Widened Anti-sway Bar

[dklipfel]

Hello.  I am new to your forum and seeking your input.  I am looking for a source for a widened anti-sway bar, preferrably 3.4 inch diameter.  Alternately can someone point me in the direction of vendors who may make sway bars?  Or does anyone have a PROVEN method of widening an existing anti-sway bar?

Project specs:  '71 ball joint pan, lowered beam (weld-in adjuster on each beam), caster shim, disc brakes, 2.5 inch wheel adapter/spacer on each side, 16 inch Fuchs wheels, 3.4 inch \"lowered\" anti-sway bar.

The plan:  Maintain the wheels.  Trash the adapters, fab a 5 inch widened beam.

The problem:  Need a 5 inch widened anti-sway bar.  This is a show stopper.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Bruce]

I've never heard of any supplier with a wider than stock sway bar.  I also don't think you will find a spring manufacturer that will want to make you just one.
I think you will have to make your own.  I can think of a couple of ways.

Take 2 sway bars and cut one end off each, leaving the two long parts about 6\" longer than what you need.  Machine a flat on each part so they overlap.  Next make a sleeve to slide over the bar.  Drill a few small holes right through the whole thing to keep the connecting sleeve in place.

Another way is to cut only one sway bar near the middle, then make a really long connecting sleeve to bridge the gap.

Some may suggest you secure things by welding.  IMO this is not the way to go.  To make a spring requires a special heat treating and annealing process.  Welding destroys this, altering the strength and properties of the spring.

[dklipfel]

Thanks Bruce, these are both reasonable suggestions given the problem.  What I am also struggling with is the unsprung weight.  The entire bar is unsprung weight in a VW suspension.  Any longer bar, sleeve or no sleeve is going to weigh more pounds.  Any other (normal?) vehicle would have this bar attached to the frame to carry it's weight, so additional weight from sleeving would be immaterial.

But I still agree with your solution, I'm leaning strongly toward two bars (I all ready have one bar) with a short sleeve, and maybe flats or splines.  Agree that welding is a bad solution.

Wonder if anyone has ever done a bar with heim joints and attached it to the shock mounts and the frame head?   Why would anyone do that - I dunno - crazy me?

[Bruce]

The entire bar is unsprung weight in a VW suspension.

This isn't entirely true.  If you look at particles of mass along the control arms, as you get closer to the pivots, their mass does not contribute to unsprung weight since they don't travel as much as at the wheel/brake.  Since the sway bar is so close to the pivot, it has almost no effect on unsprung weight.

There does exist a sway bar that attaches to the frame head like a normal car.

http://www.whiteline.com.au/default.asp?pa...e=/swaybars.htm

[dklipfel]

Follow-up to my older inquiry.  Sway-a-way will make anyone a custom sway bar.  Cost is not cheap, but perhaps not outrageous either.  For a one-off  five inch wider sway bar for a lowered pan chassis they charged $250.  That got me a .75 dia bar, gold (?) plated and shipped to my door.  Yes, I know it's nearly ten times the cost of a standard bar, but it is manufactured to "factory" specs, required no welding (which would potentially destroy the heat treat), and installs with standard available hardware.  It is an option.