Would it be worth it to put sway bars on stock suspension? I replaced the struts back in febuary with OEM replacements. I am tired of body roll on corners, but don't want to deal with lowering or new struts now. Would there be any noticeable handling upgrade or less body roll with the eibach kit on stockers?
Well I am personally putting on a Progress rear anti-sway bar, as soon as it gets here I will post. But from what I read a sway bar alone will help greatly with understeer.
If you want to reduce body roll, you can start with strut braces front and back. I picked up a GM front strut bar off a convertible, and I can notice a difference right away as the front is more stable but the rear is still rolling, therefore, the car kind of twists in the corners.
I can't wait till I find one for the rear.
Big Benny wrote:If you want to reduce body roll, you can start with strut braces front and back. I picked up a GM front strut bar off a convertible, and I can notice a difference right away as the front is more stable but the rear is still rolling, therefore, the car kind of twists in the corners.
I can't wait till I find one for the rear.
Sorry dude, but a strut tower bar does nothing to help roll. It merely lessens the amount that the frame twists, and it's a marginal difference at that.
A sway bar is always a good thing to add to your car, whatever your suspension setup is.
14.330 @ 96.37mph
Odds are you already have a factory sway bar up front, and I feel that replacing it is only really worthwhile if you have other suspension upgrades. The rear sway bar is a relatively cheap and very easy-to-install item that will make some difference even on stock suspension. I ran an Addco rear (and factory front) sway bar with stock suspension for a couple of months before finally upgrading the rest. I definitely felt the car fell into line better after sudden maneuvers. Body roll was somewhat improved, but it really took lowering before that was sorted out.
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ok, seems fairly cheap for a nice handling upgrade.
I have a base model, so do I have a sway bar? It seems as though I never noticed one..., but who knows? Lowering is a no go for me, so I am just doing minor things as of now.
Geeky: Is that a bolt on basicly?, or very small bit of drilling?
Just crank the wheels all the way to one side, and stick your head in the back of the front wheel well. You should be able to see in around the tie rod, and something like this could be bolted in there.
That's what the upgraded Addco front bar looks like. You would be more likely to see something thinner and rusty -- like this one that my base-model had originally:
Not all Cavaliers had one, but most did. As far as the rear Addco bar, the first version did require drilling into the axle. The one I pictured above is the current version, which is completely bolt-on
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AFAIK the only Js that didn't get front swaybars are the VL models with the grey bumpers.
I put a Progress rear bar on my 99 Z24 and that made it leaps more predictable and added a lot of stick in the turns. Made it one hell of a 3 wheels machine too in hard cornering, once I put the rear strut brace on it though it stopped its 3 wheel antics.
Anywho, I autocross a bit and have stellar results with the suspension mods on my Z24 that are listed in my registry. Eventually I'll lower the car, but as its my DD I'm gonna wait until the stock stuff is worn out. Keeps more pennies rolling towards my Beretta in the meantime.
Rear sway bar was the first suspension upgrade I ever did, and I still think it was the best.
That was back in the day with the 19mm Hellwig bar. I've since upgraded it to the Eibach bar, but the bottom line is that yes, even on a completely stock car, a rear sway bar is a very worth while addition.
I plan on most likely going with the Eibach or Addco Rear bar for now. Is there any drilling with either of these? And for the price, in your personal experience, which one do you recommend more?
The Addco rear bar being sold today is no-drilling, though you might still find the old version that did need drilling. The current Eibach bar is no-drilling, and I honestly don't know if there was any other version.
I think either bar is a great choice. The Addco bar is slightly stiffer, and a bit cheaper. Both bars could be a bit overbalancing when installed in the rear only (potentially forcing oversteer), so it would be a good idea to plan on a matching front bar eventually (though this can obviously wait depending on your preferences, and if you have a factory front bar that's working out already.)
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FYI you can't buy the Eibach rear, Eibach only sells them as a set front and rear
Darkstars wrote:FYI you can't buy the Eibach rear, Eibach only sells them as a set front and rear
A little hard to find, but they are available separately:
Front only: 3860.310
Rear only: 3860.312
Set: 3860.320
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that's news to me. I've never seen them sold seperate. But then again the end links for the front are to long and you need to use the rear links on the front bar.... Which you wouldn't have unless you bought the pair.
