Sway Bars

[dnewz]

Looking for some basics on "sway bars."Was out last night on a group of Zs on some twisty desert roads and felt a little too loose to comfortably keep up. Had a few interesting wiggles at 70+ mph.I know people will suggest lowering the car, which I also may do at some point but not yet.Will sway bars help me? If so, any wisdom on what brand is best? Also saw they are "adjustable"?Thanks.

[rydwhite]

Do a search of the forum and see what comes up here. I know that there have been a couple of good threads regarding sway bars on the G.

[GamingMom]

Well not a sway bar answer but I'm lowering my G this weekend and will take it out on the Canyon Lake road and let you know how it runs. I just had her out on it yesterday to take pics so I have something fresh to compare it to.

[yzarcur]

I have added Stillen sway bars which are adjustable. Mine have been set between soft and hard and have noticed a big difference. You have to get them for the front and back and set them the same for every day driving. Lowering your vehicle will help as well as your center of gravity is lower and you will get less body roll when entering a corner.

Wiggles, I believe, are from steering late in a corner and tring to get back in the line you had set for yourself. Also check to see your tire pressure, too much air will prevent your tires from gripping correctly.

If you get sway bars start out soft or in the middle first as setting them too hard your car will react much different then stock.

[C-Kwik]

I wouldn't be so quick to go out and buy sway bars as a solution for this. It sounds like you're complaining of problems with suspension rebound being too underdamped. Basically of you hit a upward undulation on your outer wheels in a turn, the car moves up with the road then floats for a bit when it peaks then comes back down into load as you come off the undulation. With rebound damping being too light, it can cause the suspension on the outside wheels to get too light for too long and not only has a tendency to lower traction momentarily, but also take a relatively long time to load the suspension on the outside again allowing you to grip the road. What you need is to stiffen the rebound which would cause your car to want to follow the road back down faster after you hit the peak of the undulation. While you can not eliminate the effect an undulation has on your car completely, you can minimize it. If the outside wheels go into full load more quickly, it will allow you to grip the road sooner and reduce the over all suspension movement that might make the road feel lost.

That being said, simply increasing rebound damping has negative effects. The ride will be harsher and perhaps have less grip on rough surfaces. Too much rebound damping in relation to compression damping would also cause a jackdown effect over rough roads and could end up causing your suspension to bottom out. Suspensions are always compromising things. Before you start buying parts, study the roads and conditions you drive-in. Be aware of what your car is doing. Read some suspension books to get an idea of how to correct certain problems. Learn how the corrections will negatively impact your handling and comfort. Based on all these things together, decide what your best compromise is.

[tofupowered]

i just installed some stabilizer bars for the g35 for this guy. If you're looking to do it it's a good idea to stiffen the bottom end of the vehicle. G's are more of a luxury vehicle so i would advise to look into either springs or full out coilovers. If you're looking to not pay as much maybe go for some small suspension tweaks and upgrades.