MarkBychowski

Is anyone aware of a hollow front bar that is comparable to the 30mm solid bar? I did a search on the forum, but didn't see much out there.

I'm just toying around with options to try to pull some weight off the front of the car. I'm happy with the balance with the 30mm/26mm bars though so don't want to go nuts with changes.

Thanks!

John Shiels

never heard of one in ten years I have been involved. i think it is hard to get 30mm solid now

Slalom4me

My vote is to expect no joy in the search for a tubular 30mm (1-3/16").

The one C4 tubular bar that I am aware of is the 31.8mm (1-1/4") item
sold by the aftermarket vendors.

FWIW. All other things equal, a tubular bar will have different, softer
characteristics than a solid bar. (This is not to suggest that the 32mm
tubular is similar to the 30mm solid - it is not.)

.

96GS#007

Btw...while the OEM 30mm bars are next to impossible to find, VB&P will make you one. They made one for me last summer...$180 if I recall

Slalom4me

I was unaware that VB&P had the capability to make custom sway bars.

Did yours happen to be powder-coated? Visually, how did it compare physically with the OEM bar?

.

Bad Karma

It's not a custom order I was just looking at their page and they're sway bars are listed on their site for $140. They have 30 & 32 mm available.

Slalom4me

Then I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that a 30mm shipped
today would actually measure smaller in dia than an OEM 30mm bar
and turn out to be closer to 28.5mm or 1-1/8".

.

mrc24x

If you want the same stiffness as your 30mm solid then you want the 32mm hollow.

rfn026

You won't notice much difference with a hollow sway bar. The weight difference is minimal, unless you're getting beaten. You're really looking at hundreths of a second here.

The money this will cost you might well be invested in another part of the car. I like to think of this as oportunity cost. Can the same amount of money and time invested in another area produce more significant results.

Richard Newton

Autocross Performance Handbook

Corvette C5 Performance Projects: 1997-2004

Slalom4me

I disagree.

I believe that if torsional stiffness is measured, the 32mm tubular will
rate higher than the 30mm solid. I have not bench-tested the two bars
but there is a perceptible difference in on-car performance between
them.

.

mrc24x

I'm just going on what VBP told me.

MarkBychowski

Thanks very much for all of the replies. I was afraid there may not be many options. I figured it was worth checking if there was an easy (and relatively cheap) way to trim a few pounds, but I guess not.

Worth a try! Thanks again, guys

69427

The math formula to compare the two bars (solid and hollow) is pretty simple. That ought to end the disagreement.

Slalom4me

Yes, but the wall section of the tubular bar is required to run the
numbers and I do not know what this wall section value is.

Also, these bars have lever arms and IIRC there may be differences in
the lengths. (I have not compared the bars side-by-side but the 32mm
bar mounts in off-set bushings while the 30mm bar's bushings are
symetrical.) If so, this difference in lever arm length would also
influence the effective rates of the bars.

As a final thought, if a 32mm tubular and a 30mm solid offered similar
rates, it would seem redundant for the mfr to build both, ditto for
vendors to stock both.

.

96GS#007

Mine was powder coated black and it took several weeks to get. They told me it had to be made. It was not listed on their website when I ordered via phone and once I bought it, it was mine...no return unless it was damaged during shipping. I used a different set of aftermarket 30mm bushings and they fit nicely.

I'll have to try and remember to go out and measure it to be 100% sure

Slalom4me

Interesting.

I've come across names for a few places that reportedly will custom
fab sway bars but I know nothing about them. One is Saner Performance
Fabrication in Pt. St. Lucie, Florida.

It is also possible that the people who form the 32 & 28 bars will fab
30mm on request.

.

MSR

i have an addco hollow front bar that is advertised as being 32mm. i never actually measured it, but it's thicker than the oem 30mm bar i have. it's also lighter, yes.

the car feels a little more stable, with more understeer, with the bigger/hollow bar. i swapped front bars from the oem 30mm to the addco 32mm with no other changes so i think my observations are valid.

i only found one place in the whole country that could get me that bar, and it took a month for the order to go through addco. (addco drop-shipped it to me directly.) they're not a forum sponsor so i won't name them here.

-michael

EDIT: Slalom4me is correct, the addco is actually a 1.25" bar, i misremembered the 32mm part.

TeamZ06

fwiw, I managed to get Saner to build me a custom bar for a C5 Z06, but only after hounding the guy for months and purchasing/shipping the bar material to him myself. He left me hanging on several other projects, some of which were for quantities of 25 sway bars, despite promise after promise. Others have reported the same. I finally concluded that regardless of whether he didn't need or want the business, he just couldn't be counted on to deliver anything. It even took months of hounding to finally have the OE bar shipped back to me. I really liked the guy, but the facts are what they are.

69427

I pretty much agree with that, assuming that the rates were similar. I doubt that they are, though. But if so, it might also be similar to the C3 rear spring issue. You can buy an inexpensive heavy steel spring, or buy a more expensive lightweight composite spring. Different products for different markets.

TeamZ06

The Addco 1.25" OD tubular front swaybar was confirmed to me yesterday by the Addco tech service guy to be 3/16" wall thickness (0.875" ID), he also said the bar should otherwise have identical dimensions to the OE front bar