Sway Bar upgrade 1985 3.2
 

Hello All,

I believe my RoW Carrera is in dire need of swaybars. I'm not sure if I should do both front/rear or only the rear adjustable bar.

I'm considering the Tarret Engineering RSR type adjustable sway bar with a 22mm rate.

The car rides great on the road and on the track but the body roll in the corners is quite extreme.

Current Set up
Bilsten HD and Sport Dampers
Stock Torsion Bars
RUF Speedline wheels with Michelin PS4S tires 225/45 rear and 205/45 Front respectively.


The car is mostly 80% street driving with some HPDE events and AutoX through out the year.

your advice/input is appreciated.

I'd also consider the Eibach front bar - no drilling / cutting / welding for a through-body.

The stock torsion bars are real soft. The car is going to roll. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Trying to get a lot of roll resistance from all bars works, but isn't the ideal strategy. You'd need a lot of rear bar too, which also means you'll likely tear the mounts (they're weak.)

Really, the better option is to enjoy the car as-is, or consider upping your TB rates, then using one adjustable bar for "seasoning."

The generally accepted strategy is to increase spring rate (T bars) to reduce excessive body roll. Then use sway bars to fine tune the front/rear "balance" i.e. cornering characteristics.

Suspension is a system, so ideally we would upgrade everything at once. But often we do not have the time or money for this luxury.

You have firmer dampers, so I would go for Tbars next

Then more camber and poly/bronze bushings

Finally sway bars and corner balance

I agree that the rear sway bar mounts are weak and easily damaged.

I agree with this. Bushing condition, stock or performance make a huge difference. If they are good, stiffer torsion bars first and then sway bars (adjustable) to dial it in.

Could you go for a drive in a few modified cars and see what you like. Copy them, or use them for a basis for what you are looking for.

Before changing sway bars I would do the mounts, you’d be surprised how flexible the standard mounts are and if you fit firmer bars you are more likely to see them fail. You also won’t get as much out of the new bars. New mounts, then consider new bars if the effect is not sufficient

What is the profile size on your tires? My guess is they are not 16".
Sticky low profile tires will rip your mounts out.
No turning back with the WEVO mounts welded in. Price installed is a shocker though.

I have to agree, the anti-sway bars are the last thing to mess with.

I rebuilt the suspension om my 85. All new rubber bushings in the suspension. Turbo tie-rods and for the torsion bars I replaced the factory bars with one size up. I went with 21 front and 27 rear. New Bilstien HD shocks (not the sport) and the corner balance and alignment. I did also replace all the rubber mounts for the old anti-sway bars, but I kept the factory original bars.

I love the change. Very little body lean now and laser like precision steering.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1597954050.jpg

This is in a tight turn as you can see. The ride is comfortable enough to keep my wife riding in the car for long road trips. It handles very neutral.

Thank you all for your input, I will revisit my build plan looks like I will tackle the torsion bars first. I didn't really want to stiffen up the suspension with fear of sacrificing ride quality, But I will go with a slight increase.

I shy away from the poly/bronze bushings for street driven cars, especially the ones that are daily driven. I like the rubber bushings for non-track use cars. Keeps the car from squeaking or having a harsh ride. I have had plenty of P-cars with the poly/bronze bushings so that is my experience with them. I want my wife to be able to ride with me if she wants and be comfortable.

Suspension work is the sum of all of the parts. Contact a builder and tell them what you have. They will put together a package for you. Doing one thing at a time you create a firm part of the suspension and you will ride on it while the softer parts go along for the ride. That is what you are doing now with the harder shocks.
BTW I've had the polybronze bushing for years and I find them fine for the street.