Also posted in Drag racing section, but figured since it's suspension related I'd throw it up here to if anybody else was contemplating:


Roll bar arrived today and got it installed tonight. I was'nt real happy with the fitment, especially considering the price of this unit. The arms on the bar should've been outward another 1" or so, the brackets that weld to the housing were too short so no matter how I arranged it, the only way the brackets would seat on the axle tubes was to have the anti roll bar itself touching the 3rd member, heaven help me if I ever need to pull the 3rd member To have it fit the way I wanted it there was a good 1/2" gap between the axle tubes and sway bar brakets.

Other than that it's a nice peice, great welds, just wish fitment was better. I took it out on our testing road and flogged on it repeatedly trying to break the link bar tabs, would rather break now before I make the long drive tomorrow, but it all held up. Ride is definately alot stiffer than before, I set the preload per instructions and was rewarded with dead level leaves and the thunk I get when the a arms crash into the headers so it was really stretching itself out on the road-new stickes installed too

Looking forward to tomorrow night and seeing how it performs in real world application with both consistency and R/T's...just hope those stay close.

 

DUDE WTF went wrong with yours??? Ive got one on my car...There are pics of the install on the RIgid Race cars site....the swaybar sits below the Center PUMPKIN HOUSING itself... You could fit MAYBE a 1/8" thick washer between the bottom of the housing and the bar>>>everything else welded perfect... My bar is no where near the thirdmember.. Ive had the thirdmember out twice since the install No problems..

UGH!!.. just checked the website...they are redoing it and the link is dead>>>But is sounds to me like you mounted the brackets too far forward...

 

I did it per instructions and the shock bracket tabs on the anti roll bar mount were the main reason it was getting screwed up. As long as it works for a little while I want to tub the car and go for the pro-street look so it'll eventually be water under the bridge.

Believe me I tried mounting it every way possible and there just was no happy medium, it either had brakcets touching the axle tubes and bar riding on 3rd member, or brackets were too far away and I did'nt have the time to make bracket extensions since I had to be loaded and packed up this morning waiting for wife to get home before we left to race down south.

 

The instructions..LOL>>>thats where you went wrong...JK ...I know what your saying...I remember the cage guys messing with it for a while>>>IN fact now that you mention it I believe we had to modify the bracket slightly to get it to work....I want to say the DS when everything was rotated to clear>>had some interference...I believe they modded the bracket a little on that side..

Just whatever you do dont run on the street with it>>> Ive seen pics of what can happen if you do...UGH!!

 

what happens?

 

yea, what happens? Knowing IHI he will drive the thing on the street every chance he gets.

 

You will TEAR the tab right out of your frame rail (i know its not a real frame>>>unitbody rail whatever) What I did for street driving is I too 2 of those rubber straps>>>Used to mount mufflers with>>>Autozone 5 bucks...When street driving I remove the heims and add these in their place...It keeps the bar from hitting the ground But has enough give so that it does not stress the joints...

 

LOL, I kinda got that impression this weekend at the races. I usually drive my car into/around town to warm eveything upto temp. boy were those bumps brutal, definately ALOT stiffer than I'm used to.

On track performance was a great success. It left straight as a string, no body roll what so ever. 60's were'nt any better/worse, the same as a matter of fact, so in all reality was it worth the expense over what i had?? after 1 race event that was not my home track it's hard to say, I'll have better data in 2 weeks at our next points event.

I'm wondering if a guy just unhooked one side if it'd be fine since there's nothing working against it-bar is basically "free wheelin"?

I'm must buried with work currently so I'm not getting street time I'd like, but I could definately tell street miles may prove problematic as stiff as it is.

 

yes unhooking 1 side would work as well...thats what most people do...

I would not expect a huge gain from it...In realityall it does is keep the car from twisting up under load...

 

I've had mine installed for a while now. I installed mine on a Currie 9", and i didn't have any issues other than the fact that unibody frame rails were slightly wider than the bar. This made the push-pull rods have to bent outward in order to mount, so I called Wolfe racecraft.

They suggested you weld a spacer on the inside of the frame rail and then weld the mounting plates over that. I did that and the push-pull rods are straight vertical because it brough the mount points more inwards. The install has been solid now for about 6 months.

I actually ordered the double sway bar instead of the single because thunder racing was having a special and they were both the same price. Plus with the double it's a sturdier frame mount because it mounts with 3 tabs instead of 2, which is the main reason I got the double.

 

Also, my car is primarily a street car, and I drive it on the street all the time, and I've NEVER torn a tab. If you didn't weld plates to the unibody, you did it wrong, the unibody is way too thin. Think of it like you're installing a cage, you weld plates down to distribute the load over a wider area of thin metal, right? Same concept. I've laterally thrashed may car enough to know it's good to run on the street anytime.

 

Mine are welded to plates>>>Ive seen pics of the plates torn off.. It happens because the BODY can not roll in corners ..so it stresses the joint...It was designed as a track piece not a street one...But I can see with 3 tabs where that would be cleaner...

As far as the alignment goes Mine had buildouts that allowed them to be centered up because of the reasons you stated above...I dont know where I would have mounted 3 heis back there though..