Aftermarket Sway Bar Selection

[ElkySS89]

I think at this point, I might just run an F41 bar up front and go from there. My theory is I shouldn't need such a stiff bar in the front anyway since my engine is about 100 lbs lighter than stock

 

[RegalX78]

I've seen a few people claim it's best to just use the biggest front sway bar you can find for our cars, which is Belltech from what I've found. I'm a little skeptical of that idea and would like some opinions from people who autocross their cars or at least built it for handling. Right now, I'm considering a Beltech front with a UMI chassis mounted rear bar but wanna make sure I'm making the right choice before I buy them.

I have a Hollow 36mm bar on the front and a 1'' control arm mounted UMI rear bar. I feel the car still has a decent amount of body roll. I think I need to look towards a stiffer rear spring rate at this point.

 

[melloelky]

there's a book called how to make your car handle by Mark Savitske,it's light theory that goes into all this stuff.he was a sh*t box of a sales guy but the amount that the book goes into covering these parallel 4 link suspension cars/sway bar theory/geometry/etc makes for a good read.it's since been revised aswell.

 

[ElkySS89]

there's a book called how to make your car handle by Mark Savitske,it's light theory that goes into all this stuff.he was a sh*t box of a sales guy but the amount that the book goes into covering these parallel 4 link suspension cars/sway bar theory/geometry/etc makes for a good read.it's since been revised aswell.

Yea, I read it. Good book. Didn't go too deep on sway bar selection though

 

[melloelky]

i liked it too.there's 4-5 pages on sway bar and sway bar related. One thing that he does point out is that "many people fall into the bigger as better trap and shop only for the largest bar they can find. Sometimes this works but many times their compromise in the vehicles performance. If other mods have been made say in an increased Spring rate lowered roll center,things like that the best way bar may be a smaller swaybar. The vehicle is really a combination of its parts and it doesn't care how massive the sway bar may look it only cares how the sway bar interacts with a rest of its components. And that makes perfect sense because if your vehicle is mostly stock and all the suspension opponents are totally clapped out you put a huge sway underneath it you're only masking existing problem.

 

[scoti]

there's a book called how to make your car handle by Mark Savitske,it's light theory that goes into all this stuff.he was a sh*t box of a sales guy but the amount that the book goes into covering these parallel 4 link suspension cars/sway bar theory/geometry/etc makes for a good read.it's since been revised aswell.

Not meaning to be a d*ckhead here but g-bodys are not parallel 4-link suspension. G-bodys are C4L (converging 4 link) set-ups. Big difference between the two.

Mark was a great source for suspension info @ one time.

 

[melloelky]

my mistake 👍 i meant to say triangulated four link. thank you for the correction,it was necessary.

 

[ElkySS89]

Not meaning to be a d*ckhead here but g-bodys are not parallel 4-link suspension. G-bodys are C4L (converging 4 link) set-ups. Big difference between the two.

Mark was a great source for suspension info @ one time.

I've been reading a bunch of his old posts. It's a shame he had to completely disappear

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

A better simple theory is to use thick bars with softer springs or thinner bars with stiffer springs. For example, the police package Crown Vics use stiffer springs but thinner bars than regular Crown Vics, this is mainly for them to help haul heavy loads.

Keep in mind with G bodies that stiffer suspensions causes the frame and body to flex more. This is why stiffening the chassis and body is important for these cars. Full set of good body mount bushings, F41 braces, GP brace, Jeff brace, rear seat brace, rear shock brace, etc.

 

[ElkySS89]

A better simple theory is to use thick bars with softer springs or thinner bars with stiffer springs. For example, the police package Crown Vics use stiffer springs but thinner bars than regular Crown Vics, this is mainly for them to help haul heavy loads.

Keep in mind with G bodies that stiffer suspensions causes the frame and body to flex more. This is why stiffening the chassis and body is important for these cars. Full set of good body mount bushings, F41 braces, GP brace, Jeff brace, rear seat brace, rear shock brace, etc.

I never thought of it that way but that's a good point. That said, I'm already running UMI braces on the front and rear and fresh poly body bushings. Working on finding some under hood braces.