Date:         Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:13:09 -0400
Reply-To:     Ed McLean <email99@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ed McLean <email99@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Subject:      Re: rear anti-sway bar - Info and Pictures

Here's a little more information on Vanagon sway bars.

I put pictures of front and rear Addco sway bars to the Spare List Photo
section in the folder Addco Vanagon Sway Bars.

The Vanagon parts software indicates Vanagons came with either 19mm, 20mm,
or 21mm front sway bars.
It appears that Campers came with 21mm front bars.

I measured my old front sway bar (from my '86 full Westfalia) and it appears
to be a 21mm bar.

Some Type 2 vehicles (1988 German Ambulance, for instance) came with 19mm
rear sway bars in addition to front sway bars.  The actual bar is the same
part number (251 411 025c) as the 19mm front bar.  The end links are
different, however.

Addco makes 1" (25.4mm) front sway bars and 7/8" (22.2mm) rear sway bars for
Vanagons.
I know from experience that the rear bars for the early Vanagons (1980 to
1986) are different from the bars for the later Vanagons (1987 to 1992).  My
1986 Westfalia, delivered in Germany, required the 1987 and later bar.

I have also seen Addco bars relabeled as other brands.

Whiteline Automotive makes a 22mm rear bar for Vanagons.  I know nothing
about this product.  I would, however, suspect it is of similar strength to
the 7/8" rear Addco bar.  I have not found a Whiteline Automotive front sway
bar.

Comparison of sway bars:
It is difficult to compare the strength of sway bars if their geometry is
not exactly the same.
For comparing the strength of Vanagon front sway bars with the same
geometry, their strength is proportional to the cross sectional diameter of
the torsion bar, raised to the fourth power!
From this it follows a 1" front sway bar is 2.1 times as stiff as a 21mm
front sway bar.

My old front sway bar (21mm diameter) appears to be the same design geometry
as the Ambulance rear sway bar (19mm diameter) but the lever arms are
shorter than my Addco rear sway bar (22.2mm diameter). they also connect to
the Vanagon rear trailing arms in slightly different places.  You can't
compare the strength of the Ambulance rear bars directly to the Addco rear
bars but since a 22.2mm bar is 1.86 times as strong as a 19mm bar OF THE
SAME GEOMETRY I think we can assume the Addco bar is somewhat stiffer.

There are several web-based sway bar calculators available on the internet.

When I installed my rear Addco sway bar I thought the end of the bars was
quite a bit lower than necessary so I located the bracket for the link on
the rear trailing arm above the seam instead of below the seam.  I also used
a shorter link to raise the rear end of the sway bar.  This has worked very
well.  Installing Addco bars is not difficult but does require being careful
while drilling several holes.


From my own experience:
I purchased my first Addco sway bars in 1972 for a BMW 2002tii and I have
used them on several vehicles since.  I have found the bars themselves to be
of excellent quality.  The mounting hardware has always been serviceable and
has never given any trouble but it has always seemed to me to be a little
less refined than the actual bars.  Addco has always given me good customer
service.  When I was shipped the wrong bar by one of their distributors (an
1980 to 1986 rear Vanagon bar for my 1986 Vanagon that actually required a
1987 bar), they didn't have a 1987 bar in stock so they made one and shipped
it to me within less than a week.  I couldn't have asked for better response.

Performance of the Addco sway bars:
Putting the Addco front and rear bars on my 2.5L Subaru powered 1986
Westfalia with Michelin Hydroedge 216/65x16 (load range 98) tires was a very
welcome addition.  At the time I installed the Addco bars, I had Bilstein HD
shocks.  I always felt the Bilstein HD shocks controlled the springs very
well and gave a very comfortable, but not sporty, ride.  I really preferred
a stiffer ride with tighter control of suspension motion.  I recently
replaced the Bilsteins with Koni Red adjustable shocks and the handling is
now much firmer.  I am continued to be amazed by how well it drives.

That's about it.

Ed McLean
Raleigh, NC