questions on making a sway bar adjustable

[motoman399]

hey so i have not ever ventured into this part of nico, so be easy lol

i have an s14, and i also have a cheap aftermarket sway bar in the front (think its godspeed ). i have heard the hype about adjustable sway bars, but never experienced them. i did a quick google image search on them and it looks like there is just a plate with 3 holes where the end links bolt onto. i am a fabricator, and i want to make as much stuff as possible for my car.

so here are my questions.
1) can i just weld the plate with 3 holes on the ends of the sway bar (measured accurately)
2) do i have a greater risk of snapping the sway bar?
3) i am a GOOD welder, and i have a GOOD welder (miller 135 mig) i also have access to a brand new miller tig. i can tig ok but am not great. i am really good with mig (monkey work). i know that tig is the stronger way, but is there anything wrong with using mig on it?
4) if i make the ends of the sway bar longer, am i going to have to get adjustable end links (make them)?

thanks guys i hope i get some answers.

[motoman399]

bump. nobody knows anything on this? i hope some of you guys are fabricators...

[flohtingPoint]

Get stiffer springs so you dont need a swaybar.

[motoman399]

im sorry but that was probably one of the dumbest answers i could have gotten. thanks

i know stiffer springs would help but if i can do a FREE upgrade to my sway bar then why wouldnt i? this wasnt a post asking about springs..

[n00b240]

FP's answer wasnt dumb. Coming from an auto-x/ RR perspective, its pretty sound advice, I personally wouldnt waste my time with a swaybar either. You would see much better results with stiffer springs. The godspeed sway may break. Being a fabricator is all about experimentation, just give it a try. Having said that.....

1) Sounds like a good idea depending on your welding skills Have you stress tested any of your work?
4)I feel like this is a bad idea, you would add 2 more potentially weak spots, again depending on your welding skills

My opinion changes completely if you dont really auto-x or do any type of aggressive driving events. Knock yourself out with the adjustable links and longer sway. Hell even stress test it out, take it to the track, you could soon find yourself selling your product on these very forums

Hope someone could help you in terms of fab advice

[flohtingPoint]

im sorry but that was probably one of the dumbest answers i could have gotten. thanks

i know stiffer springs would help but if i can do a FREE upgrade to my sway bar then why wouldnt i? this wasnt a post asking about springs..

Yea, I guess it was a dumb answer. I mean, all those SCCA National Champions that run 700 or higher LBS springs and no swaybar, they dont know anything... Go head and fool with a swaybar, I'm sure you know something they dont.

[motoman399]

1) Sounds like a good idea depending on your welding skills Have you stress tested any of your work?
4)I feel like this is a bad idea, you would add 2 more potentially weak spots, again depending on your welding skills

thank you. yes i am certified, so yes my welds have been strength tested. i know i can weld it great, that is not a question. i just dont know the ability of the crappy sway bar.

i thought his question was dumb not because it was a bad answer, but because it had absolutely nothing to do with my questions. i wanted to know about an adjustable sway bar, not stiffer springs. now had i said "would stiffer springs make my car handle better" then i would expect an answer like that.

so i think im going to try the adjustable sway bar and not that im going to prove ANYONE wrong, but it will be a FREE upgrade (hopefully). also i plan to get better spring/struts later on when i get more money, but i have bigger fish to fry right now.

[flohtingPoint]

i thought his question was dumb not because it was a bad answer, but because it had absolutely nothing to do with my questions. i wanted to know about an adjustable sway bar, not stiffer springs. now had i said "would stiffer springs make my car handle better" then i would expect an answer like that.

I didn't ask a question, I made a statement. It has everything to do with your question... If you're road racing or autocrossing (and you should be since you're posting in the section), testing "the ability of your crappy sway bar" is a waste of time. Springs are not expensive and you can go up to 600LBS before you have to re valve on a lot of applications.

If you were asking on different ways to crawl, I'd tell you to walk. If you were inquiring on different tastes of hose water, I'd let you know that a bottle of Deer Park is pretty cheap. See where I'm going with this...

[SX APPEAL]

So motoman did you have fun on your first adventure into the racing forums...

On a separate note, what exactly is the logic behind using heavier springs as a substitute for a swaybar? I thought the whole point of a swaybar was to fight the effects of body roll without having an affect on the other axis of chassis movement, ie swaybars only come into affect when the LCA's are moving in opposite directions, springs are in affect any time the suspension is moving. In other words, a car could be set up with a stiff swaybar on a bumpy track to keep the body roll in check and still allow softer springs/damping to be used to combat the bumps. Please point out the flaws in my logic, wherever they may be...

[motoman399]

So motoman did you have fun on your first adventure into the racing forums...

lol havent ventured back much..

im still going to be making my sway bar adjustable. and when i can afford it ill get stiffer springs which was on the list before i made this thread..

[flohtingPoint]

On a separate note, what exactly is the logic behind using heavier springs as a substitute for a swaybar? I thought the whole point of a swaybar was to fight the effects of body roll without having an affect on the other axis of chassis movement, ie swaybars only come into affect when the LCA's are moving in opposite directions, springs are in affect any time the suspension is moving. In other words, a car could be set up with a stiff swaybar on a bumpy track to keep the body roll in check and still allow softer springs/damping to be used to combat the bumps. Please point out the flaws in my logic, wherever they may be...

Read Steve Hoelscher's thread on MR2OC for building an STS MR2, it'll give you more insight on the subject from a multi-time national champion.

im still going to be making my sway bar adjustable. and when i can afford it ill get stiffer springs which was on the list before i made this thread..

Springs cost nearly nothing. http://www.daymotorsports.com/product/7 ... ER_SPRINGS

[motoman399]

i dont know about nearly nothing. last time i checked 200 bucks was about half of my pay check. sooo... thats something.

Infiniti_lineup, thank you for actually contributing to my question. seemed like i was twisting arms to get a couple answers. so much for trying to be a fabricator and not buying everything for my rig.