Is it worth upgrading the stock REAR anti sway bar?

spederman

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Apr 13, 2005
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I was looking at the steeda heavy duty rear anti sway bar. Its $125, which doesnt seem to bad if it makes handling noticably better. Anybody have an aftermarket rear anti sway bar? Did you notice anything?
 
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spederman said:
Is it worth upgrading the stock REAR anti sway bar?
Yes as long as it is a Solid (96-98 Cobra or equivlant) swaybar, most companys that sell swaybars are solid and just as good, if not a little thicker. So yes a Steeda rear bar is better than stock, basically any bar is better than stock :D


further down the modding road is an adjustable one, something the daily driver doesnt really need ;)
 
it all depends on your suspension set up. You'll be increasing the spring rate on the rear which means it could upset the balance of the suspension if it was meant to work together like I would assume the saleen/racecraft is meant to do. But if you really want to upgrade....I have a 96-98 Cobra rear swaybar I dont use anymore....pm me if you are interested......
 
spederman said:
I was looking at the steeda heavy duty rear anti sway bar. Its $125, which doesnt seem to bad if it makes handling noticably better. Anybody have an aftermarket rear anti sway bar? Did you notice anything?
With Good LCA's, a stiffer rear swaybar is actually discouraged.

Wade
 
spederman said:
Seriously? Because i am in the process of ordering some Maximum Motorsport adjustable heavy duty (drag) LCA's. So should I stick to the stock GT rear sway bar?
If you are drag only, a stronger/larger swaybar should be fine. But in cornering limits, if you have good LCA's, too stiff of a swaybar can cause the rear end to give way without warning, instead of having some flex.
 
wms004 said:
If you are drag only, a stronger/larger swaybar should be fine. But in cornering limits, if you have good LCA's, too stiff of a swaybar can cause the rear end to give way without warning, instead of having some flex.


Yeah, that wouldnt be good. I hit the track maybe once every couple months. But I love spirited driving with my saleen. :D So i dont really want to do anything to it that will hurt the handling in turns either. I guess, I'll stick with the stock rear sway bar. Especially since i saw this autocross club doing their thing in an empty stadium parking lot. I was thinking about looking them up and getting into it.
 
wms004 said:
too stiff of a swaybar can cause the rear end to give way without warning, instead of having some flex.
that point also follows the front swaybar aswell, because the mustang is built from the factory with understeer, when you upgrade the rear you are balancing out the steer in the car, you just have to tune it right with the sway bar you choose
 
wms004 said:
If you are drag only, a stronger/larger swaybar should be fine. But in cornering limits, if you have good LCA's, too stiff of a swaybar can cause the rear end to give way without warning, instead of having some flex.


Explain this some more. Your comment can be taken 2 ways. The way it reads you are saying that the rear should move around? If that is the case, why is a Panhard bar one of the best suspension upgrades for the rear of a Mustang? The Panhard bar prevents any lateral movement of the year. It is possible that you are referring to body roll as that is what a sway bar is used to control. As I understand it, what you are saying is totally untrue. The other thing that you could, and probably do, mean to say is that the tires of the car will loose grip before the chassis & suspension really feels loaded. While that is true as well it only occurs when a suspension system is not properly balanced and/or the tires and are not up to par with everything else. I know a lot of people who spend a lot of money on really high $ suspensions and then cheap out with Pep Boys tires....makes no sense.
 
First of all, what are you intentions for the car?

My .02:
Drag racing: use a good quality anti roll bar welded to the frame and axle tubes.

Road racing: Factory solid rear sway bar with a pan hard bar kit or, watts link kit. I prefer pan hard bars for ease of installation/adjustment and my background in NASCAR

Street car: Factory control sway bars with good control arms and solid housing bushings.
 
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