[blahblahblee]

okay...so i pulled the wheels off the car today....and was wondering why the supra understeered and seemed like it was plowing like mad crazy when i first got it. Which, some of you may remember i posted up asking about how to make the car handle better because it was a dissappointment to me lol. Well, (and dont flame me since i cant think of the name of the part)....the little rod piece thing that connects to the sway to the rest of the suspension on the driver side of the car is totally snapped off and hanging in mid air lol! The end of the sway bar on the driver side is connected to NOTHING, where as on the passenger side (as in the pics you'll see below, its fully in tact and connected to the suspension. I suppose this might add to why the car doesn't handle good in my opinion right now lol So check out the pics, and let me know what you think. And also tell me what the part is called (lol), where to get two new ones (might as well replace both now), and $. thanks!

- Christian

 

[supratter]

I inquired about that same part from Curt ( Elmhurst Toyota ) and they are around 30 bucks each .. is this Boost Almighty's car ?

 

[blahblahblee]

what is the technical name for the part? thats not bad price per part, and yes its boost almighty's old car.

 

[nils]

sway bar end link i think.

 

[quick]

sway bar end link i think.

yup. I think Titan has adjustable end links as well, if you want.

 

[peanuthead]

good find....i hate it when i find something like that, thats broken

 

[turbomx5]

a broken front endlink would make the car oversteer more, not understeer.

it would make the car feel floaty with increased body roll, and maybe not as crisp, but not understeer.

 

[Drifter]

Ah no front sway would make weight transfer happen fast and easy causing the tires to be over powered by weight and loosing traction causing understeer.

That does suck but glad you found the problem.

 

[nautica2o3]

Good luck getting the sway bar links off, mine were a pain to take out because of rust.

 

[turbomx5]

Ah no front sway would make weight transfer happen fast and easy causing the tires to be over powered by weight and loosing traction causing understeer.

That does suck but glad you found the problem.

I don't follow you're logic. If this were the case, a stiffer front bar would make a car oversteer. And that's the inverse of what is commonly accepted as the "rule".

Only way I could see a softer front sway (ie - no sway) cause understeer is if the lack of the bar made the suspension on the inside corner bottom out shocking the tire loose. If the suspension has enough room to travel naturally, this shouldn't happen.

What am I missing?

 

[supradjza80]

ahh "no front sway bar" does not make weight transfer happen faster. It makes weight transfer slower because the vehicle rolls instead of transfering weight to the inside wheel - anti roll -

dont worry matt you had it right all along

 

[tyndago]

I don't follow you're logic. If this were the case, a stiffer front bar would make a car oversteer. And that's the inverse of what is commonly accepted as the "rule".What am I missing?

Missing your mind ? You have a Miata turbo... ok....

Broken /disconnected front bar should equal more oversteer.

Going though Carroll Smiths little book.

If you are getting understeer it might just be the way you are driving. It might be

Too much front tire pressure , too much toe in or too much toe out.

It does also mention that a lack of front roll stiffness can cause the car to roll over onto the outside front tire due to lack of front roll stiffness or diagonal load transfer under heavy trail braking. This is a possible for your setup. The lack of the front bar caused the car to load up the tire, and lose grip. I guess once you fix your broken part , you will see if it was rolling over, or if you have another problem. Broken parts can do some weird things.

 

[Macross]

yup. I think Titan has adjustable end links as well, if you want.

What handling characteristics would be changed if you adjusted the sway bar end links?

 

[Rich B]

Generally speaking, you can transfer grip from front to rear and viceversa, depending on what you do. Generally, stiffening a sway bar (connecting the end-link closer to the middle of the sway bar) will transfer grip to the other axle. In my experience (KYB/Eibachs, intermediate track experience, no talent, 245 front 275 rears), the titans full in at the front and full out at the rear results in a near perfectly balanced car i.e. will 4-wheel drift at the edge of lateral traction, and I am able to modulate the grip with the throttle.

 

[turbomx5]

Rich's discription only addresses what standard endlinks do.

Adjustable endlinks giveyou the ability to change the positioning and preload of the bar itself. if you have ever reconnected a sway bar with the stock endlinks, you probably remember how difficult it can sometimes be to get the 2nd endlink to attach. You have to force the bar up or down to get it on. This creates "preload". Meaning that depending on the way you turn the car, there may already be force being applied to the A arm pushing it up or down. It means the car will act different when turning left vs right.

Adjustable endlinks allow you to position the bar with a static "neutral" position. This will make the force the sway bar applies to the suspension be the same side to side.

 

[Hokiesup]

For what its worth, increasing stiffness at whichever end should cause that end to slide more. Physically, the increased stiffness means that it takes more of the lateral load couple, loading those tires more.

Hence, losing that stiffness up front should load up the back end more, increasing oversteer.