Sway bar installed......?'s

[Ian]

did my 19mm rear sway bar the other day, and put it in with no problems. anyway, anyone have one of these in your car?

i feel the difference, but im not sure if i like it. turns that i could normally take on these backroads i drive at 55mph and grip will now cause my back end to slide out sometimes.

now, also keep this in mind. my tires are the BFG ones that come stock, and gettin down there on tread. Is it just the tires, or is the sway bar gonna do this to newer tires also?

[FireFighter]

well i have the 21mm 1LE bar and i hate it thru the turns.

[speedy-v6-camaro]

Well....if you didn't match it with a bigger front bar and stiffer shocks and springs then of course its not gonnna feel any better. Learn some suspension theory before you change anything else.

[zlexiss]

Are you still on the stock front bar? If so, then yes, your car will tend too much towards understeer, especially at higher speeds. You want at least the 1LE 32mm bar in there, and V6Bob will argue for the 35mm ST (or SLP) bars.

Firefighter: I'd only use the 21 bar with a 35 in front. I was thinking of trying it out with the 1LE bar, but I think (for autocrossing) the balance is perfect with 19mm in back. V6Bob and I have debated this at length, search the archives.

19 in the back is too stiff for a 28mm or 30mm bar and the stock spring setups. You need more weight transfer at the front.

You might be able to alleviate it a little by playing with tire pressures (go higher in front, 36-38 psi and 31 in back), but it won't change things too much, you need to balance the bars out.

-Jeff

[Ian]

ok, the swaybars were from a Z28. is the front bar on a Z bigger? cause i have it also, i just thought it was the same size as the one on there.

lemme know, thanks.

[V6Bob]

"did my 19mm rear sway bar the other day, and put it in with no problems. anyway, anyone have one of these in your car?
i feel the difference, but im not sure if i like it. turns that i could normally take on these backroads i drive at 55mph and grip will now cause my back end to slide out sometimes."

You have good instincts. The big rear bar is making your car handle worse. I strongly advise you to go back to stock. The car will handle even worse in wet weather. It is likely to bite you bad in an emergency type situation.

"ok, the swaybars were from a Z28. is the front bar on a Z bigger? cause i have it also, i just thought it was the same size as the one on there."

Yep, it's the same size.

"Are you still on the stock front bar? If so, then yes, your car will tend too much towards understeer, especially at higher speeds."

I'm sure that's just a slip of the keyboard. You meant oversteer, of course.

"You want at least the 1LE 32mm bar in there, and V6Bob will argue for the 35mm ST (or SLP) bars."

Nope. My sole mission is to try and get people to not create an unsafe car with too big a rear bar (easy to do, there are some bad bars being sold/recommended on the Net). I'm out there on those roads :D .

"I'd only use the 21 bar with a 35 in front."

If the 21 rear is too big for a V8 with a 35 front (and most V8 guys think it is) it's _way_ too big for V6 springs.

Sway bars are difficult things to mess with.

[ January 09, 2004: Message edited by: V6Bob ]</p>

[Ian]

Thanks for the info V6Bob, i know that you are the "suspension guru" on here, so im takin that into account. The 19 is comin off as soon as i can.

Higher speeds around the turn cause the car to fishtail. When i bring the rear back around from the slide, it snaps into place and i really gotta concentrate on steering in the right direction. I think the 19 will go into my garage where i can keep it for my suspension upgrades this summer.

Is there a book/site that i can go to to get info on what parts mesh together to work best? I know a little about suspension, but not too in depth. I want to learn..........i want to learn everything.......lol.

[speedy-v6-camaro]

Search yahoo for some suspension theory....and do a search on V6Bob's posts in this forum....he has explained suspension theory on the fbodies more than once.

[V6Bob]

"I know a little about suspension, but not too in depth. I want to learn..........i want to learn everything.......lol."

Herb Adam's Chassis Engineering gives some of the basics. Fred Puhn's How to Make Your Car Handle goes into more detail. The best book on suspension theory I know is Carroll Smith's Tune to Win. But don't go there first. It's very difficult and it's definitely _not_ a good book if you don't already know a lot about suspension before you read it. All these guys are pros who made a living designing/tuning cars.

"do a search on V6Bob's posts in this forum....he has explained suspension theory on the fbodies more than once"

Don't just trust stuff off the Net, including me. You always need to have a personal solid knowledge base to figure out what's good on the Net and what's some amateurs wild idea. The pros still write books, not websites.

[ January 09, 2004: Message edited by: V6Bob ]</p>

[Ian]

thanks again v6bob, i appreciate the info.

[FireFighter]

I have sprint springs and kyb agx's no front bar tho