Rear sway bar ONLY

[39F]

So I'm considering removing my front sway bar and running just a rear one ,I have feeling once I get full traction I'm going to need it . Need opinions on this ,I ran no sway bars before on my Malibu it was horrible , current spec of the car 427 ,4 speed, 9in 433 gears, QA1 adjustable rear shocks, v6 springs in front, 225LB springs in rear . Car weighs 3506 lbs 42% rear weight 52% left weight . Car is mostly street driven

 

[fleming442]

Street driven or street raced?
I'd leave it for regular driving, but I also never understood how removing it helps at the track, unless your car twists real bad on the leave.

 

[billyjack]

I'm an oval track guy, so I don't know beans about how to hook up a drag car. That being said, running a rear sway bar without a front bar would be a nightmare on the street. Your forcing the rear suspension to do most of the body roll control, which would make the car very much tail-happy in the corners. An extremely loose car can be fun on a relatively tight, low-speed autocross course, but not on the street where having the rear end snap loose without warning could be dangerous.

Bill

 

[39F]

I'm an oval track guy, so I don't know beans about how to hook up a drag car. That being said, running a rear sway bar without a front bar would be a nightmare on the street. Your forcing the rear suspension to do most of the body roll control, which would make the car very much tail-happy in the corners. An extremely loose car can be fun on a relatively tight, low-speed autocross course, but not on the street where having the rear end snap loose without warning could be dangerous.

Bill

Yea I'm a circle track guy too we don't use sway bars they just don't work ,big learning curve here

 

[69hurstolds]

Street driven or street raced?
I'd leave it for regular driving, but I also never understood how removing it helps at the track, unless your car twists real bad on the leave.

Just take off the links before heading to the track on the front bar. Put them back for running around on the street. Helps allow the front to extend up a bit further on the leave for more weight transfer to the rear for a better hook if you need to do that. But putting the front end in the air has it's own set of issues, so there's that.

You could get a rear sway bar like the blazer setup or similar aftermarket to help with body roll on the leave. This way you don't have to jack with air bags or any of that rot on the street. Believe it or not, the rear sway bar mounted to the frame/chassis normally allows you to plant better and not squirrel it up...equates to a hair quicker time usually. My brother didn't have any sways on his 73 Camaro race car. Less weight he claimed. Just used traction bars. He would torque that joker and was nearly always inconsistent out of the gate. After trying different slick sizes and pressures, he ended up talking to other guys on what to do to get a better plant. Four words. Rear adjustable sway bar. He got an aftermarket sway bar for drag racing. Had the body mounted adjustable end links for pre-load, and clamped it to the rear end and is now a sold customer. Funny how one relatively cheap part can make the difference sometimes. This is where a LCA mounted sway bar is USELESS as it doesn't really do much for the axle/body roll up. But obviously you wouldn't need a drag racing specific bar if you mainly tool around on the street.

It really depends on how bad you need it. Power levels should make that determination. If you're making a lot of HP, do it. If you've ever seen crinked sheetmetal on cars that twist up on the leave, you'd know those cars need some sway bar action in the back. Even if you're not and driving it on the street, you'll need some bars front and rear on it.

 

[pontiacgp]

Yea I'm a circle track guy too we don't use sway bars they just don't work ,big learning curve here

we used front sway bars i all our circle track cars from low end track cars up to pro late models, no sway bars in the back though. The front sway bar adds spring weight when need and allows the suspension work the track. It would need a high rated spring on the right side without a sway bar making it harder to handle going down the straights

 

[39F]

we used front sway bars i all our circle track cars from low end track cars up to pro late models, no sway bars in the back though. The front sway bar adds spring weight when need and allows the suspension work the track. It would need a high rated spring on the right side without a sway bar making it harder to handle going down the straights
[/QUOT
Yea is that on asphalt racing probably I'm on dirt ,they make the car unpredictable cause of bumps in the track

 

[39F]

Just take off the links before heading to the track on the front bar. Put them back for running around on the street. Helps allow the front to extend up a bit further on the leave for more weight transfer to the rear for a better hook if you need to do that. But putting the front end in the air has it's own set of issues, so there's that.

You could get a rear sway bar like the blazer setup or similar aftermarket to help with body roll on the leave. This way you don't have to jack with air bags or any of that rot on the street. Believe it or not, the rear sway bar mounted to the frame/chassis normally allows you to plant better and not squirrel it up...equates to a hair quicker time usually. My brother didn't have any sways on his 73 Camaro race car. Less weight he claimed. Just used traction bars. He would torque that joker and was nearly always inconsistent out of the gate. After trying different slick sizes and pressures, he ended up talking to other guys on what to do to get a better plant. Four words. Rear adjustable sway bar. He got an aftermarket sway bar for drag racing. Had the body mounted adjustable end links for pre-load, and clamped it to the rear end and is now a sold customer. Funny how one relatively cheap part can make the difference sometimes. This is where a LCA mounted sway bar is USELESS as it doesn't really do much for the axle/body roll up. But obviously you wouldn't need a drag racing specific bar if you mainly tool around on the street.

It really depends on how bad you need it. Power levels should make that determination. If you're making a lot of HP, do it. If you've ever seen crinked sheetmetal on cars that twist up on the leave, you'd know those cars need some sway bar action in the back. Even if you're not and driving it on the street, you'll need some bars front and rear on it.

I think I'm making 450 500hp ,I did some testing on Sunday and I put some rubber down first I left at about 3000 with 20 psi spun 1st ,2nd, some of 3rd ,then left at little under 3000 with 15 psi and made the rear shocks softer spun 1st most of 2nd ,then dropped to. 12 psi and started grabbing in second but was kinda unstable in 4th like a wishy washy feeling I the back end ,then started raining so I went home ,but I can start to feel the car twist a little now