Sometimes when you make an upgrade to a car, you make other weaknesses appear and become prevalent. Such was the case after we added the ATS spindles and new brakes to Barney. The increased Ackerman and better camber gain created a bunch more front grip which made the front of the car roll way more in turns. This increased roll released the inside rear tire more than before causing both a loose in condition because the brakes would lock up and slide the inside rear tire as well as a free post apex condition. This became ever so apparent when we reviewed the pictures from the Good Guys event last March.
The grip was great and the car was fast...but if we could tame the roll down and get the inside rear tire back into the track again, it will be even better. So a plan for a new front sway bar was put into place. Since I already had a few steps stiffer than the stiffest bolt in sway bar available for a G-Body, we decided to step up to a weld in tube style mount for a 3 piece splined end front bar. This will give us a ton of more options for front bar specs...
Now that the parts are here, I can take things apart and see just how and where it is all going to fit. I know the UMI front triangulation brace will either need to be cut up or replaced with something custom made as well as it is directly in the way of where this tube needs to go. I love that part...it is awesome!! I kind of hate to cut it up but that may be the best option rather than just starting from scratch.
The tube, bar, and swing arms will all hang under the frame and I'll weld double shear tabs on the front of my control arms for the end links to bolt to. It looks like these swing arms will end up 4-5 inches shorter than the ones on the the current MuscleBar which means the bar will need to be about directly under the pitman and idler arms instead of up in front of them where the current bar rides. The shorter arms help with way less leverage on the bar which means a stiffer overall rate (less roll).
I have new tires being mounted up Tuesday and have a local SCCA Autocross Next Sunday the 16th, so I'll probably wait until after the 16th to start taking things apart. The goal is to have the new bar in place and tuning done at an SCCA event before the Good Guys Fall show the 2nd weekend in November. Wish me luck!!!