Trying to find balance

[NitrousKing]

Hello out there. I have a 1998 camaro with various mods but most are suspesion. I have added strut braces, lowering springs, struts, control arms f+R, and 245/50/16s. I want to add sway bars but have heared that they can throw off your balance more then help. so if ya have a pointers then send them my way. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Wicked 3800 V6]

Post more info about your entire setup -- what control arms are you running, you have more than one strut brace?
By struts do you mean shocks? What brand / valving?
Lowering springs? How low / what rate

Sway bars are a curious thing. Dirt cheap and easy to install, but that leads many people (yeah, me) to do them before everything else, when in fact experts reccommend doing them after you finalize other stuff. Whatever.

Get a set of 32/19 1LEs. Or get a set of Suspension Techniques 35 and a 1LE 21. Go with poly endlinks at least, and body bushings would be even better. But you better have the tire grip to back all this up, and know that if you go with 32/21s (like many of us), or somehow don't install them right (it's a piece of cake), your car will handle MUCH differently. I installed the 21 rear and ran with it for a while, hellllllo snap oversteer. Just be careful. Go huge up front.

-Rob

[V6Bob]

Pointers:

If you have lowering (stiffer) springs, you have additional antiroll already. Stock bars may be fine. Really big ones will be too much.

Because stiffness changes as the fourth power of the diameter, a 2mm change is really pretty big. It's about twice as big a change on the rear as it is on the front.

To avoid changing the handling balance too much, keep the ratio, front/rear, about the same. If you make a change, make it toward a bigger front/smaller rear. Because of improved front camber, that will affect the balance less than going the other way.

[prdcp97v6]

V6BOB Is there information available to compare roll resistance on various swaybar diamaters and hollow vs solid? thanks

[ December 14, 2002: Message edited by: prdcp97v6 ]</p>

[V6Bob]

Absolute stiffness is a bear to do because the shape of the connection to the suspension figures into it.

Relative stiffness of two bars that have the same shape is diameter 1 to the fourth power divided by diameter 2 to the fourth power. For hollow bars use outer diameter to the fourth power minus inner diameter (gotta know this) to the fourth power instead.

[Red2K1]

I have upgraded to heavy duty (read 1LE)sway bars and found it to be the best mod yet in terms of adding handling stability to the car.