Sway Bar Recomendation

[DrJuice164]

I seen ALOT of you guys running the Suspension Techniques sway bars. Are they realy that good, i see they are sugnicaly cheaper than say the cusco sways. I was thinking about buying a set for myself for x-mas. Or are there any other brands i should be looking at.

[rbsileighty]

My advice would be Hicas model sways on a S13 (not sure what you have... mine is a hicas model... of course hicas is disabled) with a good set of coilovers... works great for my car

[DrJuice164]

might be nice to know what kinda car i have, 93 SE. I want to get into some sort of LEGAL racing. I know how you all feel about street racing, and i feel the same way. It be auto-x drift track, like to get into track, but thats another story. Doesnt the hicas have the same front sway as an SE just a thicker rear?

[rbsileighty]

yep... pretty sure you're right that only the rear is thicker... no need to run a thicker front anyway in my opinion

Quality coilovers + the hicas bar is perfect I think

Put the saved $ from the swaybars towards the coilovers... you'll be impressed how dramaticly they will change the way the car handles on their own

I firmly believe to just add what the car needs and not more... if it's still not doing what you want then go further

Next step for me will probably be rear control arms... after I get my wheels and tires

[DrJuice164]

Not a bad idea considering i need to TRY and sell my current shock/spring setup, not liking it, too low and not firm enough, so coilovers might be a nice way to go.

Jacking my own thread here, but do coilovers realy take that much abuse from driving on the roads. I live in CT/RI and the roads in RI are like driving on the moon, potholes are like craters. I know the KTS's are rebuildable, which is what i was looking at. Not realy sure where this is going, someone just showed up so i will finish the post later (:
Modified by DrJuice164 at 9:29 PM 12/4/2005

[95lstegman]

Whiteline sway bars are only like $180 each. why not go with those? way cheaper than cusco, and their front and rear are both adjustable.

[DrJuice164]

Was thinking those too, the Suspension Techniques are not adjustable?

[240sxjeff]

No the Suspension Techniques are not adjustable.

[McRussellPants]

Whiteline sway bars are only like $180 each. why not go with those? way cheaper than cusco, and their front and rear are both adjustable.

Becuase the whiteline bars are crap quality. They don't even fit right.

The Largus or ARC bars are the new hottness.

if you want it cheap just get the S13 HICAS sway.

[nismofly]

ARC makes sways now? i dont see them http://www.arcinter.co.jp/menu.html

and depending on what he wants to do, id think largus are drift only...actually im not really sure if that applies to sways

[SmithSR]

Hicas used here too!Most bars are just overkill, like 10kg coilovers

[float_6969]

Becuase the whiteline bars are crap quality. They don't even fit right.

The Largus or ARC bars are the new hottness.

if you want it cheap just get the S13 HICAS sway.

I've NEVER heard anybody call whiteline stuff crap. I've run their adjustable antisway bars on two different 240's two different times and I NEVER had fitment issues, and I LOVED them, and have every intention of running them again.

+1 for Whiteline adjustable's

[SmithSR]

^^That's a pretty heavy endorsement!

[DrJuice164]

Ya i think ARC, Largus, Cusco are a little overkill for what i need. I have a daily driven car, and i want to get into some sort auto-x, track events, nothing realy serious, just your weekend warrior if you will.

[steaminhotryce]

I'll be installing my front and rear Nismo sway bars soon for my S14 SE. I can't wait.... I'll update with some reviews after I test them out.

[rbsileighty]

Hicas used here too!Most bars are just overkill, like 10kg coilovers

Can't go wrong if the factory stuff works... probably cheaper... and it's almost if not the same as what the aftermarket is selling you.

Honestly... use the money you save towards a quality set of coilovers instead. My setup of Kei Office XT's and the Hicas swaybar is almost perfect... now just need wheels/tires/brakes, fresh bushings, and a little more camber and caster adjustment to be set. Ok... wouldn't mind a clutch type LSD instead of the viscous as well...

[DrJuice164]

Where did you pick your Kei Office coilovers from, i have searched for dealers but no luck

[GhostDriver]

You guys seriously would keep the factory sway bars + HICAS rear?

I thought the 240sx had body roll that a good set of sways can fix.

Anyway, pinnacle sells them for around $100 + shipping.http://www.trademotion.com/par...gid=1

[float_6969]

I'm not saying anybody is wrong, but for most people, trying to use coilovers to control body roll isn't a great idea.

The beauty of a bigger/stiffer antisway bar, especially on a weekend warrior, is that it doesn't effect the day to day ride comfort to nearly the extent that coilovers do.

IMHO, people tend to run springs that are too stiff, and swaybars that aren't strong enough. I have every intention of finding a set of coilovers with the lowest spring rates I can find/afford. I REALLY like whitelines coilovers, and I think they would be perfect, but at $2500 for the set, it's a little out of my price range.

If you can get a softer spring, combined with a shock that has good adjustable valving, and a nice adjustable antisway bar, there is no reason that you can't have a nice, comfortable, daily driven car, and still go kick azz on the wheekends.

My $.02....

[95lstegman]

THANK YOU FLOAT. exactly what i wanted to say, but you beat me to it.

[nismofly]

now ive got myself wondering, can sway bars be too stiff...because imo the largus are pushing it for grip if sways can be, but theyre the stiffest ones out there if running higher stiffness is ok

[veilside180sx]

There is always a balance you need to strike between all things.

Sway bar vs. spring rates is one of those important ones. Especially for circuit driving. I'm building my car for that and I'm going to run Whiteline bars, personally though if I was to repurchase I would buy the new Progress adjustable bars. They are just al iittle bit more than the Whiteline's while shipping out with heim joints on the ends.

[95lstegman]

hmmm i hadn't heard of those, but i'll give them a thought or three. i have an '89 XE/base model/no options at all, so i probably don't even have a rear sway bar although to tell you the truth i never even bothered to look. it's a shame that some 240's don't even have one. hell, even civics have rear sway bars. most of them at least 92+.

[McRussellPants]

Also, once you get coilovers you'll want bigger bars so that they actually do something.

Sport Compact Car had to fanagle their whitelines to fit right... and a few other people I know say they dont fit as wells as Tanabe or such.

[95lstegman]

well for me a rear sway bar will probably bring even more headaches b/c i'm using a S14 exhaust. i know, say what you want, but i got a full exhaust for $215 shipped including down pipe, cat delete, and full exhaust, along with all new gaskets, nuts, and bolts, so F off if you don't like it. i'm a poor mofo; that's why i bought a damned 240 in the first place! the muffler kinda sticks out a little too much out the back . . . i've been thinking about taking out a couple inches somewhere, but i can't bear to touch an exhaust with such exquisite, perfect welds and equally perfect mandrel bends, of which there are only like 2 minor ones. almost straight. hands down a little too much though, too.

[float_6969]

Yes, you can have too much antisway bar. IMO, if building a grip 240, you should set it up so that you never lift any tires, ESPECIALLY IN THE REAR. I really don't think that the rear of an IRS, RWD car should ever have a tire off the ground.

Also AFAIK, all S13's have anitsway bars front and rear. It was the S14's that were missing an antisway bar.

[95lstegman]

ah that's good to know. wouldn't want my wanna-be sports car S13 outdone by a stock corolla, now would i?

[InsanityInc]

Most aftermarket sways I've seen for 240s are crap, but not necessarily for quality reasons. The sizes are like somebody just took a guess and figured it was good enough. The whiteline ones are like 26mm front and 17mm rear or something retarded. Yeah, I want to have ridiculous understeer and lift my front tires off the ground!

[ale89se]

Most aftermarket sways I've seen for 240s are crap, but not necessarily for quality reasons. The sizes are like somebody just took a guess and figured it was good enough. The whiteline ones are like 26mm front and 17mm rear or something retarded. Yeah, I want to have ridiculous understeer and lift my front tires off the ground!

very true. i changed my rear to a jdm one which is closer to 3 times the size of us one and i could feel it immedialy. and it cost $50!

[95lstegman]

well as with any other car, i start with the addition of the rear bar only, then add the front if needed/desired.

but also understand that the thickness of the bar is by far not the only thing that matters. the distance from the axis of torsion (the axis through which the bar brackets mount) to the axis of the endlinks and the length and direction of the endlinks matter just as much. i haven't looked at them, but it may very well be that the rear bar simply has a longer respective distance between the axes and/or longer endlinks. or it may just be that everybody thinks the front bar must be 3-4 times as strong as the rear. i personally have an integra with 22mm front and 22mm rear bars, and it's PERFECT. i'm sure it handles better than any 240 i'll ever drive. but it's also much ligher and has less power, which makes it easier to drive hard.