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F" the front sway bar

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the_07ninja

· Gal. 2:20
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2,108 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I just installed a front sway bar on my ZX3s, it had a 18mm and thanks to a good friend Jetrinka, I got his stock 21mm and I must say it was reatared trying to put that thing in. After about 2 hrs of cussung throwing sockets and wrenches and punching my friend that was helping me I got it in. It sucks b/c you have to take out the bolts under the uni-body and bend it down a bit. Once I got it out though it was go time....so I thought. then I couln't get the brak. to go back on to the bushing, I don't know if the boshings were bigger or what but after punching my buddy in the face again I finally figuered out what was going on. But enough said about that, it is sweet thanks Justin for hooking me up like that. Now it's time to party.

Oh yah, I had a cluncking but now w/ the bigger sway bar it's gone the cluncking that is.
 
#2 ·
Its not good to punch friends in the face, they don't tend stay "friends" very long. LOL

I know the front sway bars are a pain but (even though I still have the stocker) I know they are so worth it!!
 
#4 ·
^ id go with a 24 or 25 IMO, love my 22mm/25mm combo

and yeah, duuddeeeeee the front is such a pain in the ass! once you give in to dropping the subframe it gets better though. The 18mm front is a joke, hope youre enjoying the new one
 
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#5 ·
He has the Steeda 21mm rear kit installed.

Yeah the front swaybar is not a fun one to do. I ended up doing mine three times. Once to get the Eibach 22 front in. Once to take it out and put it back in cause of some weird clunking sounds. And once to replace it with the H&R 24mm front. Needless to say I never ever want to do it again... lol

Its awesome you got it in though and it worked out all fine. How does it feel now?
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
BadIdea said:
18 is the better bar - no wheelspin, less understeer.
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Totaly disagree w/ this statement, I love how it feels and how the cornering is and being one that has come from the 18 to a 21 it is way better for cornering. w/ the 18 arround hard long corners my car would be on the verge of understeering but now I took a corner at about 55 compaired to my normal 45 w/ the stock 18. I say wwwwaaayyyy better.
 
#9 ·
air tools are great friends in this kind of activity.

I did mine and it was a major pain in my ball sack. Def well worth it afterwards tho
 
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#11 ·
Eh, 18mm front with 25mm rear sway is where its at.
Spec focus run that setup, and so do I and mine is insane in the corners.
I also have both strut bars, full eibach suspension, and moog endlinks for the front sway.
Bigger front sway bars just make the handling more neutral feeling.
I don't see the benefits, and definitely not enough to go through the pain in the ass install.
 
#12 ·
Eh I dunno. I know when I had my Eibach setup which was the 22 front 25 rear it seemed like it just wanted to rotate way too much. Going fast on a long sweeping overpass the backend just seemed like it wanted to fly right out going any faster than 70. With the bigger bar up front it seems to keep it much more in check and is much safer of a feeling. Plus am able to go faster as well.

I mean I don't have any racing experience whatsoever but it seems like the smaller bar up front with a huge one in the rear is a good setup for rapidly changing the position of the car through rapidly changing corners correct? Not necessarily for a DD setup where corners are more gradual and sweeping of sorts.
 
#13 ·
I see your point, but for auto-x or road racing the smaller front bar is definitely better.
I've been driving with my setup for months and months now, and have never once had the
back end give me trouble, and I do a lot of highway 70 + driving on the interstate.
It all depends on what you want out of your suspension, as to which swaybar setup you pick.
Sounds like the_07ninja, you and I are all happy with our setups, that's all that matters really.
 
#15 ·
i have a question related to the front sway bar, i just put the svt suspension in including the rear swaybay, but we didint do the front one, so i have zx5 and its 20mm and svts one is 21, so is it worth to change mine to 1mm bigger one?
 
#16 ·
Typically if only the diameter of the bar changes and not the way it is made or its shape the formula for calculating how much stiffer it is is simple.

Basically it is this. (New bar diameter/old bar diameter) to the 4th power.

So if you are going from a 20mm to a 21mm it would be like this.

(21/20)^4 = 1.21

So that means that the 21mm bar is 21% stiffer than the 20mm bar.

As with ninjas swap

(21/18)^4 = 1.85

So his was an 85% increase in stiffness. Make sense?
 
#17 ·
There was a nice increase in stiffness when i went to the 22mm up front. when I had 18/25rear it felt like the front was way too loose. this fixed that, no bad wheelhop, the car feels much more solid imo
 
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#18 ·
the_07ninja said:
Totaly disagree w/ this statement, I love how it feels and how the cornering is and being one that has come from the 18 to a 21 it is way better for cornering. w/ the 18 arround hard long corners my car would be on the verge of understeering but now I took a corner at about 55 compaired to my normal 45 w/ the stock 18. I say wwwwaaayyyy better.
Click to expand...
10mph w/ a front sway bar upgrade of 3mm? Really? Changes like this are measured in tenths of a second, on a 2.5 mile road course.

My only point is that it's not worth the work changing out a front bar. Whatever your car came with just leave it be. Driving on the street you will never notice the difference.

Facts are facts, and a bigger front bar will lift your inside front tire more which makes for more wheelspin even with a torsen.

There is a reason why spec focus runs 18 front bars even though they're allowed 22's.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
I have had the 18mil up front and the 21 in back I didn't like it too much of the back end wanted to swing out all the time. now w/ the 21 in front the back end seems to follow the front in a more respective manner.
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
BadIdea said:
Driving on the street you will never notice the difference.
Click to expand...
yet again I have to diss agree w/ you b/c I notice a huge diff. just in my DD and when I corner. Like justin said on long on ramps and even in the tight corners too. Big diff. my man.
 
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