Driving Impressions: Lower Stress Bar

[insite]

Originally Posted by Kirk

A closer look at the heim joints.

kirk -

awhile back, i designed and built some sway bar links. i tested the rod ends in your pictures. they are rated at 4,000lb radial and 1,500lb axial. wanna know what they tested at? 800lb radial and 240 lb axial. i'd remove them from your car; they are garbage.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by insite

kirk -

awhile back, i designed and built some sway bar links. i tested the rod ends in your pictures. they are rated at 4,000lb radial and 1,500lb axial. wanna know what they tested at? 800lb radial and 240 lb axial. i'd remove them from your car; they are garbage.

Yeah I got some conical spacers to try these heim joints out as sway bar drop links. One of the seals on a rear drop link on my car is bad and I want to replace it with something using heim joints. After looking at the parts I would agree that they're probably not up to the task as a sway bar link. I think you need something fairly robust for that application, probably made of steel. At least I know what size to get now for the spacers and heim joints. I'll have to see what parts I can find.

For the stress bars though they won't be exposed to as much of a dynamic load as the sway bar drop links. Their role is to support and reinforce the thin sheet metal stress plate that Porsche puts in there. So I think that in this role they will be more than sufficient, especially in use on the smaller, secondary bars. Either way, they can't hurt and can only really help in this application!

I'll know more in a couple weeks. I weighed them this morning - 5 oz for the side bars and 6.8 oz for the main bar - super light weight! I'll get them installed soon and then put the car through its paces and see how they hold up.

Kirk

[insite]

axial load is what i'd worry about. if the car twists, the inner race will pop out of the heim joint fairly easily.

PM me if you need race duty drop links; i still have a set on hand.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by insite

axial load is what i'd worry about. if the car twists, the inner race will pop out of the heim joint fairly easily.

PM me if you need race duty drop links; i still have a set on hand.

Sent ya a PM.

Yeah, I can see your concern. I'll give these heim joints a try and see how they hold up. I'm getting new wheels next Monday with 20 mm wider rubber and super sticky Falken 615 tires. Once I get those on the car I'm SURE the new stress bars are going to get a real workout. I know I'm going to be having some fun and pushing the car to the limit.

I think the aluminum heim joints like this are perfect though for the side bars. I may just need to go to a steel heim joint and hollow steel tube for the main bar.

[Kirk]

Here are some quick photos of my new lower stress bar setup using heim joints. I've installed the main bar and two secondary bars. The install was MUCH easier with the adjustable heim joints compared to when I did my home-made stuff. The side bars literally install in just a few minutes. The main bar was a bit tougher, but still relatively easy to do. All you need to do is adjust the length with the heim joints to get a perfect fit and then bolt them in place and tighten down the locking nuts. So far they are holding up great and performing very well.

BTW, if anyone is interested I've got a spare main bar with heim joints that's brand new. Plus I've got the home-made side bars that you can see photos of in my earlier posts that are used. I'm going to hold onto my old main bar though because I think I can use the 1" aluminum material. If anyone wants these bars just drop me a PM. I'll take $65 for the main bar and $49 for the side bars (two of them), plus $10 shipping. I'd prefer to sell together as a set.

Kirk

[j.fro]

just letting you know I've sent a PM

[Bobiam]

Well, I made and insrtalled my LowerStress Bar today. Used alum 7/8" hex stock and correct sized metric automotive grade bolts/nuts. Hex made it easy with built in flats. Had to unbolt one sway bar mount to slide the bar in (probably since the hex stock is 1" dia. point to point).

24" bar, 22 1/4" between the holes. 3/8" drill will work with a minor tuning with a round file (if the better fitting metric bolts are used).

At 38 degrees here in CT I can't take it very hard on corners to test this thing without the summer tires sliding. Do, I'll go on faith that the bar helps as allof you say it does. Total price with materials from on-line vendors around $33. Rather pay shipping than waste gasoline (and my time while searching)!

Bob