Basically a sway bar is a metal arm that connects the right wheel to its adjacent left wheel.
Adjustable sway bar links explained.
These relatively simple devices alternatively known as sway bars stabilizer bars roll bars or anti roll bars bolt to the chassis in a central location across the front and rear axle lines and connect to each side of the front and rear suspension via endlinks.
Bar in middle positions.
View applications and price list for adjustable sway bar links the stabilizer bar has been overlooked as a tunable component in the production based suspension system due to the lack of an adjustable link.
The stiffer the bar the more force required to move the left and right wheels relative to each other.
This manages weight distribution in the car while driving and keeps the car level while driving on rough surfaces or while taking sharp turns.
Conventional thinking would assume that you have two positions stiffer holes furthest away from the ends of the bar or softer holes on the ends of the bar.
This means that the sway bar itself is a straight either hollow or solid bar that is splined on the ends to accept the arms that connect to the end links.
A smaller sway bar end link will allow a larger distance from the sway bar and the axle.
Some aftermarket sway bar manufacturers produce splined sway bars.
The oems recognize that it is important to have a sway bar for cornering stability.
This permits the roll stiffness to be tuned for different situations without replacing the entire bar.
The sway will be better aligned and avoid rubbing that is unless you are very very low.
For example the rear e36 m3 sway barbarian has two adjustment holes.
Sway bars can provide adjustments to driving dynamics like understeer and oversteer by transferring weight to different corners of the suspension as the vehicle navigates a corner.
For increased fine tuning you can set one side to soft and the other.
I have just learnt this after lengthening mine then having to dump the car in town as the rubbing sounded like chewbacca getting a thai massage.