SWAY BARS
I recently purchased some sway bars, the Addco front & rear sway bars off 3sx. these sway bars have a bit of a brass-metal color to them, so a goldish color really stands out on an underside plagued with dirt and just dark everything. they look good, but they perform even better. the install wasn't too bad, but the only way to get the front bar out and the new front bar in is to take apart the control arm. and alas, that means i need an alignment. but i can also see i have some negative camber too, when i put the tire back on. also i figured it wouldn't hurt to re-align the rear tires since the rear sway bar fit tighter than the stock bar. so maybe the new bar squeezed the wheels together a bit.
APPLICATION OF SWAY BARS FOR PERFORMANCE
I know many people have strut tower bars on their cars, but all in all sway bars are the way to go b/c they provide much greater improvement in performance and rigidity than strut bars do. however, strut bars would nicely and perhaps appropriately compliment upgraded sway bars. i've seen many people that just have a rear strut bar and no front strut bar.
k3smostwanted states "everyone i have talked to says that both strut bars make a huge difference on the 300zx and many other cars. my thoughts is that when cornering, a strut bar will help keep the wheels at the same level better, in result leading to your outside tire pressing harder against the ground than without strut bars...with the outside tire pressing harder against the ground it should increase cornering ability."
Musashi3000GT has "heard from alot of the older guys there that front strut bars will stiffen up the chasis but the negative effect is it increases understeer. If you think about it technically the front of the car will roll less so it cant pitch into the corner and yeah, udersteer wil be a little more noticeable. with the propper tires and suspension mods you can overcome that and still keep the strut bar but most people just dont have the time to test out the 50 thousand different suspension set ups to see what works. its intersting cause one time this guy brought up the question of why GT cars all have a stiff as hell front end and can corner so good, the response they gave him was "weight". GT cars dont have the extra weight to pull them away as they reach the apex. No matter how much you lighten up a street car once you corner in, forces will always pull you to the outside."
Igovert500 suggests "2 reasons why many recommend sway bars and a rear strut to compliment them...but not so much the front strut bar.
The first was along the lines of what Mushasi said about the understeer...I read a great article a year or so ago that had great comments/theories on different pairings of strut and sway bars, and essentially the basic conclusion was that stiffening up the rear with both was good, but they only did the sway bar in front, because of the excessive understeer. I wish I could find the article, because me attempting to summarize it wont do it justice...however I cannot seem to find it. (I thought it was linked at
www.stealth316.com, but I can't find it.)
The 2nd reason, although this is a ridiculous reason at best, is because many of the front strut bars create obnoxious clearance issues with the hood and battery. Now anyone who really wanted to get one in there, would manage, but it can be a PITA (but honestly, what mod isn't?)"
To better explain the application of Sway Bars, it would be a good idea to read up on articles linked through stealth316.com. stealth316.com>technical-suspesion section at bottom of page. however, here are some direct links to a few articles through stealth316:
for Strut Bar Theory, this is a good read. a little physics and math, but nothing complicated and gives a layman's breakdown of all the forces involved: http://e30m3performance.com/myths/St...bar_theory.htm
this article explains in very understandable detail the concepts of Body Roll, how sway bars work, sway bar stiffness, and how to create the best handling application for yourself adn your car: http://www.teamscr.com/sway.htm
INSTALLATION TIPS/THINGS TO BE AWARE OF
[nota bene: this is for an isntallation on a 1993 front wheel drive 3000GT base model]
I didn't actually take any pics, but all the pics you'll need can be found at 3sxperformance.com-->
http://www.3sxperformance.com/installs.asp. I did run into a few problems when installing, and i called up 3sx just to let them know. nothing big, but just a little customer feedback.
I did NOT have an extra pair of arms to help, just did it myself. Though it would have been nice, its not necessary. It wasn't a difficult install, suprisingly! I actually found it tougher to re-install my stock rear sway bar when i replaced my rear suspension.
a few notable things:
1) i noticed that the end-link holes in both front and rear sway bars were not quite large enough to allow the end-link bolts to smoothly go through (
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...ar/image13.html). and so, it was obviously necessary for me to enlarge the holes slightly. The stock measure 3/8", but to increase the hole to 1/2" would have been too large. So i took a drill with a 3/8" drill bit and "bored" out the hole to make it just slightly larger than 3/8". i just bored out the hole until the end-link bolt fit thru the hole smoothly. [you could also use a dremel tool to make the holes larger]
2) when installing the brackets for the rear bar, you must use the mounting plates. i quickly and carelessly read thru the directions for the rear bar, then discovered that i installed the bracket incorrectly. i didn't see how to use the mounting plate, but after a little thinking, i figured it out. as you can see in this pic
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...ar/image16.html on the mounting plate on the far left there is a circular hole (compared to oval shaped holes). no bolt goes thru this hole; this hole is there for the bracket to go around the existing stock mounting nut that is welded to the suspension frame. here the mounting plate is being slid up where the stock mounting nut is
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...ar/image18.html, and here you can see the mounting plate in position
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...ar/image19.html. the stock mounting nut extends behind and just above the bushing (hole not visible in the pic) and the circular hole in the mounting plate allows the mounting plate to snuggly position right around this hole, but flush with the suspension frame. [you can't see this, but you can feel the welded nut with your finger].
Here is a final installed pic of the rear bar
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...ar/image29.html
3) when installing the front bar, the mounting kit came with 4 mounting plates. However, i did not see any way these mounting plates would go on with the brackets. also, if you look in the pictures and instructions, there is not mounting plate used in the installation: just the new bracket and stock bolts are used here
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...nt/image36.html and here
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...nt/image37.html.
ALSO, i had to bore the end-link holes a little bit so the end-link bolts would fit smoothly. If fitment seems a bit rough and the bolt is having a tough time going through, DO NOT hammer the bolt thru for fear of damaging the threads. If you damage the threads and are fortunate enough to have a tap & die set, then count yourself lucky. but if you don't, then you're screwed. so don't hammer the end-link bolts if they won't go smoothly-->rather simply make the hole larger.
4) on the front bar, it is very hard, if not impossible, to get the stock bar out and the new bar in without taking apart the control arm. i tried for about 20 minutes to try to fish it out, knowing that if i suceeded i'd be a badass and i wouldn't have to get an alignment...but i wasn't so lucky. In the caption in this pic
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...nt/image18.html, they say that "In hindsight, it may be possible to only have to drop the inner part of the lower main control arm, not removing the 2 bolts that hold the hub to the strut." This IS what i did. it is not necessary to remove the 2 bolts holding the hub to the strut. all you have to do is remove the one reamer bolt holding the inner part of the control arm to the frame. so you can just skip to pic 24:
http://www.3sxperformance.com/insta...nt/image24.html. Now once you detach this part of the control arm, you'll have to move the control arm out of the way to wiggle the strut bar out and the new bar in. By moving the control arm, the strut moves, which merits a re-alignment. so its unavoidable. but don't worry about it. whenever you mess with the suspension, you should get an alignment.
PHEW!~ a bit long, but those are my thoughts on the installation process. just a few bumps i ran into, but nothing big. just make sure you have a drill and 3/8" bit handy [or a dremel tool] just in case the end-link holes aren't quite big enough. that's the only thing that delayed me a bit. other than that, if you have air tools and a lift, that would greatly speed up the installation. since i had neither, and was working on a semi-rocky surface, i had a fun time properly and safely jacking the car and setting the jack stands. BY THE WAY, a good mounting point for the jack stands is on the ball joint of the front control arm (front sway bar installation). this mount point is perfect as its rounded just like the jack stand.
good luck to all, and its much simpler than i made it sound. just a little mechanical knowledge and/or someone to help who maybe knows what they're doing, and you're golden!
ROAD TESTING
Before you go and road test your newly stiffened chassis and uber-handling beast on the streets, it is NECESSARY that you get at least a front end wheel alignment. I wanted to play it safe and get the rear wheels aligned as well, b/c i had just put some new tires on and i don't want them to wear unevenly. also, since the rear sway bar fit tighter than the stock rear sway bar, most likely the rear wheels were pulled inward, so a rear wheel alignment is a good idea.
well i took my car on a quick run, and thru the infamous curve in which i tore up my rear suspension. i didn't push her tho, quickly remembering all the crap i had to do to fix my car from a collision that just took a few seconds. but she feels much tighter in the front and rear. i drove her a bit when i just had the rear sway bar in, and i liked it a lot! then with both bars in, it balanced out, but still very tight. i think i'll definitely add just a rear strut bar to make the rear a bit tighter, and as Igovert and Musashi said, will help with the understeer.
Since then i've driven much and i really do love these sway bars! that's an understatement...these things are freakin awesome! taking corner is a lot of fun now, as understeer is drastically reduced and the car also grips the road a lot better. body roll is significantly less. its fun to bob and weave through traffic and see how much less body roll there is. it fells so good and tight. i think some bucket racing seats would make the ride feel that much better, especially in the curves!