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25mm hollow, or 24mm Solid?

I

Ital

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Italian in CT
Hi All,
I drive a 2016 GTI with DCC and PP, and I think DCC stock the car has a 22mm solid sway bar, but could not find this information anywhere for sure.
I am thinking about getting the H&R 24mm Sway bar, which is solid, mainly because of the Teflon bushing so you install it and forget about it. I am hoping they will compliment my eibach pro springs well.

Now from the review I do like the 25mm hollow sway bars but not sure about the bushings they come with and many have complain about them squealing and that they needed to be re lubricated. I like maintenance free!

My question is, which bar is stiffer? does the bar being hollow make it less stiffer then it being solid? Does anyone have numbers?

I am hoping the 25mm Hollow=24mm Solid :)

TIA
 
flipflp

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
Ital said:
Hi All,
I drive a 2016 GTI with DCC and PP, and I think DCC stock the car has a 22mm solid sway bar, but could not find this information anywhere for sure.
I am thinking about getting the H&R 24mm Sway bar, which is solid, mainly because of the Teflon bushing so you install it and forget about it. I am hoping they will compliment my eibach pro springs well.

Now from the review I do like the 25mm hollow sway bars but not sure about the bushings they come with and many have complain about them squealing and that they needed to be re lubricated. I like maintenance free!

My question is, which bar is stiffer? does the bar being hollow make it less stiffer then it being solid? Does anyone have numbers?

I am hoping the 25mm Hollow=24mm Solid :)

TIA
Click to expand...

You'd need to know the hollow bar wall thickness to compare the effective rate of either bar, but in general if the solid and hollow bars have the same arm length, the solid bar has a higher rate if the diameters are equal. Solid bars are heavier, but the upside of that is hollow bars can fracture from stress (though its uncommon).

I've read that a general rule is the hollow bar needs to be ~10% larger in diameter to equal a solid bar. So a 26-27mm hollow would match a 24mm solid in effective rate, everything else being equal.
 
bdelaney4000

bdelaney4000

Ready to race!
Location
Chester, NH
It's a very subjective topic and there's really too many factors to ultimately determine which is stiffer (hollow vs solid). For instance one could make the general assumption that solid would be stiffer due to the lack of a void, however you then would have to look at each bars metallurgy as some alloys are more malleable than others. Additionally with hollow bars it's hard to determine the wall thickness which is also a contributing factor to torsional rigidity.

FWIW I've got a 034 solid rear sway and it's been running fine no squeaks/squeals.

Edit - and flip beat me to the point haha
 
Hammersticks

Hammersticks

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Bay Area, CA
Car(s)
'16 GTI, '18 e-Golf
OP- can’t comment on the stiffness question but I have a Neuspeed tubular 25mm and will likely switch to the 24mm H&R just because I have the H&R 26mm front and want a matching set. Will be able to tell you around thanksgiving. [emoji1]

I can say though that the neuspeed bushings have been noise free since I put them on a couple years ago (using the standard grease that comes with it). Also, the tuner who installed the front for me put a thin coat of grease on the H&R bushings. Forget what kind it was but he said they always use it, even on H&R.


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XM_Rocks

XM_Rocks

Autocross Newbie
Location
Austin, TX
Any bars with zerk bushings?

Had that on my MK5 and loved it. Just hit it with a grease gun twice a year.
 
I

Ital

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Italian in CT
Awesome feedback guys thanks. I plan to get mine around black Friday as well. I am leaning towards h&r 24mm right now... thanks
 
sandmangti

sandmangti

Autocross Newbie
Not the expert, but from what I have read the center part.of the solid bar does not offer much in terms of added gains. I think the main benefit of a solid bar is impact,strength if used in an off road vehicle like a Raptor. Impacts from rock Crawling, logs etc. The negative of a solid sway bar is weight added for no reason unless you want to add weight.

Another video.
I have Eibach front and rear. 100+ year old company. Over the years they have made many other companies bars. Takes money to have a plant. Not everyone has their own.

Just for interest.

https://youtu.be/Z2qK0cbdgNM


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sandmangti

sandmangti

Autocross Newbie
Ital said:
Good videos. Thanks for sharing. I would have totally went with eibach since I am getting eibach pro springs installed Monday, but I saw some bad reviews on them on the bmw website. The complaint was the bushing.
Click to expand...



Any details on the bushing issue?
I will add on mine, unlike in the video above, my Eibach bushings had Teflon cloth lining the inside of the bushing. This might help long term compared to a poly only bushing. 034 has a nice bushing and housing with grease fitting if I remember. But at the time they did not make a front bar.


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WhyNotZoidberg?

WhyNotZoidberg?

Ready to race!
Location
Chi-Town
Car(s)
2017 GTI, 2015 TDI
There's usually an increase rate every manufacturer will show with their swaybar in actual numbers. (usually in the form of % of rate increase over stock)

I mean that's the one and only important spec when anyone buys a swaybar, no? (unless you're buying it for the fancy colored paint that no one will ever see until you go back there to replace it with stock because it messed up the balance of your car.. :) )

Throwing around bar thicknesses when we have no idea what they're made of, when whoever made them already has that info and tested the rates seems pointless..


Edit: looking around I see some manufacturers DON'T post numbers for rates increase for their swaybars. I'd just stay away from those. Even if they're 2000-years old companies founded by Moses :)
 
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