I drive over some very bumpy streets daily. My 19mm H&R is currently on the stiffer position (only two positions on this bar). If I change it to the softer setting, it should let the rear wheels move more independently but would it make any noticable improvement in the ride?

Is changing the setting simply a matter of lifting the rear, removing the wheels and moving the position of the bolts? A shop installed the bar so I'm not familiar with all the mechanicals involved. Is anything under tension to deal with? Heck, my wheel spokes are very open (SSR Competition) and I could get to the bolt even without removing the wheel.

 

Supposedly a softer bar will soften the ride a bit. It's only two bolts - just need a socket (14mm??) and an allen wrench. Just loosen, move to the front hole, tighten and go. Nothing complicated. Give it a shot and give us your impressions!

 

Where is softer? Towards the end of the car (longer arm) or the front (shorter arm)?

 

What he said...Softer is towards the end of bar. You need to jack up both sides or leave both sides down. If you jack one side up and leave the other side down, it loads the bar and you will not be able to reset it. Hope that helps!

 

Rear hole setting is softer, but I doubt there'd be much noticeable difference in ride from either position on a 19mm.

There's actually three possible settings on a two-hole bar: stiffer, softer, and an in-between one by putting one side on stiff and the other on soft (both wheels will see the same rate).

 

The easiest way to change the sway bar stiffness is by getting both rear wheels off the ground at the same time. Once you get there, changing the setting is easy.

There are other options, but they are more difficult. Like leaving the wheels on the ground and trying to work through the wheel, or jacking up one side at a time and using a second jack to compress the suspension on the side that's in the air to take the twisting load off the swaybar.

By far, the simplest way is to put the back end of the car on jackstands, take both rear wheels off, and make the adjustment.

 

If you hit a bump on one side but not the other, the will be no real change in ride by changing the rear bar. If you hit a bump, like an expansion joint that goes all the way across the road, in which both wheels hit simultaneously, then a softer bar will make a slight difference. The biggest change to ride is spring rate followed closely by damping rebound.

Hope that helps!
Randy

 

That sounds backwards to me. The sway bar has the most effect when
only one side hits a bump (or, of course, when cornering), and no effect
when both sides hit the same size bump.

 

I recently swapped an Alta 22mm on the middle setting for a H&R 19mm on the soft setting... All I can say is it made a huge difference ride quality (much more forgiving over uneven pavement), but you do trade that for more body roll when cornering... as you'd expect. It's ultimately personal preference which end of the scale you want to move towards...

 

When transfering torsional load (which is what effects the handling change), you are correct. For ride quality, the bar can be felt without cornering only if both wheels are being displaced.

Hope that helps!
Randy

 

Which on most roads each side is doin it's own thang....

 

Exactly, which is why I like using the rear bar instead of rear spring rate (which causes increase in ride harshness over individual wheel bumps too) to correct understeer.

Randy