't bent exactly right to be sway bars, I would have to figure that stuff out.

the way I see it: a 400 dollar sway bar is nothing more then 10 dollars of bent metal.
^^^^^^^^
hence my question

porschefig

thanx for the offer and the reply!

however I am planning on "moving up" so those would be the same I already have.

OriginalSterm

I thought the sway bars were twisted too? Adding some initial spring load on the bars.

M758

It is needs to be the RIGHT metal. As you know there are thousands of grades of metal and heat treatments. I am not sure what the spec is on sway bars. They might be a common steel or they may not. Then you need to bend it . Not super easy bit possible with right tools. Of course you need to figure where to bent it as well. This is all dependant on installation needs the bar itself need not be bent, but often is clear objects in the car.

So very possible, but not something I'd attempt unless I wanted to for fun or needed something very specific nobody else made. Oh yeah, the dimeter need to be spot on to get the right stiffness as well as material properties (metal type)

Dlefko

and maybe another 390 dollars of R&D

as far as i know, performance seekers go with a thicker diameter sway bar, to give more resistance to the sway, i believe the bend shape in the bar may compliment this. That is just a guess though.

You could probably make one if you find out what kind of material they are made from, and study bend shape patterns/diameters.

porschefig

ok, i can believe that there has been a lot of develop put into them.
They are designed to have a Certain amount of tension?

$390 of R&D. For the companies, to get it PERFECT. I imagine it's more then that. However, I still think it would cost nothing to build one w/ more tension than what I currently have. How much is the BIG question (I hope you all can understand I asked this question on a whim, expecting it to be harder then I thought).

Is there a twist in them?? That would be harder to do!

My thoughts were originally that if I had a bigger bar and bent it in the same places as my existing sway bars......

FSAEracer03

A sway bar is more than just a twisted piece of metal, you can make your own I suppose, but it will have to be designed accordingly. They are a key factor in the handling of your car. Not to sound offensive or anything... but how old are you? I'm wondering if you have taken classis such as Mechanics of Materials, Materials, and Statics. These will be key in designing the proper diameter metal and cross-section as well as the mounting points and pivot arm length.

Let me put it this was, sway bars allow you to run soft springs, keeping predictable handling at the limit, while they transfer load from weight transfer to the inside tires through torsion. If you screw up a sway bar design just by guestimating size and location, you will have a crappy handling car that might be dangerous to drive over bumps or turn with. Too much in the rear and the back will sway, along with dart across the road with road variations and holes. To little in the rear and you might as well have left it stock-setup to keep that much handling prowess.

It certainly is doable, Porschefig,but make sure you have the empirical knowledge to design it and the practical experience to execute it well. That being said, if you do decide to try this, best of luck... and be sure (as always) to post photos!

iloveporsches

We design and make our own sway bars for our FSAE car. It's doable, if you have the knowledge and the tools.