Thanks Jack. Info and input much appreciated.
Mike
Idaho
www.rtwrder.net
As Jack says, EVO simply shortened the sway bar arms to achieve a stiffer action. This moves the Heim Joint Link forward and out of the correct vertical orientation. This alone would not be so much of an issue except that there is very little clearance between the front of the Heim Joint Link and the A-Arm even with the longer OEM bar arm length.
I have been told that contact between the Heim Joint Link and the A-Arm can occur with the EVO bar. I have also been told that some joints have been damaged, though I have not heard of any Link failures. I have not verified these statements. I just put this out as information that you might want to look into if you have an EVO bar mounted.
It is easy to check and see if you are getting contact between your Heim Joint Links and the A-Arm. If you are running the EVO bar I would highly recommend doing this.
All of this is very obvious when you look at your Spyder.
Jack up your Spyder to where you can get under and take a good look at the bottom of the Heim Joint Links. Look closely at the area where the Link comes close to the A-Arm at the bottom. A flashlight may be helpful. If the paint on the A-Arm shows wear then you are getting contact. If this is the case then check your Heim Joint Links for cracks or other signs of damage.
Here is a picture, borrowed without permission...
ray: to show what I mean. Check for clearance and possible contact in the area of the
GREEN Arrow. As you can see, even with the original bar there isn't a lot of room between the Heim Joint Link and the A-Arm. It doesn't take much to reduce this small amount of clearance to less than zero as your suspension articulates in cornering, etc.
I understand why EVO used this approach as it is the easiest and least expensive way to get a stiffer Sway Bar. But anytime you change something you have to consider potential issues that the change may create.
The original Sway Bar arm length, as designed by BRP, is optimal. This is a big reason why I stayed with that dimension. It is more expensive to change bar diameter but the results are much more rewarding and create no new issues. My RT sway bar is also stiffer than the EVO bar so you should still see a marked improvement if you decide to switch.
So what makes one sway bar better than another? Are they shaped differently, different tensile in the metal or what?
