How do strut bars and sway bars work? We will discuss the basic parts like strutbars and swaybars. ultra racing has some useful pictures which we will use for the more visual oriented people.
First we will discuss strutbars. If you are driving across uneven roads your wheel tubs will twist a bit. This is really noticable if one damper gets compressed more than the other. You will notice that your car will be a bit laggy and feel like a boat when cornering and driving on rough roads.
After installing strutbars the force gets evenly distributed to the other wheel tub. therefore the car will be more stable while driving on rough roads and whilst cornering.
You can also reinforce the front end of the car. It is one of the least strong parts and it will flex a lot when driving over bumps.
In zeer zeldzame gevallen kan dit zelfs schade veroorzaken aan de auto, maar naar mijn weten is dit zeer zeldzaam.
After installing an A-bar or fender bar the forces will be distributed more evenly. We have tested this modification on several cars and it often more noticable than regular strutbars.
If you are racing longer vehicles it might be possible that the car will flex between the wheels. This mostly occurs with 4 door saloons and shooting brakes. This will hardly happen with smaller vehicles like the s12, crx or ae86.
When in stalling lower bars on the car will increase the rigidity. It would be even better to have an X shaped bar underneath the car but this is usually not possible because of practical reasons.
Something that has been seen a lot as well are floor bars. These bars will absorb lateral forces and will mostly have use with bigger cars. Another reason for installing these is because your car will be safer during a crash.
We often get the question which brand of strutbraces is the best. The answer for this is simple; look at the design. It does not matter which brand you will buy and it might even be that a ebay special strutbar is better than a spoon strut bar. The first thing you have to pay attention to is wether the strut bar is 2 point or multipoint. A multipoint strutbar will always be better. Multipoint strutbars should always be triangulated for maximum result.Strutbars with separate brackets will be easy to install or remove but they will not to a good job like a 1 piece strutbar. Finally you should take a look at the material used. Steel for example is stronger than aluminum. Carbon fiber is also strong but 1 piece carbon strutbars are rare. It will always be a choice wether you want light weight/looks/or function.