Poly bushings for 15mm rear sway bar?

[good2Bking]

Anyone know where to I can get poly sway and end-link bushings for the stock 15mm rear bar? I tried PST and struck out; they don't go smaller than 19mm.

[AllTheGoodNamesAreGone]

really... PST dident have it?? wow.. that suprises me.. umm.. look around for energy suspension and prothane ones.. they are pretyy generic parts..

[MustangEater8251]

or upgrade to a stock z28 rear sway of 19mm... I am sure you will end up psending more on the bushings then on a 19mm rear sway bar [img]smile.gif[/img]

[V6Bob]

"upgrade to a stock z28 rear sway of 19mm..."

On an otherwise stock 98+ V6 that's not an upgrade. It's a ticket to bad oversteer. Really bad idea.

[MustangEater8251]

Originally posted by V6Bob:
"upgrade to a stock z28 rear sway of 19mm..."

On an otherwise stock 98+ V6 that's not an upgrade. It's a ticket to bad oversteer. Really bad idea.

err... I forgot to add... both front and rear...

[V6Bob]

Still not a good idea. The front bar change is small and largely compensated for by the improved camber curve. The rear bar change is huge and uncompensated for.

Putting bars designed for one car(springs) on another is generally a bad idea.

[good2Bking]

Originally posted by MustangEater8251:
or upgrade to a stock z28 rear sway of 19mm

Appreciate the suggestion, but I really don't want to loosen the car up too much. The rural roads I drive have lots of blind curves, and ditches and drop-offs on either side of the road are the norm. Having the rear swing around on me would not be desirable. Plus I absolutely love accelerating hard out of turns :D ...

I've got Bilstein HDs, a 32mm 1LE front bar and lots of polygrapite bushings (except for the rear sway and links) en route, and I'm hoping that will get rid of a lot of the roll and balance her out ... If not, I may look to go bigger on both bars.

Prothanes may work btw, got to go take some bracket measurements ... thanks for the help all.

[MustangEater8251]

you be fine with a wspecially with a 32mm front...

v6bob's post makes it sound like you will do 360s if you make a slight turn... It won't...

I have driven 2 weeks with no front sway(as in it was sitting in my apartment, not on my car) and a 21mm rear sway with poly bushing and endlinks, and it was not that bad for normal driving jsut when I got hard on it.

actually 32 front 19mm rear seems to be a common sway bar combo, but alot of people liek to go up to 35mm front...

[good2Bking]

Geez! No front sway and a 21 rear? Sounds like a setup for a FWD car ... Granted I have yet to experiment but I'm inclined to think anything much larger than the bar I have now will loosen the car up more than I want. Sure it understeers now, with basically no suspension mods, but I think that's mostly to do with all the body roll and those stock Goodyears we all love so much.

[MustangEater8251]

I used to run the 1LE sway bar setup of 32mm front 21mm rear, I took the fornt bar off for drag racing, but driving around town it wasn't horrid, still handled better then my 92 GMC Jimmy ever did but it was not a "sports car feel"

the stock sway bar setup on a z28 is 30 front 19mm rear.

z28s do not ahe a huge problem with oversteer granted there spring rate is different but not that extremely far off...

[good2Bking]

I dunno, that Z28 has stiffer front springs and a more front-heavy weight distribution.

I know a lot of people will say I'm an idiot for saying this, but I don't think the stock setup has a ton of understeer. All I can base that on is how it feels to me. Several months back someone (v6bob maybe) said in a post that driving too fast into a turn causes a lot of understeer. I went out that afternoon to test that, slowing the car down before I entered a turn instead of braking during the turn. You know what? That was a damn good bit of info.

The biggest concern I have going to a bigger bar in the rear is driving in the rain. Right now, I consider the car borderline unacceptable on wet roads, and that's with a 15mm rear. The tail just always feels like it's about to break loose if the road is wet (of course this is probably tires more than anything). Not a big deal now, I work at home and can just stay home if it's wet out. But I start a new job Monday, and will be doing a 50-mile round trip daily, so I'd better feel comfortable driving it in the rain from now on. I don't see how a larger rear bar (with stock springs) will aid handling in wet weather.

At any rate, I expect the decrease in deflection due to the poly bushings will make a dramatic difference in the rear bar's effectiveness. But, it's all just theory, and I doubt many people get their setup just the way they like it on first try.

[MustangEater8251]

Z28 has stiffer front springs for the heavier motor...

If it had v6 springs, the front end woudl be very low, if a v6 had v8 springs the front end woudl be jacked up...

The entering a turn to prevent understeer is true.

but 15mm rear sway bar is pretty small... older v6s had a 30/17 setup, newer v6s have 28/15

v8s have had 30/19

1LE is 32/21

and alot of people seem to like 35/19 for performance...

I live in florida, I had a car with LSD, bald tires and a 21mm rear sway bar, and I made it just fine through the rain...

bald tires
http://www.mustangeater825.50megs.co...r/DSC00078.jpg

[whiteshark]

Originally posted by good2Bking:
The tail just always feels like it's about to break loose if the road is wet (of course this is probably tires more than anything).

I think the tires are more a culprit there than the rear bar. I have a 19mm rear bar and kumhos, and I've never had a problem in the rain. I'm no where near an expert in this subject, all I know is what I feel, and I know this, driving my car (with 32mm front bar/19mm rear) feels 100% more stable than driving my brothers 98 bird (15mm rear, and 28 front maybe? don't remmeber) I feel much more in control in my car. But that's just my personal, biased, completely uneducated opinion :D

[MustangEater8251]

Originally posted by whiteshark:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by good2Bking:
The tail just always feels like it's about to break loose if the road is wet (of course this is probably tires more than anything).

I think the tires are more a culprit there than the rear bar. I have a 19mm rear bar and kumhos, and I've never had a problem in the rain. I'm no where near an expert in this subject, all I know is what I feel, and I know this, driving my car (with 32mm front bar/19mm rear) feels 100% more stable than driving my brothers 98 bird (15mm rear, and 28 front maybe? don't remmeber) I feel much more in control in my car. But that's just my personal, biased, completely uneducated opinion :D </font>[/QUOTE]I agree with you, granted the srping rates were different and my shocks were dead on my 94, but my 94 felt alot more stable with 32/21 sway bars, stock springs, and bad shocks then my current car.

[V6Bob]

"I know a lot of people will say I'm an idiot for saying this, but I don't think the stock setup has a ton of understeer."

Sam Strano says the same thing. You're in _very_ good company.

"older v6s had a 30/17 setup, newer v6s have 28/15
v8s have had 30/19
1LE is 32/21
and a lot of people seem to like 35/19 for performance..."

And the basic reason is they all have different springs. You cannot say anything about bars without considering spring rates, period. And 32/21 is not the true 1LE. It was a setup GM tried on just a few cars in 93 before they decided, with input from racers, that the 21 rear was too big. 1LE bars are 32/19.

Hang in there Good2BKing, you're thinking good thoughts. :D For example:

"I don't see how a larger rear bar (with stock springs) will aid handling in wet weather."

Yep. When it rains, racers back off roll stiffness, especially at the rear.