Show me your sway bar!

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Mar 25, 2003 | 07:32 AM

pingdashf

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Racer

Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 322

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From: Alexandria VA

Show me your sway bar!

I am looking at some swaybars from VB&P and have honestly never seen one on a C3. Anyone wanna post up some pics for me?

Mar 25, 2003 | 07:48 AM

groovyjay

Le Mans Master

Joined: Nov 2000

Posts: 8,220

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Re: Show me your sway bar! (pingdashf)

There's plenty of us here on the forum using them, I'll try to see if I can find some pics. :cheers:

Mar 26, 2003 | 10:16 AM

pingdashf

Thread Starter

Racer

Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 322

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From: Alexandria VA

Re: Show me your sway bar! (pingdashf)

Are these truly just bolt on's or does stuff get in the way?

Mar 26, 2003 | 12:08 PM

terryrudy

Drifting

Joined: Jun 2000

Posts: 1,752

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Re: Show me your sway bar! (pingdashf)

They truly are bolt on. You gotta take off your wheels I think to make it easier to install (but maybe not, don't remember as its been awhile now).

First pic of this page, you see my stock front one: http://www.bokonon.net/corvette/suspension.asp

About 1/2 way down that page you can see more pics of the stock front.

At the bottom of this page: http://www.bokonon.net/corvette/suspension2.asp
you can see the comparision between stock and VB&P 1-1/8 front bar

Here is my rear bar: http://www.bokonon.net/corvette/suspension4.asp
I eventually removed the rear bar as I didn't think it was necessary with the 17" sticky rubber. Rear was a bit more difficult to install than the front, but still just a basic bolt on for me.

good luck!
-terry

Mar 26, 2003 | 12:17 PM

terryrudy

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Joined: Jun 2000

Posts: 1,752

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Re: Show me your sway bar! (terryrudy)

Also be careful about going with the baddest biggest swaybars they have. There has been a lot of discussion here about swaybars and everyone has their own opinion, but you may not be satisified if you get the biggest front and rear bars. They won't make it more fun to drive. I think a lot depends on your tires and other suspension bits as well. In my case, I have always enjoyed my 1-1/8" front bar and went through 2 sizes of rear bars (none of which appealed to me) and then I removed it and I'm enjoying the balance now. With my stock 15" tires, though, the thinner rear bar worked out well. I think the GM 9/16? FE-7 rear bar is probably the best balance for rear bar. Maybe even a tad smaller. Many agree the GM FE-7 complete suspension package is probably the best balance for performance. How is your suspension setup now? How old is it? If it hasn't been looked at in awhile, you may want to think about refreshing other stuff as well. I started with "I just want some smart struts" and ended up with a brand new suspension. :) I have approximately the VB&P "Street & Slalom" setup.
-terry

edit: btw, this is all just my opinion. Your Mileage Might Vary. :)

[Modified by terryrudy, 9:18 AM 3/26/2003]

Mar 26, 2003 | 12:41 PM

Jay M

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Joined: Mar 2001

Posts: 1,600

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From: Valencia (near LA) CA

Re: Show me your sway bar! (pingdashf)

Many people choose not to use a rear sway bar. Dick Guldstrand suggested that I remove mine to improove handling, and it made a huge difference.

When I was at the Monterey Historics race at Laguna Seca last year I looked under about a dozen C3s and Only one had a rear sway bay and it was very small.

There are two schools of thought on the subject:

1. Use Spring to control roll, Use sway bars only to fine tune

Sway bars control body roll, but make the suspension less indepandant. If the right wheel hits a bump the sway bar will cause a disturbance in the left wheel.

The rear sway bars cause the inside wheel to lift a little and start to slip, and with the tight posi that C3s have it will cause the outside wheel to slip and you will spin out!!

2. Use soft springs that can quickly respond to bumps, use sway bars for primary control of roll.

I don't know the arguement for that, but there is a popular Greenwood artical online that explains it very well.

I'll bet Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Guldstrand had some pretty heated discussions over this back in the day:)

~Jay

Mar 26, 2003 | 01:58 PM

pingdashf

Thread Starter

Racer

Joined: Feb 2002

Posts: 322

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From: Alexandria VA

Re: Show me your sway bar! (Jay M)

Good info. I am looking at installing one of the VB&P Packages. My goal is to have the supsension, brakes, and tires done this year. Then next year I can start playing with beefing up the engine. I may be a bit conservative, but I like to know i can steer and stop before I get going.

Right now I believe everything I have is stock, but the leaf spring on the back is not original, but I dont think its an upgrade. I really dont know.

Mar 26, 2003 | 02:29 PM

flynhi

Le Mans Master

Joined: Aug 2000

Posts: 6,273

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From: Austin TX

Re: Show me your sway bar! (Jay M)

Ditto JayM
I've tried several combinations and I like both a 1 1/8"front and 5/8" rear with BFG TA 245/60/15 front and 255/60/15 rear.
DO NOT use a larger rear bar unless you are a very good driver with sticky tires. Large rear bars are a short recipe for spins. (Don't ask me how I know this...)