'94 J30t project – rear swaybar?
'94 J30t project – rear swaybar?
Hey all, I am in the process of rehabilitating my J. I bought it in good condition ($3,000) about two months ago and so far I've: replaced the timing belt, water pump, hoses, ect. ($700), transmission flush, oil, air filter and replaced the front tension rods ($300). The next step is to replace the rear shocks (the right one is completely shot) and new tires. May question is that I'm seeing alot of threads about sway bars. What will a new rear sway bar do for my J? Should I bother?
Brother Diamond suggests replacing the rear sway bar from the touring version with the slightly thicker bar from a standard model. Although it has stiffer springs, I don't really understand why the factory lightened the sway bars on the T. Diamond says there is no difference in smoothness or ride comfort yet body roll is reduced by using the standard weight bar.
Thanks for the reply Vimy. I love my J and am having fun with it, but the ride is a little "boaty" and "jumpy". I know the tires and new shocks will take care of a lot of that but I really love the car and want to do as much to it that is within reason. I paid$3,000 and am giving myself a $3,000 allowance on restoration. I'm just weighing the options of all my options. Also, for anyone needing a GREAT Infiniti mechanic in the LA area I found a guy in Pasadena who works on nothing but Nissans. His name is Beck and he runs Autos by Beck. He's actual talked me out of spending more money than I needed to. Anyway, if I'm not going to get any noticeable benefits from a new sway bar than I should probably use that money elsewhere. Any comments?
There is little in the after market for the J as you've probably already found out. The only cost effective suspension parts are OEM and they will make a huge difference in the way your J handles but they are not cheap even with the great discounts we can get compared with your "normal" car. Get all the rubber parts replaced.
Try the standard J sway bar. Go to a salvage yard and it'll be cheap. Diamond says it was the single best thing he did for his handling. It's even making me think about swapping.
Try the standard J sway bar. Go to a salvage yard and it'll be cheap. Diamond says it was the single best thing he did for his handling. It's even making me think about swapping.
Congrats on the J30. I just got one too! Tension rods replaced on mine also. Ours is the standard J (non T) and there is little to no roll with that sway bar. New tires made a world of difference. Handles great. If it's "boaty" that sounds like shocks, take care of that and you should be real pleased with the handling. Folks here can point you in the right direction for parts, OEM about the only option as they say. Enjoy 
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diamond
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i see how you are.you need both front and back sway bars from quickor.the you can haul *** thru topanga canyon,oh fun.mulhulland whatever.you will like.if i only had one mod to do it would be the bars.it nice to turn unto you r block without leaning,i nhate that.floating is my biggest complaint about the car.the aftermarket rear bar is almost as big as an oem front.solid98 mm something like that.it was the first thing i had made,so i know how they react with oem struts and springs.they smooth out the ride dramatically.
When you guys say that your using the sway bar from a j and not a T what do you mean? You have a sweet car man, I got a 94' J30T also. What is the sway bar exactly because i need new suspension in the rear and front mounts, I've got that horrible knock when i hit bumps. So am I to use the struts and spring from a regular J and not go with new T suspension. This threat has got me confused on what a sway bar is!
A sway bar or, or more acurately, an anti sway bar is a torsion rod shaped more or less like a large staple attached to a control arm then to the frame with bushing and then another bushing ( bushings are used to allow for rotation) and ending on the other control arm.
When making a sharp turn, the outside wheel control arm compresses. This compression is passed along the sway bar which compresses (or draws up) the inside control arm of the inside wheel with the overall effect of leveling the vehicle and reducing the body sway induced by the turn. This keeps the inside tires in firmer contact with the road surface resulting in better control.
If a sway bar is to stiff, it will transfer energy too readily so that if you hit a bump (or depression) the energy will be transfered to the non affected wheel making for a bumpier ride and defeating the purpose of an independent suspension. In other words, if too stiff, you will feel twice as many bumps on the road and decreased control.
I have a computer simulator (AKA PLayStation One "Grand Turismo). When I put overly stiff away bars on the rear wheels of a RWD car, the car won't accelerate smoothly. Rather it skips around on acceleration because the independent suspension is no longer independent. Too soft and the car will lean too much which reduces tire friction on the inside wheel which means more force on the outside wheel which, in turn, becomes susseptable to having its friction coeffient over come leading to a spin. It's all about finding a working compromise.
The Touring J30 suspension has stiffer springs than the standard version with a lighter sway bar. Springs are the main anti roll device on any car so presumably the Nissan engineers sought a softer (thinnner) sway bar for the T model to "soften" the ride. Conversely, the softer standard springs would be more suseptable to roll so stiffer (thicker) sway bars were added.
Your 94 J30t has the HICAS four wheel steering system. This was dropped in subsequent years. I don't know if different weights of sway were used for that set up. As far as I'm aware, the shocks are the same for Ts and standards.
The knock you are hearing and no doubt feeling comes from worn rubber bump stops. All four struts should be replaced. You can save money by replacing only the strut inserts on the front units. Replace all the rubber bits and pieces while you're at it.
When making a sharp turn, the outside wheel control arm compresses. This compression is passed along the sway bar which compresses (or draws up) the inside control arm of the inside wheel with the overall effect of leveling the vehicle and reducing the body sway induced by the turn. This keeps the inside tires in firmer contact with the road surface resulting in better control.
If a sway bar is to stiff, it will transfer energy too readily so that if you hit a bump (or depression) the energy will be transfered to the non affected wheel making for a bumpier ride and defeating the purpose of an independent suspension. In other words, if too stiff, you will feel twice as many bumps on the road and decreased control.
I have a computer simulator (AKA PLayStation One "Grand Turismo). When I put overly stiff away bars on the rear wheels of a RWD car, the car won't accelerate smoothly. Rather it skips around on acceleration because the independent suspension is no longer independent. Too soft and the car will lean too much which reduces tire friction on the inside wheel which means more force on the outside wheel which, in turn, becomes susseptable to having its friction coeffient over come leading to a spin. It's all about finding a working compromise.
The Touring J30 suspension has stiffer springs than the standard version with a lighter sway bar. Springs are the main anti roll device on any car so presumably the Nissan engineers sought a softer (thinnner) sway bar for the T model to "soften" the ride. Conversely, the softer standard springs would be more suseptable to roll so stiffer (thicker) sway bars were added.
Your 94 J30t has the HICAS four wheel steering system. This was dropped in subsequent years. I don't know if different weights of sway were used for that set up. As far as I'm aware, the shocks are the same for Ts and standards.
The knock you are hearing and no doubt feeling comes from worn rubber bump stops. All four struts should be replaced. You can save money by replacing only the strut inserts on the front units. Replace all the rubber bits and pieces while you're at it.