In a message dated 8/26/99 11:33:42 AM Central Daylight Time, TeamZ3 writes:
<< GSMnow@aol.com writes:
> There is nothing in the rules to stop you from welding up a 1/4 inch plate
> steel bracket (separate one for each side) and through bolting them to the
> frame with backup plates so they don't tear through.
<< Want to bet. You'll be tossed so fast your head will spin for days. You
are adding a structural support; that's a no-no. >>
I am not talking about a huge brace across the car or even diagonally on one
side. Simply a sway bar mount with a flat surface fro the bar mount to bolt
to and a plate that bolts to the frame. The one I did on my Celica would be a
perfect example, but since I was running EMod at the time, I also welded it
on and that would be illegal. If it was just bolted there is no reason in the
rule it would not be.
Rule 13.7 ANTI ROLL (SWAY) BARS
A. Front anti-roll (sway) bars.
1. Substitution, addition or removal of any front anti-roll bars is
permitted.
2. Substitution, addition or removal of anti-roll bars may serve no
other
purpose than that of an anti-roll bar.
3. The use of any bushing material is permitted.
4. No modification to the body, frame or other components to
accommodate
anti-roll bar addition or substitution is allowed, except for the
drilling of
holes for mounting bolts.
Okay, now this does sound firm, but read it all. Many aftermarket anti-roll
bar kits use new brakets, and this specifically allows you to drill new
mounting holes to bolt the kit onto the car. RIGHT?
So what if the sway bar bracket that only holds one end of the bar has a
plate that is a few inches longer and has 4 bolts through the frame to hold
it on. This is not distorting or bending the rule at all. Even better the
bracket could have a bend up the side of the frame and a bolt going through
sideways also. This would put that bolt in shear load and be far stronger
without making the frame any stronger and serving NO OTHER PURPOSE than that
of holding the allowed substitution of the anti-roll bar. YES, there are many
designs that could be used to add frame strength and bend the rules, and that
should be declared illegal, but there is plent of room to make a mount plenty
strong to hold any size bar on a Miata without tearing off. You should be
able to lift the whole car from the sway bar mounts and not have them break.
Cars get jacked and towed by the sway bar all the time. I use mine as the
jack stand point.
The Rancho Suspension sway bar kit I helped put on my brothers 84 Regal came
with brackets that bolted on just like stock, but did an L shape up the side
of the frame and added 2 more bolts on each side. TOTALLY LEGAL.
If you want to call the stock Miata sway bar mount part of the frame, FINE.
Make the new mount bridge over it and bolt to the frame any way you want. The
ONLY limitations are it must bolt to the frame, and not serve any purpose
other than holding the bar. This would make it so it can't brace across the
frame or go from frame rail to cross member etc. But bolting to just one
frame rail in an area of even 8 inches long could not be construed as a frame
strengthening device. The rule was very well written to allow reasonable sway
bar kits to add roll stiffness. Even the addition of a second bar using
another set of mounts in a different place would fit the letter of the rule
perfectly even if you left the stock bar in place or not. There is nothing
saying the bar has to use the stock mounts at all. It is an easy judge to see
if the mounts are an attempt to stiffen the frame. This is no stretch of the
rules at all.
Gary M.
Flame away, it is allowed.
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