by bartonmd » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:09 am
Yes, guys, disconnecting the anti-roll bar will cause excess weight to be applied to the outside tire in a corner... Yes, this will wear the outside of the outside tire, and then the slip angles get funny (car tires work on slip angles to turn) with the deformation and excess weight on the outside tire, and it wears the inside of the inside tire... i.e. the lack of anti-roll bar in the front causes there to be an effective alignment issue in corners. That is not even touching the different angles that the suspension is at. With the weight off the inside tire, the strut extends, and tips the top of the tire in toward the vehicle, giving you a wicked negative camber angle, and wearing the inside of the inside tire... This is because of our unequal length upper and lower control arms.
Yes, the front anti-roll bar is the one that does all the work... The older blazers, some cars, and most trucks don't have a rear anti-roll bar at all, because you get the most use out of the front one (on a front engine car, anyway)... Yes, it's more comfortable on bumps and going into your driveway, with the front wheels being to work seperate from one another; but taking real corners at real speed (like, say, living in the mountains), it will cause the vehicle to handle poorely, and is a lot harder on bearings and suspension parts due to the excess weight on the outside tire during corners.
The bottom line is; the steering and suspension geometry is designed to work with both anti-roll bars attached. If you drive easy on corners, or don't see a lot of corners, you probably won't notice the tire wear. However, if you live in the mountains and are turning more than you're going straight, you will definately see the extra wear from running without them.
Mike