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mopar2ya
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
11:59:03
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 Subject: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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I live in a mountainous area of Northern California with alot of wined roads and switchbacks. I want to go faster on these roads! Power is not a problem, sticking to the road is. I don't like slowing down for these roads (speed limits are for candy-asses) but there are 1000ft cliffs on one side and granite outcropping on the other. Since I'm too young and handsome to die, (well young anyway)I'd like to know which is better for handling on wined roads? Torsion Bars? Sway Bars? Both-Neither? Anything else for sticking to wined roads?
Mopar2ya,
4.7 auto CC 3.92LSD, Mike Leach flash, flowmaster 2 chamber, K&N drop-in, Air intake and Thottle Body on the way. 15X8" Goodyears.
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xplikt
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
12:13:54
|  RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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Sway bars could help ya out quite a bit, but those speed limit signs are there for a reason ya know. Different tyres would help, but you might want to invest in a roll cage while you're at it..
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FredDQC
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
14:31:44
|  RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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Trucks were not designed to take wined roads at high speeds. Reason1 they are too light on the rear which where your main drive happens to be. If you don't believe me, check the nascar trucks and see how they compensate for the bed and that's because they are not doing wined roads, just an oval track.Reason2 they weight distribution is different from that of a regular mid-size sedan, because engineers asumed you were going to carry weight on the bed and not racing on wined roads.There is a way ho help it dought. By lowering the suspension and makin it sturdy or hard enough to were the truck will skid instead of rolling over. Wide low profile tires are a must!!. Again this is just going to help you not get hurt badly in the event of you getting off the road. You will spin but not roll over (hopefully).
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mopar2ya
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
16:03:06
|  RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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Thanks, I'd rather slow down than lower it. Who knows I might even put on my seat belts. That would be kinky.
Mopar2ya
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Demon-Xanth
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
16:13:15
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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If you're ever around the Placerville area I can recommend a few roads. But most of the roads I drive on are almost exclusively visibility limited. The car CAN go faster, but then I wouldn't be able to see the deer in time :)
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
18:50:23
|  RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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A sway bar would help keep your truck more level through turns. This will help your tires hold better, which would get your speed up through them. Lower profile, sticker,and or wider tires will also help "BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT". Adjustable or slighly stiffer shocks will help reduce the lateral weight transfer = even faster. There is also the option of lightening up your truck which will help in all kinds of ways ie. braking better, accelerate faster and get better gas mileage. Stiffer springs will help but ride quality will suffer. You can get a shop to give you a little more camber to keep the tire flatter through the turns, preventing the tire from rolling on to it side wall. The only other option left that would help greatly is dropping your truck, any amount would help. By the way torsion bars are a form of spring like leaf springs and coil springs.
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Rrrockhound
GenIII
8/09/2002
23:17:57
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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HUNGRY,
Thanks for the best written, most direct answer I've seen on making a truck handle. I think there's a little too much stress on straight line speed on this board and not enuff on handling. For every 100 posts on cold air intakes there's prolly 1 on sway bars.
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xplikt
Dodge Dakota
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8/09/2002
23:38:13
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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Rrrockhound, I know what you mean, but you got to remember we are trucks. Taking turns is a combination of knowing your vehicle, it's limits, and driving ability -- a lot on driving ability!
It's not just springs, tyres, and sway bars that make a vehicle handle, it's the driver. You should go the cheap(er) route first and consider practice. Go to a SOLO II course in your area; I tried it out a few weeks ago. Those runs you take give you a lot more confidence in your abilities and knowledge of the characteristics of your truck.
I'm not saying go steal road work cones, but it's a thought.
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
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8/10/2002
00:07:50
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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Thank for the good feed back rockhound, it was no problem.
A little extra info. I found in a mopar action magazine OCT97 that show the staff turning a 92' rc 5.2 2wd in to a "mustang killer". The stock truck averaged .69G then they dropped it with a BELLTECH KIT and got .77Gs. Second they added an ENERGY SUSPENSION KIT and got .81Gs. Finally they added slightly low profile and little wider(225/50-zr17 bfg comp T/As) and ended up with a .885G avg. They say in the article that they weren't done either! They say thier looking to get a smaller anti-roll bar and push the truck solidly in the nines! That was the only old issue I have so I don't know the final out come, but that is crazy enough for me.
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Rrrockhound
GenIII
8/10/2002
21:21:32
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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Well with 0.855+ g's I could keep those snotty-a$$ BMWs off my tail on the twisty roads near my house.
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fijigabe0
Dodge Dakota
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8/11/2002
00:04:18
|  RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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OH MY GOD!!! a decent thread on DD.com!!!
i've been wondering about all this stuff for a while now, and no one seemed to know what the heck i was talking about. do any of you guys have any suggestions for where to get some of these parts, or what parts to get?
i've got a 98 3.9, but i imagine that these parts work regardless of the engine.
Gabe
http://frontpage.tripod.com/fijigabe0
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xplikt
Dodge Dakota
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8/11/2002
02:02:09
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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fijigabe0, I'd like to think we have some decent posts once in a while.
If you use the search, you will find a while heap of information. Here are a few words to search for: suspension, autocross, roadmaster, hotchkis, swaybar, cornering, roadracer (a guy who made a bunch of really good posts).
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
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8/11/2002
11:30:44
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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I found that WWW.SPORTRUCK.COM has a lot of links to companys that make lowering and handling parts.
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Rrrockhound
GenIII
8/11/2002
11:36:14
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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xplikt, you mentioned a SOLO II course. What's involved in that? I actually have an SCCA membership. They wouldn't mind a 4x4 with 32 inch truck tires sliding around their course?
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xplikt
Dodge Dakota
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8/11/2002
12:44:42
| RE: Sway or Torsion Bar ?
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For SOLO II you just pretty much show up where they are doing it. They do a tech. inspection for stuff like battery is tied down, air pressure, no loose objects in cabin, etc. My local SOLO II doesn't allow 4x4s for some reason. I think it's because people have destroyed transfer cases. That's just what they said, but I know other places have allowed it. I used my stock tyres and rims (SLT+) last time and they worked great. You would have to go check and see with your local group if you could run.
pickuptruck.com -- I think it is -- has some good stuff on it too.
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