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Hi, Thinking of upgrading the sway bars on my 08 with Z51.
Installed revalved DRM Bilstiens last summer and now thinking
of the sway bars. Can I do front only or have to renew both?
Looking for advise.
Thanks
I replaced the stock sways on my 2013 GS with Pfadt JOC sway bars and loved it. Obviously I did both since they are sold in pairs. I know on my 2010 Mazda3 (which is a FWD car) I just replaced the rear sway and it made a huge improvement in handling. I can assume you can get away with just replacing the front since that would probably make the most impact on a RWD car.
Edit: Maybe someone smarter than me in regarding to suspension dynamics could answer this questions. Would a very stiff front sway bar with a comparatively weaker rear sway bar on a RWD car introduce understeer?
Homer thanks for your reply. I have checked the JOC bars and bet they would be a improvement. Being a old retired fart I am looking for a inexpensive way to go.
I am considering the ZR1 front bar but unsure as what to do.
I installed the JOC sway bars - and would recommend pair - as it seems to be asking for trouble to have one end stiff, while the other end is loose. The JOC bars are no comparison larger than any of the GM options, as far as I am aware - no comparison larger than the stock for base C6, but the Z51 bars I've seen aren't much bigger. The connection hardware is also better and adjustable, and the rear bars allow three different connection points, to offer three different levels of stiffness.
Here is a quick shot I took comparing the front sway bars and the originals:
I replaced my 05 Z51 sway bars with a set of LG sway bars. I'm very satisfied with the results. I also have a set of JOC shocks replacing my OEM shocks.
Just to make sure you know. As the bars get stiffer, the ride off track gets more harsh.
This may be subjective to each driver/owner, for me the ride is not stiffer the steering is more precise and the cornering capabilities are greatly increased
Maybe someone smarter than me in regarding to suspension dynamics could answer this questions. Would a very stiff front sway bar with a comparatively weaker rear sway bar on a RWD car introduce understeer?
The short version is that chassis, shocks and sway bars all work together to keep the car planted. As with other areas, there are pluses and minuses to tweaking parts "independently," which is why you often see sway bars and shocks sold together, and sway bars sold as a front and back pair. You don't want one end with more looseness than the other, that would lead to more weight shifting around on one end than the other. The intent of this stuff is to minimize that weight transfer, so as to maintain stable traction. The tradeoff of bigger sway bars/stiffer shocks can be a stiffer ride on the street, which is to say, you will feel more of the bumps more.
Again guys thanks for the advise. You have mentioned things I haven't
thought of,appreciate the advise.
I understand that the JOC bars are a great addition. I just don't
want to fork out over $600 for them. Iam considering the Hotchkis
#2284 package. The price is in line and I understand that the have
decent products. Just hope that I go the right route!
Again guys thanks for the advise. You have mentioned things I haven't
thought of,appreciate the advise.
I understand that the JOC bars are a great addition. I just don't
want to fork out over $600 for them. Iam considering the Hotchkis
#2284 package. The price is in line and I understand that the have
decent products. Just hope that I go the right route!
Honestly, unless you intend to spend time on a road course, on at least a semi-regular basis, you could pass on upgrading the sway bars. The real benefit of this kind of upgrade is tighter corners at higher speeds. Most street roads make corner radii such that this is really needed. Autocross can certainly benefit from this kind of upgrade, too.
Again guys thanks for the advise. You have mentioned things I haven't
thought of,appreciate the advise.
I understand that the JOC bars are a great addition. I just don't
want to fork out over $600 for them. Iam considering the Hotchkis
#2284 package. The price is in line and I understand that the have
decent products. Just hope that I go the right route!
Unless you need them right away, keep an eye on the for sale section. I have seen used JOC bars go for around the price of those Hotchkis bars.
The short version is that chassis, shocks and sway bars all work together to keep the car planted. As with other areas, there are pluses and minuses to tweaking parts "independently," which is why you often see sway bars and shocks sold together, and sway bars sold as a front and back pair. You don't want one end with more looseness than the other, that would lead to more weight shifting around on one end than the other. The intent of this stuff is to minimize that weight transfer, so as to maintain stable traction. The tradeoff of bigger sway bars/stiffer shocks can be a stiffer ride on the street, which is to say, you will feel more of the bumps more.
I agree w. the above advice. Joe Aquilante at Phoenix Perf. says the same thing, as do many others who experiment and find the best items to "package together." If it were me, OP, I'd call Randy at DRM and ask for his suggestions. Not dissing anyone here, but what you may get is professional advice from DRM. Sometimes, beyond cost, there's concern about how something acts, or reacts when put to a test---like emergency handling, high speed accident avoidance. In that instant, you don't want bargain or pretty.
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Edit: Maybe someone smarter than me in regarding to suspension dynamics could answer this questions. Would a very stiff front sway bar with a comparatively weaker rear sway bar on a RWD car introduce understeer?
Not smarter than you, but I'm told-
Generally, when you stiffen the suspension at one end of the car, the other end gets more cornering grip.
So a stiffer front bar and/or a softer rear bar; will tend to reduce oversteer or increase understeer.
So a stiffer front bar and/or a softer rear bar; will tend to reduce oversteer or increase understeer.
Usually...
This is clearly true - but has to be done in balance. The reason a front sway bar (in a pair) is always larger in diameter is for the sake of balance. The stock sway bars, in whatever car you start with reflect this, as do sway bar sets. If you just replace one or the other, or pull the rear one altogether on the theory that more looseness is better, for steering, and you introduce much more weight shift, which is almost always counterproductive. The reason shocks and sway bars work together is that you generally tweak all these elements together, for the sake of balance. And, in road racing, these elements are tweaked a lot track to track. Even some of the better third-party options allow for adjustment in the sway bars, versus having to swap out the whole set for more or less stiffness.
Yep.
The entire suspension- springs, sways, shocks, tires, bushings, and hardware; was designed to work as a complete package. Changing random parts "just because" can produce undesired results, and stiffer is not always better.
Usually, the sways are tuned to work together. So if you go with the Z51 front or any other front, Get the matching bar for the rear. Sometimes mixing sways works but its usually only by coincidence and car set up
ZR1 sways are an easy (and fairly inexpensive) bolt on upgrade. My 2013 Grand Sport with mag ride came with these stock. As the others have mentioned, I kinda wonder what results you'll see with a suspension designed for wide bodies, wide tires, and stiffer springs. Not sure how the Z51 springs compare with the Z06 springs that I had. That GS handled beautifully though.
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Upgrade from Z51 sway bars
