Darn good report Ed. very thorough.

one would not think that a bar say  8 % thicker would be 4 times as stiff
though.
Not that I doubt you there.
Now I want some.
and first I've ever heard that various 2WD vanagons had different front
anti-sway bars.
I'm sure my 85 Adventurewagon could benefit from a proper set, front and
rear.

on the non-sporting feel of HD Bilsteins....
I agree with you there..........found them to 'work' but not be crisp,
sharp, or magic in any way on a vanagon with 14 inch tires.
When I went to 15 inch steel SA wheels and Micheline Agilles 205/65 R 15 C
tires , I felt the Bilsteins were closer to that 'magic crisp but still
subtle' feeling that HD Bilsteins give me on my turbo volvo sedan, and an
older mecedes car.  So a 'little better' magic-wise.
I've been wanting to try some Koni's too.
Is that the one Van Cafe sells ?
thanks
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed McLean" <email99@BELLSOUTH.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 4:13 PM
Subject: Re: rear anti-sway bar - Info and Pictures

> Here's a little more information on Vanagon sway bars.
>
> I put pictures of front and rear Addco sway bars to the Spare List Photo
> section in the folder Addco Vanagon Sway Bars.
>
> The Vanagon parts software indicates Vanagons came with either 19mm, 20mm,
> or 21mm front sway bars.
> It appears that Campers came with 21mm front bars.
>
> I measured my old front sway bar (from my '86 full Westfalia) and it
> appears
> to be a 21mm bar.
>
> Some Type 2 vehicles (1988 German Ambulance, for instance) came with 19mm
> rear sway bars in addition to front sway bars.  The actual bar is the same
> part number (251 411 025c) as the 19mm front bar.  The end links are
> different, however.
>
> Addco makes 1" (25.4mm) front sway bars and 7/8" (22.2mm) rear sway bars
> for
> Vanagons.
> I know from experience that the rear bars for the early Vanagons (1980 to
> 1986) are different from the bars for the later Vanagons (1987 to 1992).
> My
> 1986 Westfalia, delivered in Germany, required the 1987 and later bar.
>
> I have also seen Addco bars relabeled as other brands.
>
> Whiteline Automotive makes a 22mm rear bar for Vanagons.  I know nothing
> about this product.  I would, however, suspect it is of similar strength
> to
> the 7/8" rear Addco bar.  I have not found a Whiteline Automotive front
> sway
> bar.
>
> Comparison of sway bars:
> It is difficult to compare the strength of sway bars if their geometry is
> not exactly the same.
> For comparing the strength of Vanagon front sway bars with the same
> geometry, their strength is proportional to the cross sectional diameter
> of
> the torsion bar, raised to the fourth power!
> From this it follows a 1" front sway bar is 2.1 times as stiff as a 21mm
> front sway bar.
>
> My old front sway bar (21mm diameter) appears to be the same design
> geometry
> as the Ambulance rear sway bar (19mm diameter) but the lever arms are
> shorter than my Addco rear sway bar (22.2mm diameter). they also connect
> to
> the Vanagon rear trailing arms in slightly different places.  You can't
> compare the strength of the Ambulance rear bars directly to the Addco rear
> bars but since a 22.2mm bar is 1.86 times as strong as a 19mm bar OF THE
> SAME GEOMETRY I think we can assume the Addco bar is somewhat stiffer.
>
> There are several web-based sway bar calculators available on the
> internet.
>
> When I installed my rear Addco sway bar I thought the end of the bars was
> quite a bit lower than necessary so I located the bracket for the link on
> the rear trailing arm above the seam instead of below the seam.  I also
> used
> a shorter link to raise the rear end of the sway bar.  This has worked
> very
> well.  Installing Addco bars is not difficult but does require being
> careful
> while drilling several holes.
>
>
> From my own experience:
> I purchased my first Addco sway bars in 1972 for a BMW 2002tii and I have
> used them on several vehicles since.  I have found the bars themselves to
> be
> of excellent quality.  The mounting hardware has always been serviceable
> and
> has never given any trouble but it has always seemed to me to be a little
> less refined than the actual bars.  Addco has always given me good
> customer
> service.  When I was shipped the wrong bar by one of their distributors
> (an
> 1980 to 1986 rear Vanagon bar for my 1986 Vanagon that actually required a
> 1987 bar), they didn't have a 1987 bar in stock so they made one and
> shipped
> it to me within less than a week.  I couldn't have asked for better
> response.
>
> Performance of the Addco sway bars:
> Putting the Addco front and rear bars on my 2.5L Subaru powered 1986
> Westfalia with Michelin Hydroedge 216/65x16 (load range 98) tires was a
> very
> welcome addition.  At the time I installed the Addco bars, I had Bilstein
> HD
> shocks.  I always felt the Bilstein HD shocks controlled the springs very
> well and gave a very comfortable, but not sporty, ride.  I really
> preferred
> a stiffer ride with tighter control of suspension motion.  I recently
> replaced the Bilsteins with Koni Red adjustable shocks and the handling is
> now much firmer.  I am continued to be amazed by how well it drives.
>
> That's about it.
>
> Ed McLean
> Raleigh, NC