Crossover ring follow up and basic sway bar info.
Answering a question elsewhere, I said that removing the sway bar would soften the suspension 'some' because the sway bar ties the left and right suspension together, both spring rate and shock valving, in effect making both stiffer/firmer. Since the Talon will never be accused of being plush or supple, a light went on, an AHA moment. So last night I removed both SB links and tied the bar up to the frame. Note that you can't just remove one link, the loose SB end will contact the upper trailing arm(?) during articulation.
I'm happy to report it did exactly what I'd hoped - my R rides much better and compared to stock, is 'nearing' plush. Perfect, no, of course not, but noticeably softer than with the sway bar connected.
Note that I don't drive like my hair's on fire, so the minimal lean resulting from disconnecting the SB won't affect my riding. If you DO ride like your hair's on fire (you KNOW who you are 😱), this probably isn't something you should consider. This experiment is FREE and I can always go back.
Also note that I have my rear crossover rings raised 20 turns
(15 on the fronts) and on my Talon is as far as I can go. This means I use as much travel as possible while on the softer tender springs before crossing over to the stiffer mains. This may also mean that I'll get a worse rear bucking on harder hits, not sure.
ETA: I've raised the fronts to 17 turns, almost topped out against the preload ring and at <500 miles, the zip ties are still intact.
You can see that there's still a bit of clearance left, before coil bind, on the left rear but not much. If that zip tie gets cut from pinching, 20 turns will prove to be too many. Both sides are pretty much the same. (ETA: several hundred miles later and all 4 zip ties are still intact with the front cross over rings raised 15 turns and the rears raised 20 turns)
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How to compress to check? Park across a rut, opposite corners. For the curious, I completely forgot to look at the fronts. 🤫
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Sway bar tied up to frame on both sides with bungee cords. You can see the upper trailing arm (with brake line) that the sway bar end will hit if it isn't tied up.
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