b'TECH TIP PAGETech Tip 59: Lets discuss factors in picking a sway bar package. Lower travel can run shorterarms & therefore run a smaller or lighter bar. Like our AutoX-Ninja runs a 1.25 x .250 Wallx 32 sway bar with our AXT arms with have holes at 8.25 & 9.25. Works great for travel of3 of less. Only weighs xxxx# On higher travel setups, short arms would change angle too much. So we need longer arms,which soften the sway bar rate and therefore we need bigger (heavier) bars.At one point NASCAR Cup teams were running 1.75 OD x .500 Wall x 37.5 bars to get thesuper high rate they wanted with 14, 15 & 16 arms. They were traveling the front ends 4- 3/4 at the wheels. You have to run long arms, or the angle of the arms would be too severe &the holes in the arms would pull awaytoo farfrom the mounts on the lower controlarms. Those bars weighed almost 30#.We have used the NASCAR 1.75 OD bars, with 14, 15 & 16 arms, for a couple decades.While in Cup they ran rates of 3000# to 5000#, in Road Racing we run rates in the 2000# to3000# range.Still extremely high compared to old school racers that ran 1 to 1-1/4 front bars with rates in250-400# range. We now run 1.50 OD bars in our higher end Track-Warriors with 11.25,12 & 12.75 arms to achieve the same rates as 1.75 bars & 14-15-16 armsjust in alighter package.Roush led the way initially to lighter bars by going to 2 OD spline bars of 300M, then up to2.625 ODs to get the same rate they wanted, but about 40%lighter with thinner wallmaterial. We run these 2.0 OD thin wall (read expensive) bars in our Race-Warriors. But we run less expensive (heavier) bars of similar rates in our Track-Warriors. Why 300M?Why Chromoly? The calculator tells us we get a similar rate with much lessexpensive DOM tubing?One word. Response. Okay two words. Response time.Higher quality alloys respond quicker to inputlike braking, turning, acceleration, etc. Plainsteel, and even good grades of DOM, are lazy.The driver can feel (and the data logger canmeasure) they slower response of what I can soft metal sway barsand springs too.Better quality alloys respond quicker & make the car handle better. 1018-1026 DOM is betterthan seam welded 1010 plain steel tube. 4130 Chromoly is better than DOM. 4140 & 4340,respectively, are better than 4130 bars. Lastly, at this moment, 300M bars are better than all,just expensive. We run aluminum sway bar arms in the rear. Why not aluminum arms in front? The rate of rearsway bars range from 100# to 300#. The range of front sway bars range from 1500# to 3000#.Aluminum sway bar arms flex with higher ratesand then youre not getting the true rate.Plus, aluminum is slower responding than steel arms. If we want lighter sway bar arms in the front, the best strategy is hollow 4130 arms. We offerunwelded kits to do this. The 4130 pieces make the same shape & hole lengths. Either you canTIG weld them up & or we can have it done for you. Very expensive, but half the weight.530'