One small question here. I have an OMP bar mounted in the front of my car. When it was first installed the adjustor was fully compressed. Over two weeks, I have readjusted the bar as the towers "seem" to move apart. If the towers never move outward why must I adjust the bar at all?
The weight of the car alone would suggest to me the towers do move. The tops are the furthest fixed point from the load generating portion. So at the top of the tower you would expect to see the majority of movement in the towers (aside from the movement of the tire itself rolling onto its side wall). If this is wrong please help me understand why as it has always been easier to turn a bolt with a longer handle on a wrench (leverage).
I agree the rubber mount will absorb a great deal of the movement, but as a whole the entire tower will move unless my OMP bar has a mind of its own.
I agree with Brad in that the bar does exeperience tension. If the bars can move inward during cornering (compression) they will also move outward again once the load is removed (leaving the corner). When they move outward the bar will experience some tension as the compression on it is removed. If one wheel is permitted to move more than the other or is held back (say by the edge of a pothole) the towers will move relative to one another.
Of course as Terry mentioned we have rubber mounts between the strut and tower. Also bushings on the sway bars to absorb some of this shock. But if the towers never move then why did Ford bother to put a sway bar in the car?
If my theory here is wrong, please correct me as my training is in aerodynamics, and not suspension geometry which is more of a hobby.
