How Anti-Roll Bars Work - How To Improve Car Handling

How do anti-roll bars (sway bars) work? This video looks at how anti-roll bars can improve the handling of your car, and prevent a vehicle from excessive roll.

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[atlucas]

I love how Jason went from awkward nerdy teenager to nerdy middle-aged man in the short span of 7 years.

[johnathanramsden]

Anti-roll bars reduce body roll under applied lateral acceleration (i.e. in cornering), which DOES reduce the static WEIGHT transfer (i.e. weight transfer due to lateral movement of the body CoG). However, an anti-roll bar will increase roll stiffness on the axle that it is mounted to which will increase LOAD transfer (i.e. the reaction load, at the outside tyre contact patch, of the vehicle lateral accelertion). Due to tyre load sensitivity this reduces overall grip of the axle. Thus in order to dial out (for example) mid-corner understeer on a vehicle you would tend to soften the front anti-roll bar to reduce lateral load transfer across that axle, decrease the delta in tyre loading and thereby increase overall grip across the axle.

[paulcamalin]

The last 30 seconds was gold. That 30 seconds made everything clear to me. Thanks!

[sethr]

watching in 2019, wondering why there's a child on my screen? Keep it up

[BipolarBearFun]

I was familiar with your other videos and I searched for this question. It was cool see you from 2012. Keep up the good work!

[EngineeringExplained]

That's one of the great things about Forza! And another benefit is understanding the effects of varying these things without worrying about damaging your own car. Find out how it acts based on Forza's physics engine (which is pretty darn accurate) and build a better understanding for when one day you can apply it to the real world.

[manfromnantucket]

Debating if I should buy a rear sway for my '07 Eclipse GT. Completely stock suspension, understeers like a giraffe on rollerskates.

[EngineeringExplained]

Well, the goal is to keep the car level, so yes. But if your roll bars are too stiff, you could pick up an inside tire off the ground when cornering.

[EngineeringExplained]

The green control arm is mounted to the frame and can move the tire vertically. I explain the torque reaction in the blue bar using my hand and arm, in the video. As one side is lifted, it causes the blue bar to twist, making the other side lift as well.

[vzr]

Dear Jason, thank You very much for explaining anti-roll (balancing) bar! I was watching every your video from 2017 onward, but this one dates back to 2012. You look like a kid here, what a discovery :D

[NuclearIsShit]

I have learned so much from watching your videos man! I now understand so much more about my car and truck and how they work. I have been doing my own repairs to my 77 gmc sierra grande, and now I know what most of the parts do. Thanks a lot!

[EngineeringExplained]

Thank you for pointing this out, the wiki statement is logical. However, as a body rolls, the CG of the car also moves with it, so I believe a rolling body (if extreme enough) could slightly alter the CG, therefore altering the weight distribution. If the roll is minimal, then certainly your statement would hold nearly true. Interesting to think about, thank you for challenging my video.

[arundhatisayshi]

Jason..this man right here is a living legend. Theres no nonsense. just pure knowledge here

[EngineeringExplained]

The effects of the ARB would remain the same. The difference is since the Porsche is one of few vehicles with a rear mounted engine (behind the drive axle) it has a tendency to oversteer since there is weight at the rear. Porsches in general seem to be pretty well balanced and not in need of adjustments unless you simply want to eliminate understeer completely, but that makes the car more difficult to drive.

[EngineeringExplained]

What a perfectly timed question, I just posted a video on strut bars an hour ago! :) Yes, they are different.

[toufikzisan]

You make it so simple with just hand drawings. Kudos.

[davidforbes]

THANKS, BEST EXPLAINED ON YOUTUBE SO FAR!

[alangbaker]

OK. Right off:

Anti-roll bars DO NOT reduce weight transfer by more than a tiny, tiny smidgeon. Weight or load transfer is an unavoidable consequence of the vehicle's centre of mass being above ground level, where the lateral forces are applied. All anti-roll bars do is to get you to the amount of roll that will equally oppose the torque created by those lateral forces at a smaller total roll

[dungareesareforfools]

Good explanation, but I think your diagram would have made more sense if you'd shown that the anti-roll bar is clamped along its main length in order to only allow it to rotate.

[theblankframeofmind]

even after 10 years, very informative video for sway bars. 10/10