sway bars

[IM Buddy8]

what are my choices for sway bar's?

Thickneeses and where to buy?

 

[92inPA]

You can find most everything you need on sway bars on SHOtimes.com. And lots more basic info is HERE. As for where to buy bars, you can look in the SHOforum classifieds, eBay, or junk yards.... oops, I mean auto recyclers.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

We have some of the more popular options here: SHO Source

 

[1993MTXSHO]

This should give you a good idea

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

 

[yamahaSHO]

22/26 Ftmfw

 

[jthod]

X2

 

[SHODWN]

www.nesho.com also has many sizes in stock.

The combo is depending on your driving and brakeing style.. Tires... HP and balls also contribute.

My suggestion is to drive a few different setups.. I run a 24/26 with 8" wheels and have never been passed by a SHO in many many events.

again its all in what you want to do with the car, Just dont beleive the stories that it will make the car rotate uncontrollable..

 

[brandon_oma#692]

whats wrong with 24/23? I do not know much about swaybars as the offroad rc stuf i used to race didnot use them.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Nothing wrong... if you like to see what you're going to hit (plowing).

 

[Shoaz]

22/26 Ftmfw

That's not a bad choice at all.

whats wrong with 24/23? I do not know much about swaybars as the offroad rc stuf i used to race didnot use them.

For a FWD car it's generally desirable to have good roll stiffness in the rear in order to keep the front tires working well. For a FWD street car, the rear is light enough that the rear springs need to be relatively soft in order to make the thing drivable and not shake itself apart every time you hit a bump. That means that the rear roll stiffness needs to come from the bar, so a thicker rear bar than the front is typical.

A 24/23 combination on otherwise healthy stock suspension would be expected to tend toward understeer. It'd probably be more understeer than most folks would like.

 

[brandon_oma#692]

For a FWD car it's generally desirable to have good roll stiffness in the rear in order to keep the front tires working well. For a FWD street car, the rear is light enough that the rear springs need to be relatively soft in order to make the thing drivable and not shake itself apart every time you hit a bump. That means that the rear roll stiffness needs to come from the bar, so a thicker rear bar than the front is typical.

A 24/23 combination on otherwise healthy stock suspension would be expected to tend toward understeer. It'd probably be more understeer than most folks would like.

Am i correct that a larger rear bar or stiffer rear springs would improve this? If so wat would be the better route to take?

 

[yamahaSHO]

If you go to stiffer springs, I would ensure it is a matched set all the way around. I larger rear bar will help you be able to bring the rear end around. The stiffer spring you put in, the smaller the bar you can get away with (until you completely remove the front sway bar).

I've been pretty content with how I've got mine... It is fairly neutral, however, I can step the back end out on command and reel it in without much effort. I have 22/26mm with Intrax springs (one coil cut up front), Koni struts (front slightly softer than hardest setting, rear full hard). SFC's AlSFB's, STB's, and TPR bushing all around (except for front sway bar which has poly with zerk fittings.

What I have found here at this altitude that my car plows more than anything... however, that's just my foot causing the problem.

 

[randy'sho]

do you really have to drop the subframe to install a front bar?

 

[yamahaSHO]

You don't have to completely drop it, but you do have to loosen the front bolts and remove the rears (do this at your own risk).

 

[1993MTXSHO]

how about throwing a 28mm bar in the rear and leaving the 24 up front, would that balance the car out more and avoid having him drop the subframe and stuff?

 

[yamahaSHO]

Although it would help, it will depend on rest of the cars setup and what you want to do with it. One of the things that are desired is traction up front. If you keep a thick bar up front, it can make it harder to get the traction to both wheels when turning.

Suspension generally takes some tuning. I've swapped stuff around quite a bit to get the car where I prefer.

 

[Shoaz]

Am i correct that a larger rear bar or stiffer rear springs would improve this? If so wat would be the better route to take?

It's all compromises, so the answer to that depends on what you want to do.

If the car is driven on the street you don't want the springs too stiff in the back or it'll be uncomfortable and rattly and not deal well with bumps and dips. This is why for a street car the rear springs are kept soft and the roll stiffness is obtained with a thick bar.

Many FWD race cars have extremely stiff rear springs. It's not uncommon to see rear spring rates in FWD race cars of 1000 lbs/in or higher (compared to about 150 lbs/in stock). Even our local Honda racers run anything from 800 to 1200 lb springs in the rear. The Pumpkin has 600 lb springs in the rear and there's no way I'd ever try driving that on the street...just driving around the paddock it bangs and rattles like it's going to fly apart if you hit anything thicker than a nickel.

And it depends on how you drive, where you drive, the road conditions where you drive, the compromises you're personally willing to put up with, etc., etc. For the most part, for a FWD car driven on the street if you just have the rear bar thicker than the front with stock springs you'll be in a reasonably happy region. It's all tweaking from there.

 

[randy'sho]

i have a 95mtx so i have the worst setup of all stock....i am going to do subframe connectors and swap out a gen 1 sway bar set up....thoughts?

 

[Shoaz]

What's it doing that you don't like?

Does it have stock suspension? If so, read the three-letter codes off the
springs and see what you really have. Also, just refreshing the springs with newer units will help overcome any sagging that's been going on. And even if the springs are decent you may like just a rear bar change, which is not hard to do.

 

[38SHO]

i have 24/23 on this pos, i think they are horrible.....

I liked the 20.5/23 setup, but soon I'm gonna try the 20.5/26mm setup...