sway bar

[redline racer510]

the other day i tried installing godspeed front and rear sway ars and due to fitment issues decided to hold off on installing them and just replace the bushings with poly bushing is there really any need to upgrade the sway bars for dd and will just replacing the bushings be good enough to hold back most of the body roll

[xs240]

replacing bushings wont decrease bodyroll it'll just make the the swaybar stay in place lol... better endlinks will make the bar more effective but only a higher rate bar will decrease bodyroll. By the way the godspeed ones are crush bent swaybars lol they are MASSIVE but crush bent... made in china is an understatement but.. some happy users report positive improvement but it wont compare to a properly researched and designed bar FYI.

What is your goal? Performance driving or drift? If you want performance driving a slightly larger front and no rear or stock non hicas rear is a good idea. If you want drift, well, I'll leave that to the drift crowd, you don't want a big rear swaybar on our cars at all.. stock non-hicas or no bar... for performance

[racepar1]

Replacing the bushings will have a small effect on body roll, but nothing major. I personally don't think the swaybars ever need to be upgraded very much, I still run stock on my track car. I may upgrade to the progress bars eventually though, which are the only swaybars that I would personally consider putting on my car.

[S14DB]

replacing bushings wont decrease bodyroll it'll just make the the swaybar stay in place lol... better endlinks will make the bar more effective but only a higher rate bar will decrease bodyroll. By the way the godspeed ones are crush bent swaybars lol they are MASSIVE but crush bent... made in china is an understatement but.. some happy users report positive improvement but it wont compare to a properly researched and designed bar FYI.

What is your goal? Performance driving or drift? If you want performance driving a slightly larger front and no rear or stock non hicas rear is a good idea. If you want drift, well, I'll leave that to the drift crowd, you don't want a big rear swaybar on our cars at all.. stock non-hicas or no bar... for performance

So we should get mandrel bent swaybars for more flow? :rofl: WTF are you talking about? Only Hollow vs solid matters.
Replacing the bushings will have a small effect on body roll, but nothing major. I personally don't think the swaybars ever need to be upgraded very much, I still run stock on my track car. I may upgrade to the progress bars eventually though, which are the only swaybars that I would personally consider putting on my car.

I noticed a major upgrade going to a larger solid bar on the front and rear.

For a DD I would say it is a good upgrade. Doesn't increase spring rate for comfort but decreases body roll for confidence in the corner.

Brand really doesn't matter. They are all just steel bars. What you look for is Diameter and Solid or Hollow. You want to consider the increase over stock and the balance Front to Rear.

[xs240]

So we should get mandrel bent swaybars for more flow? :rofl: WTF are you talking about? Only Hollow vs solid matters.


I noticed a major upgrade going to a larger solid bar on the front and rear.

For a DD I would say it is a good upgrade. Doesn't increase spring rate for comfort but decreases body roll for confidence in the corner.

Brand really doesn't matter. They are all just steel bars. What you look for is Diameter and Solid or Hollow. You want to consider the increase over stock and the balance Front to Rear.

Right your sarcasm makes the swaybar stronger in the dark side of the force :duh:
http://www.speed-element.com/gallery/mandrel.jpg

Brand doesn't matter, but quality, research and development does. Progress front and tanabe front swaybars are great. Whiteline swaybars are nice as well.

[S14DB]

Right your sarcasm makes the swaybar stronger in the dark side of the force :duh:
http://www.speed-element.com/gallery/mandrel.jpg

Brand doesn't matter, but quality, research and development does. Progress front and tanabe front swaybars are great. Whiteline swaybars are nice as well.

Nice picture...
Speed-Element Motorsports Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.speed-element.com/servlet/Page?template=faq)
Why is mandrel bent tubing better?
Mandrel bent tubing has a uniform diameter throughout the bend, a 2.5" mandrel bend would be 2.5" all the way through.
This keep performance up and exhaust flow high and efficient, maximizing the performance potential of the system.
A crush bent pipe is literally crushed into a bend, making the diameter smaller where the bend is made.
A typical 2.5" crush-bent pipe could only be 2" in diameter (or even less!) at the bend.
A picture of a crush bent (left) and mandrel bent (right) pipe is shown below

What does this have to do with sway bars?

[racepar1]

So we should get mandrel bent swaybars for more flow? :rofl: WTF are you talking about? Only Hollow vs solid matters.

Design also matters. crush bends weaken the bar more then mandrel bends. A nice mandrel bent bar will be a little stiffer and more consistent then a cheapo crush bent one. Not only does hollow vs solid matter, but also the wall thickness of the hollow bar and the material that the bar is made of matters VERY much.

I noticed a major upgrade going to a larger solid bar on the front and rear.

For a DD I would say it is a good upgrade. Doesn't increase spring rate for comfort but decreases body roll for confidence in the corner.

Brand really doesn't matter. They are all just steel bars. What you look for is Diameter and Solid or Hollow. You want to consider the increase over stock and the balance Front to Rear.


I noticed that the rear of the car gets stupidly loose under power with a larger rear bar. I would definitely not reccomend to upgrade the rear bar by much (if at all) unless you are going for a drift set-up. The brand does matter very much as well due to the materials used and the design and build of the bar. Sway bars are more complicated then you understand.

I would personally reccomend the progress bars because:

1: they are adjustable (front and rear)
2: they are built with quality materials
3: they are built using quality manufacturing techniques
4: they come with spherical endlinks (front and rear) for only just a little more then most swaybars

The last reason is the one that really makes it all worthwhile.