sway bar?

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:09 pm

hi i have a 02 sxt neon and i was wondering wut a good size for the front and rear sway bars i plan on change to the srt4 suspention and brakes and i have coilover im about to put on

OB · Post by OB » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:11 am

Depends on what you want out of your suspension. If ride quality is important to you, a smaller set of bars is a better idea. The stock front bar is decent, and the srt rear bar is a good upgrade with a low price tag. On the other end you have something like the Hotchkis sways, which are the largest available (that I know of) and are a good idea if you plan to build the suspension for race/track.

As a general rule of thumb, the larger the rear bar, the more the car will oversteer (especially under braking). The larger the front bar, the more understeer (especially under throttle). If you keep a similar ratio as stock, the car will handle similarly under throttle and braking, but with much quicker response due to decreased roll and increased stability. Larger sways may also decrease high speed stability due to lack of independant suspension movement.

There's a lot more to suspension tuning, but the above are a good place to start. Hope that helps

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:09 am

thanks im try to hook it up for street/ drag racing mybe some drifting when i want some fun any ideals should i just go up a little on front and back just to stiffin it up some im tryin to sharpin up my handlen for better cornering

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:31 am

What are the spring rates of the coilovers? If they are pretty high, I would let them do more of the work. The bigger the sway bar, the higher the percentage of the connected spring will be added to the spring rate of the corner under load. So if you are running 500lb/in springs and ridiculously large sways, you could have an effective spring rate of 800lb/in, and when you get up that high, you just start skipping across the pavement instead of grabbing it.

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 2:34 pm

i dont really know they are bomz coilover convertion kit

Broken Glass · Post by **Broken Glass** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:57 pm

Drifting? you know your car is FWD right?

ewetho · Post by **ewetho** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 4:31 pm

Seen it done don't laugh too much. OK it was a honda but it was done.

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:09 pm

yes you can drift a fwd i looked it up

Nutmeg · Post by **Nutmeg** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:10 pm

Yeah, but it's not drifting. It's called the e-brake.

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:57 pm

e brake / droppin it in to 2nd either why you do it fwd/rwd it is all drifting. drifting is the art of slidin your car sideways around curves. it dont matter how you do it

OB · Post by OB » Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:25 pm

Bomz = ebay brand. Theyre not real coilovers, theyre just sleeves. The rates are probably not tuned for the car, and the damping will be stock, since they use the stock struts. Good way to destroy your stock struts and have terrible ride quality and poor handling all at the same time!

Oh and by the way, true drifting is done by actually losing traction via spinning the rear tires. Throttle input and braking are used to control the drift. Locking the rear brakes is technically a powerslide of sorts. I suppose if the front wheels were spinning during the drift, it would be considered a front wheel drift, but it wouldnt be beneficial in cornering nor nearly as effective at looking cool. I've seen FWD cars do it and it is possible but it just doesnt look right.

ewetho · Post by **ewetho** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:18 pm

Nutmeg wrote:Yeah, but it's not drifting. It's called the e-brake.

Nope just loose!

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:49 pm

esteinmaier wrote:What are the spring rates of the coilovers? If they are pretty high, I would let them do more of the work. The bigger the sway bar, the higher the percentage of the connected spring will be added to the spring rate of the corner under load. So if you are running 500lb/in springs and ridiculously large sways, you could have an effective spring rate of 800lb/in, and when you get up that high, you just start skipping across the pavement instead of grabbing it.

I have the progress rear sway with my NEX coilovers with 450 rates and i get the skipping but it's amazing now what the car can do with that much traction. Only the rear end skips and thats what i need! I am getting much more competitive in STS with the setup. Now all thats left is getting the car running the hp numbers it should with a non-fried pcm.

OB · Post by OB » Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:25 am

^Loosing rear traction a bit in a FWD car is actually a good way to be faster. The downside is that it takes skill to control it and make use of the weight transfer. My rear comes out no problem under threshold braking, but sometimes the non-pro driver in me is afraid to use it to my benefit. Then again, this is in the mountains, where hitting a cone isnt the worst case senario. Ill stay safe and brake early.

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 6:56 am

does anyone know the spring rate for bomz coilover or where i can go to find out

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:06 am

^ 7lbs would be a fine guess

. It dosent matter what the rate is the simple facts are:
1.) Its going to handle like smurf
2.) You should say good bye to your struts now
3.) Please go buy a civic and let you smurf (fake) coilovers rip those strut towers out. (Very soft+very low=pounding through the bump stops)

Sway bars espicaly when pre-loaded properly dont make any difference in you ride quality just handling. Think of them as "helper springs" that only work when cornering.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:47 pm

OB wrote:^Loosing rear traction a bit in a FWD car is actually a good way to be faster. The downside is that it takes skill to control it and make use of the weight transfer. My rear comes out no problem under threshold braking, but sometimes the non-pro driver in me is afraid to use it to my benefit. Then again, this is in the mountains, where hitting a cone isnt the worst case senario. Ill stay safe and brake early.

O belive me braking drifts are my best friend now

. I can't wait to try this setup at a real track. Tho right now money is an issue so a $300 track day isn't in my budget right now.

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:09 pm

the struts are comin soon i found the 0-4" drop struts just for that reason all im tryin to do is get my parts straight so when the time comes its all done a once what do you all think of these
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s ... _754951_-1

OB · Post by OB » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:42 pm

Honestly if you want the car to handle better, dont waste your time with knock off suspension components. Good sways wont fix a poorly engineered spring and strut combo. You gotta pay to play.

bone yard, I beg to differ regarding the sway bars affecting ride quality. Any bump that one side of the suspension feels is now transfered in part to the other side. This is especially evident in the front suspension, where most of the bumps are relayed to the driver. Even with the stock srt rear sway I noticed a less forgiving ride in the rear. In a straight line on a perfectly smooth road, its true, they have nothing to do with ride quality; but then again, neither do ANY of the suspension components.

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 1:13 pm

Why did you go to the srt sway? Its 17mm compared to the stock 19mm.

OB · Post by OB » Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:57 am

Mine didnt come with one stock. Got it cheap as hell and I cant afford to upgrade anytime soon. Its one of those things thats in the Top 5 list to do next, but always gets bumped by the cheaper option. I know you all know how that goes

Either way, it made a pretty noticeable difference, and I look forward to an even bigger difference when I get the money for the hotckiss bars (or comparable).

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:49 am

R/T has ruined me I forgot that lesser models didnt get swaybars

GTS · Post by **GTS** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:34 pm

I am running a 26mm front and a 19mm rear with stiffer endlink grommets and urethane bushings and the thing is as stiff as it gets... it often does the 2wheel stand especially when I park on an uneven surface... funny but its true...

THe set up cost me around 150$ from mopar supercenter...shipping included and all parts...

Great for AutoX update or even for a daily driver because the spring stiffness is still the same but the roll is gone.

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:47 pm

i got to see that do you have any pics of the 2 wheel stand how deos it handle under cornering does it hop in the rear

OB · Post by OB » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:47 pm

Here's an old one of mine 3 wheelin

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:14 pm

look hot but wont that twist the frame after awhile i park my car outside the fence and there is a dip and i park at an angle so would doing the three wheel twist the frame

OB · Post by OB » Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:24 pm

Twist the frame? Maybe if you left it like that for 25 years, but not for a ten minute photo shoot

evilneon02 · Post by **evilneon02** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:52 am

im talking about hours of parking where i park at the house its on a small hill so it will be getting parked like that alot

OB · Post by OB » Sat Aug 25, 2007 7:48 pm

You dont have anything to worry about bro. Even if one of your wheels were fully hanging in the air, chances of the frame actually permanently bending are very slim.

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 8:25 pm

And if you bend it, just park the other way for a few hours.