[whiteboyslo]

looking to finish up my suspension setup, and i was thinking a sway bar or two is definetely in order. for a couple of reasons, i was thinking of doing just the back:

1) cost
2) i've heard installing the front is a PITA
3) i've heard to stiff of a sway bar in the front end will promote oversteer---not ideal for me yet


pros/cons? if it makes any difference, i have the FK 35/40 kit on there now.

Mike

 

[HotRodWagon]

A larger rear bar will help throw the rear out. Yes, the front is a pita....

 

[whiteboyslo]

will it help with body roll? ever since i lowered the car and stuck the new wheels on, i've noticed that it'll rub on hard corners at higher speeds. it never did this before (maybe bc i never took corners this hard before).

Mike

 

[knightm3]

will it help with body roll?

Yes.

 

[HotRodWagon]

Rubbing is more a wheel offset/tire profile/drop amount issue. Yes, body roll will be less but will it resolve the rubbing...don't know. What offset do your rims have and what profile tire are you running?

 

[garyk]

swaybar

what we settled on for the track car was to leave front bar and bushings stock. when eibachs kit became available we added their rear 25mm bar and poly bushings. this allows the car to rotate very nicely in high speed turns (80 to 100mph corners on track). stiffening the front more than the rear might give you more "push". also run 275 lb springs front 350 rear.

 

[whiteboyslo]

well, the tires are 205/40r17s. the wheels are 17x7 with a 42mm offset (unless rev wheels is lyeing to me which is possible). i don't wanna mess too much with the springs now since i've already shelled out the cash on the suspension i have now. my main concern was that the addition of just a bigger rear sway bar might make for more harm than good.

i found a H&R unit on focussport (24 mm) for not too much (somewhere around $160 if i remember right). does anyone have any other suggestions?

Mike

 

[whiteboyslo]

i asked the same question over on FJ and some of the autoX gurus suggested the progress rear sway bar from newedgeperformance.com. they said it should give me all the siffness i'm looking for without being overkill. can't beat the price, either (like 120 plus shipping).

anyone running this bar?

Mike

 

[RPIJG]

just as a side note his car may not rub lock to lock while sitting, but when the springs compress it may, this is what it sounds like to me.

 

[whiteboyslo]

while sitting, it's fine. it only runs when i'm screaming around a corner. most of the time that i hear it, i'm going around a cloverleaf (offramp or onramp), so we're talking pretty decent speeds.

Mike

 

[RPIJG]

I'm not sure that the sway bar will help you out in this instance, cause I don't think that it will stop the spring from compressing, maybe it will balance out the compression though, which in turn would reduce it. I don't know enough about the physics on this one to guess...I defer to garyk he's a pretty bright guy about this stuff.

 

[whiteboyslo]

well, i think the sway bar will help regardless (can't hurt, right?). if it helps to eliminate body roll, it should keep the springs from compressing so much.

realistically it doesn't rub too often to worry about. i just wanted to get the sway bar to firm it up a little.

Mike

 

[garyk]

thanks joe

you give me too much credit. but as was mentioned, it cant hurt as the bar spreads the torsional effect across the car. another idea. why don't you roll the fenders. (the inner lip)

 

[microtonal]

will it help with body roll? ever since i lowered the car and stuck the new wheels on, i've noticed that it'll rub on hard corners at higher speeds. it never did this before (maybe bc i never took corners this hard before).

Mike

Did you just replace the springs or your entire suspension system(springs, dampeners, shocks, etc.) ?

 

[whiteboyslo]

whole thing. new shocks, struts, and springs.

Mike