Roll bars front and rear, dates and models

[jiversteve]

I am working on a suspension project.
Can anyone tell me all about roll bars particularly which cars were they fitted to and when?

If your car has a rear anti roll bar, will it always be fitted with a front anti roll bar?

One for Bryan perhaps.

[norway_triumph]

on the export cars , from mk2 and front and rear both at the same time

[MarinaCoupe]

Steve,

To my knowledge anti-roll bars were fitted with the introduction of the Mk2 Marina. To avoid unsettling the handling they seemed only to have been fitted in pairs, fitted to saloons and coupes. Estates and Commercials were not fitted with ARBs as standard.

Much of the preparatory work was done by BL much earlier, my '74 Coupe has the front chassis mounts but not the rears, Josh's later Mk1 has the same and the rear axle brackets.

The missing element was the rear chassis mounts a tube each side through the chassis rail to take the ARB bushes.

It seems likely that this was going on at the same as the MGB rubber bumper model changes as the B shares the rear ARB chassis bushes with the Marina - 21H 6655.

Fitting the front ARB on it's own will stiffen the front in a corner which causes more Understeer, something a MK1 Marina doesn't need! The rear ARB increases oversteer, which improved turn in, but on it's own would leave the front end floating about. So neither should be fitted on their own.

Chris





Chris
www.marinacoupe.co.uk

[MarinaCoupe]

Steve,

To my knowledge anti-roll bars were fitted with the introduction of the Mk2 Marina. To avoid unsettling the handling they seemed only to have been fitted in pairs, fitted to saloons and coupes. Estates and Commercials were not fitted with ARBs as standard.

Much of the preparatory work was done by BL much earlier, my '74 Coupe has the front chassis mounts but not the rears, Josh's later Mk1 has the same and the rear axle brackets.

The missing element was the rear chassis mounts a tube each side through the chassis rail to take the ARB bushes.

It seems likely that this was going on at the same as the MGB rubber bumper model changes as the B shares the rear ARB chassis bushes with the Marina - 21H 6655.

Fitting the front ARB on it's own will stiffen the front in a corner which causes more Understeer, something a MK1 Marina doesn't need! The rear ARB increases oversteer, which improved turn in, but on it's own would leave the front end floating about. So neither should be fitted on their own.

Chris





Chris
www.marinacoupe.co.uk

[MarinaCoupe]

Steve,

To my knowledge anti-roll bars were fitted with the introduction of the Mk2 Marina. To avoid unsettling the handling they seemed only to have been fitted in pairs, fitted to saloons and coupes. Estates and Commercials were not fitted with ARBs as standard.

Much of the preparatory work was done by BL much earlier, my '74 Coupe has the front chassis mounts but not the rears, Josh's later Mk1 has the same and the rear axle brackets.

The missing element was the rear chassis mounts a tube each side through the chassis rail to take the ARB bushes.

It seems likely that this was going on at the same as the MGB rubber bumper model changes as the B shares the rear ARB chassis bushes with the Marina - 21H 6655.

Fitting the front ARB on it's own will stiffen the front in a corner which causes more Understeer, something a MK1 Marina doesn't need! The rear ARB increases oversteer, which improved turn in, but on it's own would leave the front end floating about. So neither should be fitted on their own.

Chris





Chris
www.marinacoupe.co.uk

[JubileeNut]

I was going to fit a front one but can't get the drop links so looks like a no go. :roll:
Anyone measure the drop links from centre of the fixing to centre of fixing?
At least if I see any I can measure to check they are the correct length.

[ClaytonSpeed]

I modified 2 pairs of vauxhall calibra ones Paul. Cut in half then had them tig welded at the right height and angle.

Ben


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[locost_bryan]

afaik all Marinas with sway bars got them at both ends.

However, the models that got them in NZ seems to differ to the UK.

Graham (AusMarina) from Brisbane has a NZ assembled Mk2 saloon with no sway bars (see this thread).

Kilroy says all his NZ assembled Mk3 Marinas have sway bars (see this thread). I assume that his estates had them as standard - the front one on his blue estate can be seen on his suspension rebuild instructions (here).

Whether the local assembler (NZ Motor Corporation) chose not to fit ARBs to the Mk2 (for cost reasons?), or whether Graham's have been removed, or whether they were introduced as an upgrade part way through Mk2 assembly, I can't say. :?

Did the Mk3 and Ital estates never get ARBs in the UK?

In Australia, Selby made aftermarket sway bars for the Mk1 (front and rear, but sold separately :? ).

[JubileeNut]

Whats going on with repeated posts? :?

[locost_bryan]

Whats going on with repeated posts? :?

I got a timeout error the first time I hit "submit". Fortunately, I was able to delete it, even though it told me I couldn't when I tried (but it did it anyway, go figure! :roll: )

[Ausmarina]

Graham (AusMarina) from Brisbane has a NZ assembled Mk2 saloon with no sway bars (see this thread).

I just checked underneath her and the rear brackets on the diff, tubes through the chassis and front mounting points are all there but don't look like they have ever been used. I wonder if the heavy duty 4 leaf springs have anything to do with it. It is date stamped with 961 8 77 on the left side slam panel so it's not an early MK2

[Martec]

From my sorties into scrapyards over the years to repair and update my marina, initially only the front anti-roll bar was fitted, this helped to reduce understeer because with less roll the tyre patch of the front tyres did not reduce as much as without it.

It may have been about this time that the later lower trunion was moving the wheel towards zero rather than positive camber, that they all started out with (this is just a surmise), which again would help reduce understeer.

It was some time later that the rear ARB appeared.

Brian

[charlie safari]

Ok now I'm confused, so will fitting a later front ARB improve my understeering mk1 or do I need to fit both, or the whole front suspension? Or is there another better way to improve my slightly dodgy handling, as I live down a really twisty mountain road and would like to have a bit more fun

[Kilroy]

In my opinion - supported by trial and error - fitting either anti-roll bar will improve matters - more so the front one.

I do not agree with Chris view of fitting front only being of no advantage - it transfers more weight to the outside wheel on corners, thus improving steering control. If you imagine that the car had its inside wheel off the ground - then the anti-roll bar (its a big sucker..) adds the support of the inner torsion bar to the outer wheel via the bar. This in effect almost doubles the strength of the springing at the outside wheel - which is the loaded one with the most grip.

I have never seen any anti-roll bars fitted to Marinas in NZ prior to Mk3's - and only to some of them. It would appear they were an option. All the cars that had anti-roll bars when I bought them, had both front and rear. The Estates had neither, and I assume this is because they had the stiffer 21mm torsion bars, plus the 4-leaf rear springs. Fitting the front anti-roll bars to my estates improved cornering tremendously. Under normal conditions it doesn't seem to make a noticeable difference - but when you really push it hard into corners, the difference is that you manage to exit the corner still in control...

The real benefit of the rear anti-roll bar is that it helps to prevent the rear axle from winding up - much as the leading arms featured by the Australian assembled cars. It is of quite small cross section, so I do not think it adds a great deal to lateral stability. Cars with only 2-leaf rear springs benefit most from the rear anti-sway bar.

I have fitted 21mm torsion bars, 4-leaf rear springs, and anti-roll bars both ends of a 2 litre saloon. It tends to make the ride a bit too harsh. It is ok for rally or track use, but a bit uncomfortable on average roads. I think the factory choice of fitting them to the lightest set of suspension certainly worked best - but if you have heavy duty rear springs, you would definitely benefit from fitting the front ARB.

That's my view of it..

[JoshWard]

That is what Frank was saying to me, if you have uprated rear springs then the front anti-roll bar can be of benefit. I am thinking about fitting one to mine at some point but probably won't bother with the rear one (as I only have half the mounts needed :P )