Oh the suspens(ion).

[Dewey]

Looking to replace my swaybars. Suggestions? And if I replace these, what else will be affected? Also, why the hell does my front end seem to jump when I hit a pothole mid-turn? And finally, will my stock 16" tires have to go if I get lowering springs?

[Patrick Javert]

you can pick from a few swaybar manufacturers. I suggest doing other things such as stb, sfc's, lca's, springs/shocks, torque arm, and panhard rod before you mess w/ swaybars. get the swaybars matched to the rest of your suspension. You may not need huge ones if you already have a fairly tight suspension with the stuff I just said to do.

[Dewey]

Do these have the potential to reduce the body roll I'm experiencing in turns? That's my major gripe right now.

[Cale]

Uhhhh. Patty boy is wanting you to do a little too much.

If you're looking to do achieve better handling, decreased body roll, without going all out - I strongly recommend the 1LE sway bars. I bought mine used, but I think they don't cost but $200 for the set from GMPartsDirect.com
Matching the suspension is good, but nobody on here is building a road racer.
I'd also recommend upgrading to a 17" tire/wheel combo. That should help quite a bit as well.
You shouldnt have to worry about the lowering springs.

[Dewey]

PHEW!!! Thought I was going to have to deep six the job before I even started it. Thanks for the clarification. Though somewhere down the line, I'll consider the rest of Pat's suggestions, I'm sure.

[V6Bob]

Dewey - You don't have to go off the deep end, but Patrick is basically right. Swaybars should be matched to your suspension. If you are planning to do several mods, swaybars should be the last one. At the very least, if you're planning to get lowering springs, do that first. The lowering springs will surely be stiffer and will reduce roll themselves. The spring manufacturer should know what swaybars work well with their springs.


If you put the early 1LE bars on a late model stock V6 you will not only reduce roll, you will alter the handling towards oversteer. You are increasing the rear roll resistance (15mm bar to 21) way more than the front (28 to 32). It's not linear, it's a 4th power thing, so it's a big difference. To increase roll resistance while keeping the understeer/oversteer balance the same you keep the size ratio of the bars the same. A set of swaybars that can do this are the 35mm Suspension Techniques (Sam Strano has them at a good price) and a 19mm rear from a junkyard V8. IMHO these are a better (safer) choice for use with a stock late model V6 than the '93 1LEs. The springs are the major thing which interact with swaybars, but everything counts some.

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: V6Bob ]</p>

[Patrick Javert]

yeah, i know i want to do everything, but seriously. If you want a few quick things that'll make you handle better, lower profile tires when you wear the current ones out, 1LE swaybars, lowering springs, and STB. these'll run you 2000 installed roughly, this estimate is without buying tires/rims, but the other three things mentioned.

[Wicked 3800 V6]

STB -- $90 max, self installed.
Sway bars -- $150 - $350, $30 for poly ELs, self installed.
Lowerin' -- $no idea ... $200?
Lower profile tires -- Kuhmos for $90 each ...
not quite 2000 ... don't scare him away.
And why not add SFCs to the list ... very cheap (this new place ... http://www.spectaclesolutions.com has bolt-on diamonds for $125+ship, install yourself

-Rob

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: Wicked 3800 V6 ]</p>

[Jason McCallister]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Wicked 3800 V6:
And why not add SFCs to the list ... very cheap (this new place ... http://www.spectaclesolutions.com has bolt-on diamonds for $125+ship, install yourself<hr></blockquote>

Best bang for the buck suspension mod you can do IMHO! ;) I can testify to the good quality of their parts! He's also a club member and sponsor of the West Tennessee F-Body Association! :D

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: Jason McCallister ]</p>

[Patrick Javert]

Don't get bolt-on sfc's, they just come loose at the bolts. get weld on if you plan on getting them. I don't do suspension stuff myself. I'd rather pay somebody to put it on.

[Jason McCallister]

Gotta disagree with you, Patrick. I've had my SFC's on for over 6 months now and not a single loose bolt! I've checked periodically (when doing oil changes) and never did I have to tighten a loose bolt! :D

FWIW: If you weld double-diamond type subframe connectors, you won't be able to do tranny work without cutting the SFC's off! :eek:

[Dominic]

I strongly recommend a set of 1LE swaybars with their insulators from www.lmperformance.com

The guy is a little slow, but he got me a fantastic deal!

Then goto somewhere like thunderracing.com and order their urethane endlinks. The endlinks they sell are serious quality components - I totally love mine and I don't understand what the hell GM thought when they put those stock sways on my car!

The 32/21 combination is ENOUGH antisway, and it will not badly affect any future modifications you do, it will merely amplify them in the body-roll catagory. Even the swaybars Eibach sells to compliment their springs are 32/21 - trust me on this one, they are PLENTY big and get in the way of nothing!

Best mod I've done yet, the car feels SO much more solid I really can have fun driving it now without feeling like I'm gonna die :D [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Dewey]

How's this.... set of 1LE swaybars from www.lmperformance.com in addition to some Prothane polyurethane bushings and the Eibach Performance Lowering Spring Kit from www.thunderracing.com That should handle the roll factor and front end drop during braking, yes? Now I think I read something about wheel hop somewhere and if I interpreted correctly, it's when your front wheel(s) kind of jump if you hit a bump mid turn, or something like that? What cures that?

[DominusEtDeusNatus]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dewey:
How's this.... set of 1LE swaybars from www.lmperformance.com in addition to some Prothane polyurethane bushings and the Eibach Performance Lowering Spring Kit from www.thunderracing.com That should handle the roll factor and front end drop during braking, yes? Now I think I read something about wheel hop somewhere and if I interpreted correctly, it's when your front wheel(s) kind of jump if you hit a bump mid turn, or something like that? What cures that?<hr></blockquote>

Wheel hop is when the rear wheels hop under hard acceleration. You'll need shocks for those Eibachs.

[Wicked 3800 V6]

Listen, you CAN do the STB yourself. Open the hood, remove four nuts, place bar, replace four nuts. You really won't even get your hands dirty. Might be 13mm nuts at that, to make it easier for you. SFCs you need to get on your back for, as well as the sway bars, but they really aren't a big deal, and are amazingly easy with ramps. When the "new" SFCs from spectacle come out, I think I may order a set, though I must debate the AutoX classing factors.
-Rob