Re: Swaybar (was Low profile rims. . )

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

Thanks Dave, Dan & Marty for the info on the sway bar.

I have two leads for having a new sway bar made. The first one is a local
suspension shop called Tampa Spring. They can make just about anything.
The second lead is ... maybe you can help me on this ... I think it was
Trevor Summer's Delorean. It has a custom REAR sway bar he ordered from a
catalog.

Brain & Joe -- are you reading this? Do you remember who's Delorean it was
who had the rear sway bar? I bet whoever made this could make a new front
sway bar.

I'm glad to hear that the sway bar wasn't intended to also function as a
wheel stop. This will make it a lot easier to design a new one. The sway
bar is supposed to work like a big spring. So it isn't just a matter of
getting a big metal rod and bending it to the right shape. It has to be
made out of the right kind of metal and then be tempered to give it the
right spring quality. I know that Tampa Spring has a kiln big enough to
bake a sway bar.

Since the dimensions are critical to wheel castor, can anyone give me the
factory engineering specs for the end-to-end distance? Perhaps someone
could come up with the specs for spring constant (K-value?) I would rather
go by this than trust that the OEM sway bar on my Delorean is true to
factory specs. As a worst case scenario, I could measure sway bars from a
few Deloreans and take an average. The problem is, I feel like I'm more abt
to spot a unicorn in Tampa than a Delorean. I want to make the first new
geometry sway bar right on the first try.

As far as beefing up the sway bar goes... we are limited to using OEM bar
diameter without modifying the parts the bar fits into. It would be too
much candy for a nickel to have to start with a larger diameter bar and turn
the ends down on a lathe. I used to know a guy with a lathe long enough to
do such a thing. Perhaps using a different alloy would do the job.
Suggestions anyone?

Marty -- the strange thing about both my Delorean and Randy's is that we
both have about the same amount of sway bar wear on BOTH sides. Unless we
both have/had too much toe-in adjustment? I'll find out when I get mine
apart and take some measurements.

I'll keep y'all informed as to my progress. The end result should be an
improved sway bar that will give less body roll and a sharper turning
radius.

Walt Tampa, FL