Re: Sway Bar Link question

On Wed, 9 Apr 2008 21:51:39 -0500, "Chris D'Agnolo"
<cdagnolo@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>One other thing James, I don't recommend driving the car with one end
link 
>attached. You probably already thought of this but you definitely want to

>remove the other end link until you get the new and then re-install it at

>that time. In easy driving, you may not be able to tell any issue (don't 
>know, didn't try it) but I'd be concerned about how the car would react
if 
>you had to make an emergency maneuver or went into a hard / fast corner.

If it is a rear link then leaving the second connected will not cause
any real issue.  It just means that the car will be far more likely to
understeer UNLESS there is something pinching/limiting the
anti-swaybars travel. That is the only way in which it would have a
detrimental effect.  The rest of the suspension would be unaffected by
having the loose/broken link.  

Basically the anti-sway bar ties the two sides together in balance and
limits their independant travel and limit body-roll. They also balance
(through effective dynamic engineering) the front to rear handling of
the car dialing in (or out) understeer, etc.  Removing the rear on the
Miata dials in plenty of nice boring understeer.  

I did play with the adjustable Flyin Miata ones on my '93 including
leaving the rear disconnected (and then the front) at an autocross as
an experiment. Having only the rear on sure made it interesting for
those watching the slide fest, but it was the slowest way around the
track. ;)