sway bars and toe links
Thread Starter
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Tuscaloosa, AL
sway bars and toe links
I have a few ?? about some suspention.
1. What exactly is a toe link( what are the for)??
2. What is a sway bar for???
3. Is a d shaped strut bar better than a regular one?( cusco)
4. Has anybody changed the stock rear strut car and used a after market strut bar and found it better??
Im not a suspention person at all, sorry for these dumb *** ??s
1. What exactly is a toe link( what are the for)??
2. What is a sway bar for???
3. Is a d shaped strut bar better than a regular one?( cusco)
4. Has anybody changed the stock rear strut car and used a after market strut bar and found it better??
Im not a suspention person at all, sorry for these dumb *** ??s
WWFSMD
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,035
Likes: 4
From: SoCal
No problem on the questions -- no one is born with this knowledge. 
1. A toe link keeps the rear tire steered in the right direction on the rear. It doesn't do any four-wheel steering stuff, but it is a link that keeps the wheel steered straight.
2. A sway bar (a.k.a. "anti-sway bar", "anti-roll bar", "stabilizer bar") increases the roll stiffness of the car by tieing the suspension travel of one side of the suspension to the other side. Basically, if one side goes up, the other side gets some pressure to go up. This reduces body roll when you go around a turn.
3. It depends on the particular strut bars in question, but I don't think there is anything magic about the D shape. It does increase the space under the bar in the case of the Cusco front bar, but it would be hard to judge which is stiffer without the exact dimensions and material info.
4. I have heard that people have benefitted from a stiffer-than-stock rear bar. The stock bar does seem kind of wimpy. I installed an M2 roll bar with a very beefy rear harness-support strut bar and the car is stiffer, but it is hard to separate the effects to give an answer.
-Max
1. A toe link keeps the rear tire steered in the right direction on the rear. It doesn't do any four-wheel steering stuff, but it is a link that keeps the wheel steered straight.
2. A sway bar (a.k.a. "anti-sway bar", "anti-roll bar", "stabilizer bar") increases the roll stiffness of the car by tieing the suspension travel of one side of the suspension to the other side. Basically, if one side goes up, the other side gets some pressure to go up. This reduces body roll when you go around a turn.
3. It depends on the particular strut bars in question, but I don't think there is anything magic about the D shape. It does increase the space under the bar in the case of the Cusco front bar, but it would be hard to judge which is stiffer without the exact dimensions and material info.
4. I have heard that people have benefitted from a stiffer-than-stock rear bar. The stock bar does seem kind of wimpy. I installed an M2 roll bar with a very beefy rear harness-support strut bar and the car is stiffer, but it is hard to separate the effects to give an answer.
-Max
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 9,617
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From: Dallas
Originally posted by maxcooper
Basically, if one side goes up, the other side gets some pressure to go up. This reduces body roll when you go around a turn.
Basically, if one side goes up, the other side gets some pressure to go up. This reduces body roll when you go around a turn.
If the bar were so rigid as to raise the other side you'd nearly have a DeDion axle.
