Pardon my intrusion, can someone please be so kind as to tell me how an anti sway bar works on the rear xA suspension?

edit: I apologise, I am a newb, this belongs in corner cavers.

 

anyone know???

 

http://www.advanceautoparts.com/engl...0021001hs.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question432.htm
http://www.stealthtdi.com/SwayBars.html

Ot try http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...sway+bars+work

 

moved...

 

ashe, thanks for the links.... however, the answers they gave involved control arms and bushings and endlinks.... 3 things the Scion xA doesnt have. I know how they work on independent rear suspensions, but how about the Scion? And I also saw the stock "anti-sway bar". I am wondering if that has anything to do with keeping the tires on the 2 sides planted b/c it's inside of the beam.

 

all it does/how it works is by adding another bar which stiffens the rear torsion beam/axle

 

If you look inside the rear swing arm you will see a round tube that is the factory welded in sway bar (swing arm stiffener). The swing arm itself acts as a sway bar (anti roll bar). The sway bars on the market act as an add on to stiffen that rear swing arm. Hope this helps.

 

yes, thank you. I feel this is the answer I'm looking for.... however, do these aftermarket "sway bars" really help? The beam axle is so large and stiff as is. As you said, the beam itself acts as a sway bar. If I were to buy an aftermarket bar, could it be classified as a chassis brace rather than an actual sway bar? Is the beam part of the chassis?

 

they help alot , the hotchkis bar is a very neutral and compliant setup , the progress bar is NICE. and it's real name is a axle stiffenner ( swing bar , torsion beam )

 

Toyota states that the rear trailing arms are connected via an eta-beam or twist beam. This beam is meant to twist. I assume that this provides a degree of "independence" in the simple rear suspension. The rear sway bar or beam stiffener reduces the flex in this twist beam which reduces roll (differential suspension movement) and stiffens the rear suspension further. Toyota probably had to stiffen the stock Echo setup when they went with stiffer front springs for the XA and XB to reduce the understeer. The easiest way to do this was to add a sway bar and stiffer springs in the rear, that way no changes were required to the Echo's rear twist beam. Adding another sway bar such as a Hotchkis or Progress just continues what Toyota started with the rear sway bar.

Toyota could have beefed up the rear twist beam and done away with the sway bar all together. It was probably cheaper just to tack on a bar than to change the Echo suspension design.

The negative of adding the rear sway is that the ride is stiffer and you loose some of the "semi-independence" the suspension had.

 

do all cars come with sway bars...i feel like my dads minivan is horrid at turns...

 

most all have front , and the majority have rear. but most cars stock are not tuned for neutral or oversteer.

 

"curiousfish." haha. i like that. it's almost oxymoronic. fish are too damn stupid to be curious.

 

again, thanks for all the replies. So, in this case, someone can go out and sort of make their own bar and weld it to the beam. Ok, this be a little unfair or maybe impossible to compare, but would the affect of a 22mm on a car with bushings, endlinks, and control arms be greater than on a beam type suspension? Or vice versa?