Cant help but notice the high torsional stiffness and increased size of anti-roll bars on modern sport level cars, especialy the vag motors, leon fr, cupra, a3 s line and s3, golf gti etc. even most lower spec cars seem to have increased torsional stiffness compared with cars of old.
Basicaly im looking for a similar ride feel in my sierra, dont mind a bit of loss in ride quality for less roll in the corners.
Im wondering if its posible to double up the anti roll bars with another anti roll bar the same size or slightly smaller? using four clamps, two at the end and two near the bars mounting points. obviously a few inches would need to be cut off the bar ends for clearance. Has anyone ever done this before? your thoughts/experiences please.

 

It would work but you might find a lack of front end grip, epecially in the wet and exiting corners. I think newer cars have thicker bars because they are heavier. They feel stiffer because the shells have less flex in them.
I may be (quite possibly wrong) in my last 2 points and I am sure someone will correct me if I am.

PS
You will get a better feel in your sierra by replacing bushes and dampers for uprated stuff-but you already knew that!

 

i agree with the shell stiffness, totaly, and of course poly bushes, or even new ford bushes will be a great improvement over 20 year old ones. just when your under a new car (had an 07 leon fr) the sheer size of the bars is immense! just cant help thinking there is something in that? a sierra shell must be fairy stiff with the tunnel etc? i think it may call for a bit of an experiment.

 

the stiffer the chassis the softer the springs can be to compensate
the stiffer the arb, the softer the springs can be to do the damping stuff

i'm sure that a new car will offer much more body ridigity than a 20+ year old sierra will as everything now is done on computers to simulate whats going to happen and everything is now designed to bend one way in an accident to stop the passenger cell taking the brunt of the impact

plus cars are now heavier so this will also play a part in it as well as having bigger wheels to soften the ride quality and yet retain the handling, 40 profile tyres on a sierra give you a ridiqulous ride, but 40 profile tyres on my mondeo mean it still very pleasant to drive even over the biggest of speed hump and pot holes

 

yeah, but will a thicker anti roll bar (or double) stop it from rolling in the bends? i also wonder how it effects traction etc as mentioned earlier? whiteline do kits i know, but whats to stop you doubling up an OE bar? for a lot cheaper imo

 

if you can get mounts to fit then nothing stopping you from doing that

it just lets the suspension do it's own thing rather than stopping the roll

onthe rear though it tends to make it more twitchy on a rwd car

 

New car have much more rigid shells, the cossie shell was not motorsport to start with, just a shopping trolley car 20+ years ago, a lot of this has come about due to crash test ratings.
Newer cars also have vastly better MATCHED spring and damper rates compared with cossie days.
There is nothing to stop you doing what you want, but won't work well.
The fundamental problem with the sierra is it is a bit shit really, well totally shit as std for a performance car in the handling/road holding modes.
Most of this is due to the diabolical rear suspension, which is fine on a car driven by a old granny to pop out to bingo etc, but not spirited driving.
Ford for some reason must have used different design teams to do the front and rear suspension, because very clearly they never communicated with each other, just like the car doesn't, there is a monumental stiffness difference front to rear.
Just adding a poly diff mount £90 on ebay will foo, you into thinking you're in a different car, the difference really is that vast, and this removes a good 80% of the roll, as it stops the beam jumping around as though on e's at a disco!!
Add to this a 22mm rear roll bar, and you will be overjoyed with the difference, even if on std arm bushes.
I ran with NO rear arb for 3 months after fitting a poly diff mount, and noticed around 80% LESS roll than a std diff mount with arb(16mm), then add a 22mm arb to this mix and it is so much better again, mine is adjustable as is custom made out of EN16T correct sprung steel to completely clear the diff mount and tow bar bracket.
IN NO WAY DOES IT MAKE THE CAR TWITCHY, it gives vastly better feel that you know exactly what the rear is doing, I didn't listen to the experts who told me it wouldn't work, as I like to do what I want and find out for myself, that's why my one is adjustable, so it can be made softer or stiffer as needed, present setting is mid way/ish same as a escos arb.
The whole car is so much more composed, but bang per buck difference is without doubt from the poly diff mount, stops all the inherent rear wheel steering when hitting bumps mid corner, so do this first, don't touch the front at all, it seriously doesn't need it, the rear is the problem, now run 22mm arb and poly diff for over 2 years, a lot nearer to what it should have been to start with imo, the mere elimination of the rear steer upon bump/rebound puts it in another league.
For those wanting "purest" looks for bufties etc the std diff mount can be filled with poly so no fitting probs with arb, and the cost is MUCH cheaper at around £35, have had this done for a few others that asked and they've been very impressed.
tabetha

 

cool, ill look into a poly diff mount mate, and i may still muck about with the arb, as i, like youself, like to experiment! ill maybe post a thread when i do the mods

 

Trust me you'll be stunned by the difference with a poly diff mount on it's own, best sub £100 mod you can do I think.
tabetha

 

cool, didnt realise the subframe could move that much, but ill take your word mate. ill let ya know how i get on

 

The beam can move a good 2" up and down, as it moves due to the arms being semi trailing and not fully trailing this also results in a toe and camber change.
tabetha

 

i see, ill have a look under the car tonight and see if i get what your saying, i know the nissan boys solid mount their rear beams.

 

Not on a sierra but we've done the double up ARB thing on other cars, it works fine and does basically double the rate of the ARB.

 

good to know chip, i will do the diff mount first then have a try at doubling the bar if i still need more!

 

Just bear in mind that when you add roll resistance to one end of the car you tend to shift the grip characteristics in favour of the opposite end.

so more rear ARB will tend to make it less understeery and more oversteery and more front ARB will tend to make it more understeery and less oversteery

 

ill give it a bash and post the results sometime lads