Sway bar upgrades

[NEILL93SHO]

I have the SFC, eibachs/tokicos and i am planning on one more suspension upgrade. what do those of you with the full suspension packages recommend? i noticed a great improvment in overall handling with what i have now, but i want to stay flatter in the twisties. thanks

mike

 

[pbshow]

I changed the rear bar on my '93 from the 22mm to the 26mm and boy, did it keep my rear planted. I also added urethane bushings front and rear as well.

Paul

 

[Todd TCE]

More planted? The change to the larger bar in the rear is to loosen up the rear end of the car and make it more 'tail happy' to counter the FWD aspects and understeer of the car. That's the reason people put bigger bars on the rear: to induce oversteer. It may better control the body roll by taking away from the mushyness of the suspension ,but that's not the point. Better re think what's happening here...

 

[pjtoledo]

Todd TCE:
More planted? The change to the larger bar in the rear is to loosen up the rear end of the car and make it more 'tail happy' to counter the FWD aspects and understeer of the car. That's the reason people put bigger bars on the rear: to induce oversteer. It may better control the body roll by taking away from the mushyness of the suspension ,but that's not the point. Better re think what's happening here...

I had often heard that a bigger bar at one end made the other end stick better. When I had a 26mm bar on my 92 it was definitely flatter in the corners. Keeping the rear level put more weight on the inside front tire, made pulling out into traffic a lot easier. And that snap into over steer while screaming out of a curve, man was that fun! HINT, expect it, and be prepared for it. On the theory of "the other end sticks better", many years ago I put a rear bar on a 76 Torino Elite. That made it flat out dangerous to pull out into fast traffic with that rear drive car.

Perry Toledo,Ohio

 

[SHOZ123]

On my Gen 3 with the stock 22mm bar up front, 245/45/16s on 7.5" rims and a 26mm bar in the back I could not keep rear planted. The OEM rear bar is 19mm.

I added a 24mm bar up front and along with Aluminum SFB and SFC it completley transformed the car. I still would like to get some more understeer though.

 

[NEILL93SHO]

Thanks for all the responses guys...i think i will save for the larger bar from shoshop. i have had no luck in the junk yards looking for an old 26mm..

mike

 

[PhysicsSHO]

There was a long thread on this subject recently on TechSHO, and I wrote up a web page about it:

http://www.panix.com/~awinbow/sho/suspension.html

You may find answers to several of your questions.

 

[94shoboy]

neill:: make sure you check shawn at IPT for sway bars too. he has good prices

 

[pbshow]

Neil,
I was at a Pick-a-Part in Chula Vista about two weeks ago and saw an '89 SHO there. It was fairly complete but I didn't see what size rear bar was on it. The yard was off the 805 at Main St. I hope this helps.

Paul

 

[poissonverte]

im actually running 21/26 now on my ATX.. feels a bit stiffer, but on an exit ramp over the weekend... i swear i felt my back end slip out a little bit when i was hitting it pretty hard.. dont know what it was from.. my tires are pretty treadless also.. dry weather.. could be part of it..

 

[NEILL93SHO]

Thanks PB, I heading down that way on Sat. will take a look.
mike

 

[pbshow]

Good luck on your search Mike. If you need a bushing kit, I have a new kit for the 26mm bar including the bar bushings and end link bushings. Come and get it. You know where I live.

Paul

 

[AutoXSHO]

My '95 MTX sure handled miserably with the front 21mm bar and the rear 22mm. With the 21/26 that I have now, the car is far more sprightly than it used to be. A lot of people seem to be worried that their car is going to be sliding all over the road with this setup. It doesn't. The tail-happiness is tunable with tire pressure and I can easily set it up so it's very benign.

For an ATX, which is quite a bit heavier up front, I would probably go with a 22mm front bar.

John V