Unfortunately, "this is a very complicated subject and involves the rest of the car and the other swaybar"

In a nutshell, Chip said that there is some compressive loading on the outside endlink, but no where near the tension load on the inside endlink. He went to say that if the loads were equal, the endlinks would buckle under the "column load" or, would need to be much much thicker.

He also stated the the inside spring help to create some of this tension force as the stored energy in the spring is released.

Hopefully this is helpful...I still need to get my arms around this some day.

 

I'll start off by saying that I'm not an engineer, and that people with serious suspension experience (like racers) are going to know more and/or have more real-world experience with this.

It seems to me, though, that there should be approximately the same tension and compression forces working at the ends of the anti-roll bar(s) in order to create the torsional forces that cause it to work. Theoretically, if the bar was so stiff that it would not twist at all, then any tensile force pulling one end down would create an equal compressive force at the other end, and vice-versa. Is this a correct assumption?

When you add springs and car-body rotation induced weight transfer into the mix, the amount of the tension and compression forces will surely be affected.

 

it's not complicated. the forces on the endlinks are equal and opposite. they MUST be equal, otherwise the universe as we know it will cease to exist. tires rolling uphill by themselves, cats and dogs coexisting peacefully... a MADhouse!

 

Well, I love the cat and dog thing...tires do roll up hill, don't they

Chip is a suspension engineer and designed these endlinks for racing. His company makes most of the OEM endlinks for domestic cars so I would assume he has a firm understanding for the forces at work. Again, and I'm not trying to be argumentative sonichris because this is an area I know little about; endlinks are very delicate in contrast to the forces at work during weight transfer...one of the chief reasons I thought these worked in tension.

Perhaps tension is greater than compression when factoring in the stored energy in the spring in the inside wheel...this is madness!

 

i'm a newbie and a lot of you seem to know a lot about suspension ... i just bought a convertible cooper s with the sport package. i have the m7 understrut brace up front and am considering buying the m7 strut tower brace.

my first question: what is the size of the front and rear sway bars with the factory sport package upgrade?

second question: because i (think) i've stiffened up the front end (understrut and strut tower brace). will i be better served using a 19 or 22mm rear sway bar to get improved handling?

third question: will the 22mm rear sway bar negatively affect the ride quality (vs the 19mm) by making me feel every bump in the road?

 

1- rear stock bar I think is 17mm, you do not need to make the front bar stiffer for street driving as that could increase understeer.
2- 19mm rear adjustable bar will likely be stiff enough for street use.
3- none of the rear upgrade bars will affect ride quality for street use.