Sway bars
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 322
Likes: 0
From: The Dirty, Dirty South
Sway bars
I'm thnking I should add a rear sway bar. So now the only question is, what diameter goes best with the stock front bar? 3/4" or 5/8"? I've got a 7 leaf rear spring and stock front springs (soon to be replaced with Gymkhana to match the rear spring), and its a daily driver (gotta get to work in style and the weather here is good year-round - no snow!) so max performance is nice but not absolutely necessary. Thanks for any advice y'all can give.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 9,289
Likes: 16
From: Skippack PA
St Jude Donor '13
Since it seems the natural follow-on I won't feel too much like I'm hijacking...
If your car, say a 1980 for instance, didn't come with a sway bar, is it a difficult install? Or are there already mounting holes available in the frame?
Thanks
If your car, say a 1980 for instance, didn't come with a sway bar, is it a difficult install? Or are there already mounting holes available in the frame?
Thanks
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 322
Likes: 0
From: The Dirty, Dirty South
Mine doesn't have a rear bar currently, either, but the holes are there in the frame and the rear of the trailing arms, so it "should" be a fairly simple install. Your milage may vary, but you can use the mounting brackets that come with the bar as a template for drilling your own holes if you don't already have them.
Last edited by Contrail; Oct 18, 2004 at 10:24 PM. Reason: spelling
Abby Normal
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 53,452
Likes: 92
From: Press "2" for English
i put the addco rear bar on my car a few years ago, then disconnected it. now, keep in mind, my car is fairly tweeked: cut 460# front springs, 330# rear steel spring, koni shocks, poly bushings, blah, blah, blah. i put on the 5/8" rear bar but it just makes the car too twitchy to drive really fast. low to medium speed is fine, but once you really pitch the car into a turn, it's fighting to figure out which end is in the lead. unless your running slicks on a track, i wouldn't bother. but that is just me.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,906
Likes: 0
From: Berlin
Originally Posted by clutchdust
i put the addco rear bar on my car a few years ago, then disconnected it. now, keep in mind, my car is fairly tweeked: cut 460# front springs, 330# rear steel spring, koni shocks, poly bushings, blah, blah, blah. i put on the 5/8" rear bar but it just makes the car too twitchy to drive really fast. low to medium speed is fine, but once you really pitch the car into a turn, it's fighting to figure out which end is in the lead. unless your running slicks on a track, i wouldn't bother. but that is just me.
Unless you really want to spend a lot of time testing different combos at the track, go with the stock setup. The gymkhana option had a stock rear bar, so use that. Also, change the front bar to match the stock gymkhana one as well. If you only do the rear, your car will oversteer.
Abby Normal
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 53,452
Likes: 92
From: Press "2" for English
like aharte said.
what i mean by twitchy is that once the rear end started coming around, it was going to come around. i don't care if you tossed out an anchor, prayed to god or froze time. that SOB was coming around. the front end still has a little bit of push to it so if i entered a corner too fast, i would scrub speed up front. the back end would begin to rotate and just keep right on rotating.
if you did go with a rear bar, i highly recommend the addco, in the gymkhana size of course, because it comes with an assortment of endlink hardware that will give you some adjustability to taylor it to your liking.
having said that, i still recommend only installing a rear sway bar as the last piece of the puzzle. the thought of having to dodge road debris at 80 is scary enough, but then having to try to keep the rear end of the car in the rear is too much for me to worry about.
and back to your original post, what size is the stock front bar? if it's 7/8", absolutely do not put a rear bar on that car until you've installed a larger front bar.
then again, if your really bold, just say to hell with it and build the suspension from the rear end forward. if you learn to drive that fast, then you can drive anything fast.
what i mean by twitchy is that once the rear end started coming around, it was going to come around. i don't care if you tossed out an anchor, prayed to god or froze time. that SOB was coming around. the front end still has a little bit of push to it so if i entered a corner too fast, i would scrub speed up front. the back end would begin to rotate and just keep right on rotating.
if you did go with a rear bar, i highly recommend the addco, in the gymkhana size of course, because it comes with an assortment of endlink hardware that will give you some adjustability to taylor it to your liking.
having said that, i still recommend only installing a rear sway bar as the last piece of the puzzle. the thought of having to dodge road debris at 80 is scary enough, but then having to try to keep the rear end of the car in the rear is too much for me to worry about.
and back to your original post, what size is the stock front bar? if it's 7/8", absolutely do not put a rear bar on that car until you've installed a larger front bar.
then again, if your really bold, just say to hell with it and build the suspension from the rear end forward. if you learn to drive that fast, then you can drive anything fast.
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Race Director
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 11,520
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From: CORVETTE 77 385 C.I. TEXAS
Originally Posted by Contrail
... I just like tight handling and I HATE body roll.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 322
Likes: 0
From: The Dirty, Dirty South
So you recommend front springs, then front and rear bars. Makes sense to me. I don't know what the size of the bar up front is, I need to check that. I may just save up and do it all at once to save time. Thanks for the help, guys!
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 45
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From: Polliat (FRANCE)
Originally Posted by aharte
................
Unless you really want to spend a lot of time testing different combos at the track, go with the stock setup. The gymkhana option had a stock rear bar, so use that. Also, change the front bar to match the stock gymkhana one as well. If you only do the rear, your car will oversteer.
Unless you really want to spend a lot of time testing different combos at the track, go with the stock setup. The gymkhana option had a stock rear bar, so use that. Also, change the front bar to match the stock gymkhana one as well. If you only do the rear, your car will oversteer.
pilot and engineer from GM make this combo so is the better way to go! FOR A STREETABLE CAR!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,273
Likes: 14
From: Austin TX
This has been cussed and discussed many times - see the archives.
Generally, for street use with OE sized tires, you best overall setup is stock. Zora knew what he was doing.
Next step up is to GM Gymkana which had a very small rear bar.
After experimenting for several years, I settled on a 1 1/8" front bar and a 5/8" rear bar with poly bushings and smart strut. I also use 255/50/17 tires on 17" wheels.
The best advice given above is to balance the front and rear. Take a look at the Addco webiste. They have a chart that shows the increase in roll resistance with increases in diameter. Note the difference as you move from 5/8" to 3/4" - It's about double!
Too much rear bar will convert your Independent Rear Suspension into a solid rear axle. This will cause sudden break away and end swapping- especially with OE sized street tires.
Since roll resistance is a function of bar diameter and lever arm length, you cannot directly compare sway bars manufactured by different manufacturers. For example, the GM bar has a long lever arm, the VB bar has a medium length lever arm and the Herb Adarms bar has a very short lever arm.
So, be careful out there........
Generally, for street use with OE sized tires, you best overall setup is stock. Zora knew what he was doing.
Next step up is to GM Gymkana which had a very small rear bar.
After experimenting for several years, I settled on a 1 1/8" front bar and a 5/8" rear bar with poly bushings and smart strut. I also use 255/50/17 tires on 17" wheels.
The best advice given above is to balance the front and rear. Take a look at the Addco webiste. They have a chart that shows the increase in roll resistance with increases in diameter. Note the difference as you move from 5/8" to 3/4" - It's about double!
Too much rear bar will convert your Independent Rear Suspension into a solid rear axle. This will cause sudden break away and end swapping- especially with OE sized street tires.
Since roll resistance is a function of bar diameter and lever arm length, you cannot directly compare sway bars manufactured by different manufacturers. For example, the GM bar has a long lever arm, the VB bar has a medium length lever arm and the Herb Adarms bar has a very short lever arm.
So, be careful out there........
