canbaufo

Thinking staying with the stock sways with poly bushings might be a good compromise between straight line traction and handling?

Also I want a fundamental question answered. Do people remove the front sway bar when drag racing just for the weight savings or does it also truly help with traction by allowing the front to move some?

I should probably "forget" about straightline traction for the following reasons:

1. Car has Eibach Pro-kit, I'm not changing that (not much weight transfer)
2. Has SFC's, rear LCA's with poly bushings and relo brackets
3. Koni dual adjustables are going to be installed sometime this summer (soon)
4. Car has a 10-bolt (with upgrades) and I want it to last for awhile yet

....or, am I wrong and will the stock sways be a worthwhile compromise because they offer some flex at the dragstrip, which I believe helps launch a little?

...if it's "too late" for me to be thinking about traction at the drag strip, should I go with a nice Strano 35/22 hollow setup and just make the car an all out awesome handler? I have Nitto DR's out back so that helps some with straight line traction and actually they handle pretty well too IMO. Front I have Eagle GS-D3's right now and like them. If traction ever becomes something I should seriously pursue at the dragstrip I figure a 12-bolt and Mickeys will make up for the suspension being optimized for turns? On the street I guess I'll stick with spinning the Nittos occasionally ...as so far my 10-bolt has held up fine that way.

Anyway the main thing I want opinions/info on is sway bars and how they affect straight line traction vs cornering traction, thanks.

bluz28

Hellwig has a 7/8" solid, 3 position adjustable, rear sway bar.
You can adjust it stiffer for drag racing, an then softer for corner carving.
Strano has them if your interested!

canbaufo

Thanks Blue, that's wild?!?!? Never heard of such a thing. Soooo, you want the rear "soft" for cornering?!?!? Man I still have a lot to learn. So is a good setup (for cornering) stock rear sway and a tighter front sway? I thought most wanted to upgrade the rear as well for the best cornering (the classic 35/22 hollow setup that everyone likes so much). I'd really like for people to elaborate all they want about sway bars and how they affect handling vs straight line traction in this thread please, thanks.

LT1 POWR

Well, drag strip rear sway bars are really thick/stiff and ideally you want no swaybar in the front so the front will raise better and transfer weight to the rear.

But for cornering you want the right balance. I have Strano's 35/22mm combo and I have cut 1.7 60' times and this thing will corner like no other. Which is what I want, an all around bad *** car that will do a little of everything.

LT1 POWR

A thicker rear sway bar will control body roll so the left front won't come up and weight will get transferred more evenly to both rear tires instead of just the right rear. An air bag in the right rear should help also, but I don't know if stock powered cars will benefit.

Also shock's play a part in weight transfer so when you install the Koni's set the fronts to 4 sweeps of the adjuster hole from full firm and the rears to 1/4-1/2 turns from full soft.

bluz28

You don't necessarily want the want the rear bar soft for cornering, just in comparison to running it on the stiffest position for drag racing.
And yes, you'll still want a larger rear sway bar for cornering. As far as shocks I would suggest going with the Koni SA's over the DA's. For one thing the DA's cost twice as much as the SA's and I doubt you would ever really notice any advantage with the DA's worth spending and additional $700-800 over the cost of the SA's. Then you have the fact that the SA's are a more durable design than the DA's
And you LCAs, I would suggest either replacing the regular poly bushing with rubber bushing for more articulation, or getting new LCA's. Those poly bushing in your rear LCA's are doing nothing good for you cars handling at all!
Like I said before when you about ready to buy call Strano, he'll give you an honest answers, and won't steer you wrong.

canbaufo

That's exactly what I was wondering on my way home yesterday ... "could the DA's really be worth that much more than the SA's, just for one more adjustment?!?!? So from what I read about it seems that the ideal shock for my application (Eibach Pro Kit) is something that has less compression tension and more rebound tension to control the more aggressive spring rate. So let's compare the Koni SA to the Strano revalved Bilstein shock for a moment: It seems that the Bilstein could actually be taylored better to my application, but if ultimately it just doesn't damp as well, what's the point? So the SA's are adjustable how? ...compression or rebound, or is it a two in one adjustment?

I have decided on rubber bushings for the LCA's, I appreciate the input on that. I'll also get an adjustable PHB, any opinions on what the best one is or is it all pretty much the same (I know about dual adjustable vs single and that is just a convenience thing).

It seems the STB is a kind of moot mod but I wouldn't mind getting a used one, or is that a complete waste of money? thanks for the info

LT1 POWR

I have the SJM manufacturing LCA's and PHB. They are chromemoly, have QA1 rod ends and are adjustable on car(nice since you don't have to drop it to adjust it). You may not want the QA1 rod ends since they will transfer more road noise to the body, but I don't mind it at all and I have QA1 rod ends all the way around from the front upper and lower A-arms to the chassis mounted torque arm to the rear suspension.

As for the STB a lot of people say they are worthless, but I have a 3 point STB and I could definitely feel that it tightened up the front. I take a 40mph off ramp at about 70mph five days a week for the past 3 years. Back when the car had a stock suspension there was a lot of body roll and I couldn't take it that fast comfortably, but now the only thing holding me back are my street tires up front. The body feels nice and firm through the turns.

canbaufo

The main reason I want an adj PHB is to center the rear (I've never measured but I have the Eibach Pro Kit so it has to be off). Not crazy about road noise as I already have enough for my taste, maybe I should stick with a poly bushing type PHB as long as it's still a good upgrade over stock. I changed my mind on the LCA's and now have decided against rubber bushings in my box style Lakewood LCA's in favor of new tubular poly-ball or steel-ball ended LCA's....of course, surely they will transmit more road noise so maybe I should go with rod ends on the PHB too as it might already be overly noisy anyway?

Can anyone educate me a little more on how the Koni SA's adjust? Compression or rebound, or a two in one adjustment? Can they be adjusted to ride smooth and handle well or is that only going to happen with the DA's? Maybe I could find some DA's affordably on E-bay or something ....

bluz28

I've never had any noise increase with rod-ends on both ends of my PHB.
And the Koni SA's only adjust the rebound. And if you find the DA's for a really good price make sure they're new, and your getting them from a reputable company.Also if you get DA's they would probably make the biggest difference up front, so I would still recommend SA's for the rear. And if you have a 9", or 12 bolt rear you might want to look at the Koni SA's for a 3rd gen. camaro/firebird .