sway bar help

[red]

does anyone know the Rockwell # for the oem sway bar on the 2008 se5 and this is not a trick question ,but what would a 50% stiffer bar be aas far as material used and Rockwell #.

 

[MMcc]

Rockwell #

I don't believe the rockwell number would be a valid measurement as it simply measures surface hardness and since the sway bar is in torsion, hardness will have little to do with it. I am afraid that I cannot remember the correct terminology but you would be looking for the measurement of the twisting or rotational stiffness, something like spring rate.

 

[kman]

[TD="width: 527, colspan: 3"][h=2]Torsion Bars[/h] A torsion bar is typically round in shape. However torsion bars can come in square, rectangular and oval cross-sections. A torsion bar’s “strength” is relative to its cross-section size, material tensile, and torsion bar length. In short, to make a torsion bar weaker, make the cross-section smaller, make it longer, or use material with a weaker tensile strength. The opposite is also true. A torsion bar is made stronger by using a larger cross-section, make it shorter, or use a material with a stronger tensile strength. A torsion bar that is coiled is a spring. The strength of a spring is determined by the wire cross-section, the length of the wire (which in a spring is the number of coils and the outside diameter) and the wire’s tensile strength. So a spring is simply a series of many small torsion bars.
The rate of a torsion bar is the amount of force produced by the torsion bar when the torsion bar is moved one inch from its free position. Example; A torsion bar made of .125” music wire that is 2” long, produces approximately 2.5 pounds of force at 1 inch of deflection has a rate of 2.5 pounds (2.5 pounds of force / 1 inch of deflection = 2.5 pounds per inch).


I copied above from the net,If I remember correctly the evo swaybar is a tad thicker and has another bend in it as compared to the stock bar hence it's added stiffness.That being said you can only go so far before another component becomes the weak link.I don't know the hardness of the swaybar but tensile strength does increase with hardness but if you go too high the metal becomes brittle..

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