Just wondering if anyone has or has been thinking about installing a sway bar on their Thundercat.....

Was looking for the pros and cons and some opinions

 

Swaybars are fine I suppose but they do have their drawbacks. One such drawback is wheel travel. Remember everything that you change is a compromise for something else.
There are many things that you can do to the suspension to improve the handling without a swaybar.
Start with upping the tire pressure in the front tires - say to about 8-9 lbs and keep the rear to around 5 lbs.
Next is to put the setting on the springs to their softest position in the front and start with the middle setting on the rear. Then make adjustments to both the air pressure and spring preloads for your handling likings.
Also - do a search in this forum for my article on 'how to make the AC handle better'...

 

Also check out the link below for some handling tips.

http://forums.atvconnection.co...ke%20the%20ac%20handle

 

Nice information but have you ever ridden a Thundercat with the stabilizer bar??

Thanks,

 

What difference would that make if I have ridden one with a stabilizer or not?

Two things, one - if your machine needs a stabilizer then the suspension is not correct. Two - with a stabilizer you loose wheel travel and articulation and if it is below the machine you also loose clearance.

In addition, a stabilizer is an un-dampered spring and relies on the shocks to stabilize and control its action and the shocks may or may not do a good job with that, plus stabilize and control the springs on the shocks, of which could lead to uncontrollable spring action which may require a heavier dampening shocks.

Lastly - by adding a stabilizer you could throw the whole geometry of the entire suspension way off, this could lead to having to address the front and rear components.

Remember shocks have two actions - rebound and compression, If not matched to the spring rate then you may need more rebound and less compression to both the front and rear shocks. And since both shocks on the rear will be reacting to a movement off one wheel how are you going to adjust for that. And any loading or unloading of the rear also affects the front, and what are you going to do about that?

If you want to put one on go ahead it is your money not mine.

Exactly what are you trying to accomplish by adding a stabilizer?

 

Buck-

It would make a difference as to whether you have practical experience with riding one equipped with a sway bar. I too am looking for someone who has ridden a IRS equipped with a sway bar

Your theory was clear, and you laid out some really good relevant information, and it doesn't seem to me by his question that he was invalidating anything you said, it's just that sometimes it's really a matter of getting an opinion from someone with some actual saddle time.

 

you cant compensate for body roll without a sway bar. you can stiffen the suspension or soften in different places but in the end all you do is ruin the ride. Soften the spring in the front too much and all your gonna do is make the front dive and inner rear tire come off the ground through a turn.

I dont know why youd be so concerned about articulation, IRS is hardly the best option for articulation anyways. The sway bar on my sportsman 800 has never held me from climbing over any rocks and it stays nice and flat going through the corners..

 

I do have saddle time (not on a thundercat), I had a swaybar on my machine for about 2 days before I chucked it. I think about it this way - if the engineers felt it would benefit the machine they would have put one on, secondly, if you know some basic principles that with some little time and effort you can adjust the the suspension for your desires.
Polaris put swaybars on because that is the only way that they could stabilize their machines and get adequate handling - AC doesn't need one.
One final note - these are utility machines not sport machines so no matter what you do you are not going to have a racer (so to speak). But with some adjustments to the suspension you can have a fun machine that will do everything more than adequate without compromising a great deal.

If he has questions he should try one and decide for himself if it is worth it and what he looses is a concern and the pluses are greater than the negatives and the losses and compromises are minimal.

 

Contrary to your statement - you certainly can compensate for body roll without a swaybar, tire pressure and suspension adjustments can put it all under control. You may want to read my post 'how to make the AC handle better', it has helped many AC owners and I have feedback from other machines that have benefited from the adjustments outlined in the article. If nothing else it would give some understanding of what to do when a certain handling situation arises without guessing or taking a hit or miss, trial and error approach. I addressed what to change when your machine is doing a tuck or pushing or loose, as well as multiple ill handling conditions.
We know that a straight rear axle on the rear will produce good handling and one of the best handling utilities is the Suzuki Eiger. Fact - I have passed and Eiger several times in turns running rapid speeds both on the inside and outside - this is with my IRS, non-swaybar AC.
If you follow the settings I outlined in my article you will feel like you have a whole different machine. Mine went from a scary, tippy not much fun to ride fast in the corners - to a really fun machine. Not only fun but a safer machine because it won't roll.
A better investment is to put wheel spacers to make your track wider. I put 1" spacers on all four wheels. This helped 500% more than when I put a swaybar on, which by the way I took off and chucked it after 2 days.
You may also want to check my profile and look at some of the pictures. I put the machine at greater than 45 degree angle, very heavily loaded on the topside and it did not offer to roll. All that was contributed to the wheel spacers.
Hope this all adds to food for thought.