GM 32mm sway bars? Need opinions

[DdaRave]

I had been considering purchasing a BMR 32" front sway bar for my car. But in the post "-=Basic Suspension Guidelines=-" there was a respost from moi that said the following:
"Another note about swaybars - unless you're fond of pretty things and are willing to pay for them, the GM bar selection is fine. They are painted mild steel and function well. The 32/21 bars are hollow and light for their size, and inexpensive. Being black they also don't look conspicuous to dealers or service people . I recommend staying away from BMR bars because they're solid, heavy, and expensive."
After looking into this a little deeper i was able to find a great deal on a GM 32mm front sway bar, and now have become very tempted...opinions on what I should do?

[hockeyman]

Well, this has been discussed alot lately. I am going with a 32/19 setup, but I am also upgrading to new shocks and V8 springs all around. It's said that the 32/19 doesn't do too well with V6 springs, and it's quite dangerous too when under hard cornering. the 21mm rear bar has been shot down many of times here because of it's instability. I can't really give a personal opinion on it though because I've never had one installed.
If you need anymore opinions, do a search in the suspension section and enter "swaybar". You'll get tons of info!

[articacid]

i am with hockeyman on this, i also plan on going with the 32/19 setup(1le setup i do believe). the one in the back is the one to watch, 1 mm in the rear makes a big difference in handling.

[Vracer111]

Originally posted by hockeyman:
Well, this has been discussed alot lately. I am going with a 32/19 setup, but I am also upgrading to new shocks and V8 springs all around. It's said that the 32/19 doesn't do too well with V6 springs, and it's quite dangerous too when under hard cornering. the 21mm rear bar has been shot down many of times here because of it's instability. I can't really give a personal opinion on it though because I've never had one installed.
If you need anymore opinions, do a search in the suspension section and enter "swaybar". You'll get tons of info!

Suspension really depends on the driver experience and car setup preferences. I have been running the Hotchkis Sport swaybar set (36.7mm front 25mm rear, both hollow) on stock springs with Koni SA dampers and 275/40-17 Nitto NT-555RII DOT race tires on 17x9.5 Z06 wheels for autocross and it works brilliantly. But it's a racer, not a daily driver, and wide sticky tires and adjustable rear dampers are a must IMO for that swaybar setup to work - that setup will no work with "street" tires and non-adjustable high quality dampers! I definitely would not recommend my suspension setup to anyone unless they are competent with driving a racecar and it's not their primary vehicle. But haven't said that I haven't found it worrying or dangerous to drive on the road. I may try and step down to a 22mm rear sway bar to help with more adjustability with rear rotation though (which you adjust by damper settings and tire pressure levels) or I could always get a pair of 17x11 tires and effectively do the same thing while keeping the 25mm rear bar.

I personally don't see what the big fuss is over 19mm rear sway bars being dangerous, I can't imagine them doing much beside making the car barely neutral handling with adequately selected street tires. Over-resposiveness of the rear shouldn't be a problem. And upgrading the rear swaybar is not effective without upgrading your tires...unless you're one of the smart ones who's first upgrade is high performance tires. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[T-Punk]

Deffinately get better tires first. The difference is night and day. I have bridgestone re750 (245 50 R16) and they just dont lose traction. I would deffinately recomend them. I think after the kyb shocks and 1le springs i'll be moving up to 32 front and 19 rear sways. I might try the addco 19mm (3/4") just to try something different.

[FirebirdGT]

Originally posted by Vracer111:
I personally don't see what the big fuss is over 19mm rear sway bars being dangerous, I can't imagine them doing much beside making the car barely neutral handling with adequately selected street tires.

The 19mm is not the problem, the 21mm is with only a 32mm front and stock springs.

[DdaRave]

I've got Yokahama Avid H4s (255/40-17) and they've been working quite well. The springs have also been replaced, but I'm not sure with what as it was done by the previous owner...it's just obvious the car was lowered...so I'm leaning toward trying a 32/19 set up.

[Den69RS96]

I have sway bars off a 2000 ss camaro on my 96RS. I think they are 32 and 19mm. I have bilstein shocks, stock v6 springs, hotchkis lca and panhard rod, subframe connectors, and sumitomo 245 tires. My car handles much better and it very stable. I drive it pretty hard on the street and she handles great at least for me.