Dan H.

Ant to start shopping for front and rear away bars. I try to find stuff second hand to save a few bucks, so it's ok if it takes a while to find.

I use my car for about 4 DE weekends a year. I drive some street miles, but not a lot around 5000. I have DRM bilsteins, stock calipers with ducts, and run 295/35/18 nt05 tires square. I have an alignment with -1.7 degrees up front and I think -1 in the rear. I run northeast tracks like Watkins glen, LRP, and summit point.

I have stock sway bars today, I was feeling a good amount of body roll in my last event. Was thinking if start sway bar shopping to round out my suspension.

I see there is a bunch of options and a large price range. Anywhere from 400-1000.

What bar would you recommend for DE's with my setup along
With lite street use?

dreamscometrue

GM T1 bars are great but have some cost to them. I have these and love them but my car is mostly track only.

Check out Van Steel sway bars. The rear is the same as the GM T1, the front is 3mm smaller. Bars with adjustable end links are in the $500 range. I think they are a great deal for the money.

Dan H.

The T1 bars seem to be popular, and the most expensive. Not sure if it's a " you get what you pay for" or if something like the van steel option is just as good for half the price.

argonaut

I have Hotchkis bars and have been happy with them. The rear is adjustable.

Scooter70

I have the Johnny O bars on my car and haven't had any issues. The end links are quiet and the rear bar is adjustable. It looks like aFe gets ~$650 for them on their website these days.

Xian

I'd reach out to Sam @ Stranoparts. I know a ton of folks run his adjustable front bar(s) and he also offers an adjustable rear bar.

JeremyGSU

I have the Johnny O'Connell bars but have been wanting to get the T1 bars. I want to get something a tad stiffer but the O'Connell were definitely an improvement over the stock bars.

Racingswh

I have a set of older non-adjustable T1 bars off a C5 if anyone wants them. End links on the front bar are adjustable, rears are fixed length. $500 + shipping. They are in Willow Grove, PA for pick up.

They would make a great bar upgrade and are priced fairly.

strano@stranoparts.com

I make my own bars. Hollow at both ends, adjustable at both ends. A few options on the fronts, only one rear which is 1" and 3-way adjustable. That bar comes with bushings and all and is $175.99. Typically I'd recommend the 1-5/16" 2-way adjustable front bar as the match to it, that bar is $279.99. The pair is $455.98.

You can pay more for less if you want. Hotchkis is much smaller in front and not adjustable. The T1 stuff is just too big in almost any case. I've run it, tested with it. A 38mm bar is just nuts. And one of my two cars is a C6Z which has a big 28mm rear bar on it, and with that comes inside rear wheelspin issues in high grip conditions. Yes Margaret, there is such a thing as too much. The bigger the bars, the more load carried by the outside tire, up to the point the inside tire can be off the ground. Some is good, too much is bad. For those wanting more in front I do also make 35mm (1-3/8") hollow and solid bars, both of which are also adjustable as well.

I'm a site sponsor. I'm available to talk. Fact is the stock bars on a C5Z are 30mm front and 23.6mm rear. What I'd recommend is 33.3mm front, 25.4mm rear. Front is a thicker wall than GM, rear is thinner but you gain rate from diameter and the ability to shorten the lever arm (adjustable). My bars work with stock endlinks and we have adjustable aftermarket ones as well.

klodkrawler05

I've been quite happy with my Sam Stano bars thus far, they work great for both track/street and auto-x based on my testing thus far.

strano@stranoparts.com

Mine aren't fancy... but they also don't cost a fortune, and don't break. And the sizing is my call and my call alone. I built what I wanted and tried a lot of different things in settling on the sizes I make.

Dan H.

Thank you for the advice gents!

crease-guard

My C5Z I was racing suffered a catastrophic clutch failure that sent shrapnel flying everywhere, severed the brake like and burnt the car bad enough it's a total loss. Just finished tearing EVERYTHING down to the frame and cage. As such, I have a pair of Pfadt heavy rate sway bars I need to sell, just haven't mustard up the energy to post it up yet.

Shoot me a PM if you are intersted.

Jay