Anti roll bar

[cherno]

hello,

I've built my roadster using the haynes book and now the car is running on track : http://7kproject.net/

I would like to try to adapt an front anti roll bar on my car so I like like to know if this operation is possible and if we can use parts from other cars or if the only solution a westfield or caterham bar ?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[flyerncle]

Anti roll bar from the car donor will be too heavy and stiff for a 500kg or so car like the roadster.
It has been discussed before and thought not needed on such a light stiff car.

[cherno]

Westfield car have one on the front wheel and it also a very light car. Now it's maybe depend of the power of the engine and also if we want to use it on road or on track.

[flyerncle]

Experiment,it's the only way to find out. Bend some thick wall small diameter tube make some mounting blocks and links and away you go.
If you dont try you will never know,Good luck.

[HandyAndy]

Having been out for a "little spin" ;) in Spuds Roadster today,( decided we needed half hour of fun after a long week/weeks :rolleyes: ) & i personally don,t think an anti roll bar is needed, maybe other manufactured cars need them to hide a design set up problem or overkill as a sales ploy, whereas the Roadster is a well balanced/handling car without the need.

just my opinion of course :)

cheers
andy

[sean]

hey another new person, i thought anti-roll bars on normal cars were mainly to stop body roll and although ive never been in a roadster there isnt much of a body to roll as its low ? just my thinking.

cheers
sean

[flyerncle]

Glued to the tarmac Sean !

[HandyAndy]

Cherno...
i,ve just been reading your blog pages ( well looking at the photos/video,s as can,t read French :o ), you have a very nice car:cool:

contact forum member "Slimtater" to get your forum badge for a completed car.

well done mate:)

cheers
andy

[snapper]

An anti roll bar helps the handling by allowing softer damper and spring rates while indeed reducing roll. Roll bars can be adjustable by varying where you attach the uplinks relative to the wishbones and the forward or rear link bars i.e the bits of the roll bar that point back or forward relative to the part that runs across the car.
On my (not a haynes) car the sierra anti roll bar forms part of the lower wishbone with the standard track control arm, in this configuration it is indeed to stiff, even the thinnest of fords anti roll bars is to thick.
So i milled the bar across half of its width to half thickness and it works well.
Using standard steel rod will probably not work as it is not sprung and would just twist and settle over time.

[NEroadster]

By adding an anti roll bar you are increasing the overall spring stiffness at that end of the car whilst this does allow a reduction in coil spring to acheive the same overall spring stiffness value and therefore increase comfort levels. By introducing a roll bar front or rear you can effect the amount of understeer or oversteer the car suffers from. On a well balanced car this is can be seen as uneccessary. let us know what happens

[flyerncle]

Have a look at page 159 in the book and it gives pro's and con's to using anti roll bars and the effect on steering and under/oversteer along with damper,tyre settings etc.
I must agree with HandyAndy after being in and now having driven Spud's Roadster it handles like a kart (all credit to the builder and attention to detail and setup,absolutely magic! If you want Roadster parts these are the boys.)

Experimentation is the only way to find out unless someone has the software to do it and it will be interesting to see the outcome.

And it is the nut behind the wheel, not the nut holding it on that is the cause of all the problems :D

Good luck.