Swaybar Selection
Thread Starter
Running Guns & Moonshine
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 12,548
Likes: 7,232
From: CT
Swaybar Selection
What would be an appropriate sway bar combo for my setup?
I had C5 Z06 sways, leafs, links and bilstein shocks with C5Z wheels and tire sizes.
I still have the C5Z sways, but now ridetech coilovers 4xx / 520 (real close to pfadt spring rates) with ccw sp500s running 305-30-19 rear and 275-30-19 front. It also has pfadt trans mount and ecs diff brace if that rigidity affects selection.
My goal is to remain in that sweet spot of Z06 performance and comfort annd to ensure that the sways match with the rest of my setup. Bear in mind the car now also has the added weight of a procharger kit on the nose.
I had C5 Z06 sways, leafs, links and bilstein shocks with C5Z wheels and tire sizes.
I still have the C5Z sways, but now ridetech coilovers 4xx / 520 (real close to pfadt spring rates) with ccw sp500s running 305-30-19 rear and 275-30-19 front. It also has pfadt trans mount and ecs diff brace if that rigidity affects selection.
My goal is to remain in that sweet spot of Z06 performance and comfort annd to ensure that the sways match with the rest of my setup. Bear in mind the car now also has the added weight of a procharger kit on the nose.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,003
Likes: 89
From: Indy IN
You need to compare wheel rates not just spring rates and if you've changed the stiffness at one end relative to the other you'll need to fine tune the bars to get it dialed in.
The wheel size and tire differences are pretty much in line with what the Z06 setup works with. That is if you put that setup on a Z06 it wouldn't change the handling much, so your primary difference is going to be the springs.
So you need to look at the wheel rates and compare them with the stock wheel rates. If you look on line you should be able to get the linkage ratio for the front and rear and then calculate the wheel rates and then compare them with the Z06 wheel rates. If they're similar you should be fine. If they're higher, so long as the percentage higher is the same front and rear then you will be fine. That is, if the fronts are 20% stiffer and the rears are 20% stiffer then the change won't have a major impact.
Where you will run into trouble is if the spring rate change isn't similar. If they aren't similar then you can end up with a lot of push or the car could be loose. The way to fix that is then going with different bars.
I would suggest that you talk to Ridetech and they can tell you what the relative wheel rates are and if they think you'll need to do a tweak to the bar stiffness.
One way to fine tune the roll stiffness is with sway bar bushings. If the car is loose, put some poly bushings in the front bar or if it's pushing go with poly in the back. It's pretty amazing how a change in bushing stiffness can change the overall roll stiffness distribution. The reason for that is that these cars use pretty big bars and just a bit of change in stiffness to the bar bushings can make a big handling difference.
The wheel size and tire differences are pretty much in line with what the Z06 setup works with. That is if you put that setup on a Z06 it wouldn't change the handling much, so your primary difference is going to be the springs.
So you need to look at the wheel rates and compare them with the stock wheel rates. If you look on line you should be able to get the linkage ratio for the front and rear and then calculate the wheel rates and then compare them with the Z06 wheel rates. If they're similar you should be fine. If they're higher, so long as the percentage higher is the same front and rear then you will be fine. That is, if the fronts are 20% stiffer and the rears are 20% stiffer then the change won't have a major impact.
Where you will run into trouble is if the spring rate change isn't similar. If they aren't similar then you can end up with a lot of push or the car could be loose. The way to fix that is then going with different bars.
I would suggest that you talk to Ridetech and they can tell you what the relative wheel rates are and if they think you'll need to do a tweak to the bar stiffness.
One way to fine tune the roll stiffness is with sway bar bushings. If the car is loose, put some poly bushings in the front bar or if it's pushing go with poly in the back. It's pretty amazing how a change in bushing stiffness can change the overall roll stiffness distribution. The reason for that is that these cars use pretty big bars and just a bit of change in stiffness to the bar bushings can make a big handling difference.
