Mustang Adjustable Rear Swaybar Tech
The MM Adjustable rear Swaybars provide the ability to easily alter the handling balance of the car. Having the ability to fine-tune the handling balance of a Mustang is critical to achieving the best possible handling. This ability is a key step in optimizing handling performance. Neutral balance may be found on a knife-edge between understeer and oversteer. Racers sometimes adjust their car's balance several times during a race weekend. Changing track conditions, deteriorating tire grip, and even different drivers will all require that changes be made to the rear roll stiffness, to balance the car.
Maximum Motorsports' revolutionary Adjustable Rear Swaybar for Mustangs is far superior to anything else. Neither the Mustang's stock rear swaybar or any other aftermarket swaybar allows the tuning capabilities provided by the MM Adjustable Rear Swaybar.
The MM rear swaybar is more effective than the stock swaybar because of the manner in which it attaches to the axle and chassis. The stock swaybar mounts to the lower control arms and has its effectiveness reduced by having to act through the control arm bushings. The MM Adjustable Rear Swaybar mounts to the axle and acts directly on the chassis through end-links made of spherical rod-ends. Adjustments in swaybar rate can be made by changing the position of the end links on the arm of the swaybar. Moving the end links towards the bar effectively shortens the swaybar arm, therefore increasing the swaybar rate. Because of the mounting method, and the shorter length of the bar, a smaller-diameter bar provides a wheel rate similar to a stock swaybar. Wheel rate refers to the rate of roll stiffness of the swaybar, as measured at the wheel.
A note of caution: One of the factors influencing total wheel rate is suspension bind. The total wheel rate is the sum of the swaybar wheel rate, the wheel rate of the springs, and the wheel rate of any suspension binding. Potential binding of other companies' aftermarket control arms is something to take into consideration when trying to tune your Mustang's handling characteristics. For more information on rear suspension geometry and suspension binding, see the section on Rear Lower Control Arms.
In general, a car's tendency towards understeer will be reduced by a stiffer rear swaybar. A tendency towards oversteer will be reduced with a softer rear swaybar. Whenever a car is in the final stages of fine-tuning the handling balance, experimentation and testing will be required to achieve the optimum handling balance. Each of the MM adjustable Rear Swaybars has four different adjustment positions. The difference from one position to the next is about 25 pounds/inch of wheel rate. This is just large enough of a change to be noticeable to a driver pushing the car near its limit. Each of the MM swaybars overlaps the next stiffer and softer swaybars. This provides a large and continuous range of adjustment.