The Hotchkis Performance Swaybar kit 1 7/16" hollow front and 1" rear was what i was looking at, the question is when the sway bar is hollow does it effect the stiffness of the bar?
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95 SS clone- LT1, t-56, pro 5.0, short stick, sidewinder knob, AS&M headers, 3.73 , TA cover, Borla exhaust, MSD , BMR- chromoly suspension, Torq Thrust II
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Stiffness varies with the wall thickness, and diameter (and length). A hollow bar of a given material isn't as stiff as a solid bar, but there is a huge weight penalty for a solid bar. Usually a hollow bar will be bigger diameter (which is a major factor), and better material, and they have to design it with a diameter to wall thickness of less than 50:1 to keep from having a catastrophic failure from dents or dimples (like on a beer can).
I forget how to do the math, but you can take a 1-1/2" tube and a 1-3/8" tube of the same wall thickness & length and the 1-1/2" tube will have 1/2 the deflection of the smaller 1-3/8" tube! Thats a tube that's only 9% bigger so you can see that a little extra diameter buys you a lot of stiffness. -
Originally posted by Kevin - Blown 95 TA
heh, yeah....that's what SHE said!!
sorry, just couldn't resist....
Red '02 Z28 M6 - purchased 6/24/04 with 11,706 miles
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