Torsionbar advice (brands)

[safe]

Hi
I have decided to upgrade my stock bars to solid 21/27. It seams overkill to go with hollow bars on a car that not going to be lightened.
Our host only sells Sway-a-way, are they good?
It says they manufacture the Weltmeister bars and I thought they had bad splines?
So are Sway-A-Way equal/better/worse than for example Sander?

[IROC]

Well, Sway-A-Way has been making torsion bars for a long time and for a variety of vehicles. Torsion bars aren't rocket science. You're not going to see dramatic performance differences between brands. I'm sure the Sanders bars are great, but Sway-A-Ways are fine, too.

I've had Sway-A-Ways in my car for ten years now...

Mike

[Bill Verburg]

The sanders splines are rumored to fit the oem 911 mating pieces better, + hollow is "neat"

[chrisp]

They should perform similarly. I went with Sanders because of the rumored poor spline quality of Swayaway. I hate to make buying decisions off of anectdotal information but then again I hate when stuff is billed as "bolt-on" and it's not.

[IROC]

I will admit to having to spend about 5 minutes per bar with some emery paper to "take the edge" off of the splines to help the fit. Very minor "fitment" issue, all things considered.

Mike

[safe]

Originally posted by IROC
I will admit to having to spend about 5 minutes per bar with some emery paper to "take the edge" off of the splines to help the fit. Very minor "fitment" issue, all things considered.

Mike

Yes, my main concern is poor spline quality, but if its just some minor adjustment I guess its OK.
You could think that a lesser quality spline could get stuck more easily in the future. Maybe I shouldn't´t worry

[widebody911]

I bought a set of 31mm SAW bars a couple months ago. They fit perfectly the first time, and then immediately broke (both of them) when I set the car down off the lift. They sent me new bars and those work fine.

I just ordered up some 33mm bars, but I'm getting solid this time.

[Nine9six]

Originally posted by widebody911
I bought a set of 31mm SAW bars a couple months ago. They fit perfectly the first time, and then immediately broke (both of them) when I set the car down off the lift. They sent me new bars and those work fine.

I just ordered up some 33mm bars, but I'm getting solid this time.

Thom,
Where did they break? At the splines, in the middle, close to the spline...?

[Craig 930 RS]

Elephant. Plated for corrosion -

[Cory M]

The weight savings of the hollow bars needs to be put in perspective: The total wight difference between hollow and solid torsion bars for a 944 that I'm building right now was only 5 lbs (yes that is counting both bars, not each). The price difference between these solid and hollow bars is about $100. Now if you're building a super lightweight racer or have plenty of dough it may be worth it to you, but it probably isn't worth it for your average street car.

[Eugene at Pelican Parts]

When I installed my Sway-A-Way bars last year, they popped right in without any filing. Works for me.

[safe]

Originally posted by Craig911
Elephant. Plated for corrosion -

To darn expensive... as I am in need of bushings also and I don't see any good alternative to PolyBronze I have to cut some corners.
I think I go with SAW and hope I don't get some duds like Thom.

Craig, just visited Rennstore for the first time.
Jesus, you don't hold back on the big letters, do you , I need a bigger screen!

[cbeers]

A little more for Elephant now could actually save you money down the road when another type MAY rust.....IMHO

I am going elephant when I can


-Chris

[Craig 930 RS]

Save up. Get the stuff worth installing -

[widebody911]

Click for the full-size image




OTOH, it's a great way to get more negative camber in the rear!

[911-32]

Well the spline quality concern on the SAWs is not just rumour. Mine where so bad on a set of hollow bars I sent them back - all the way across the Atlantic. Because of the taper on the splines you cannot just file or machine them down to size. If its just a light sand then fine, but mine were much worse than that. My mechanic and I could see no way of making them fit. The Sander bars that Pelican sourced as a replacement were, on the other hand, a perfect fit straight out of the box. My mechanic used to only buy oversized bars from Porsche Motorsport but was so impressed with the Sanders that he now has them in his own car.

Just my £0.02.
Richard

[safe]

Originally posted by 911-32
Well the spline quality concern on the SAWs is not just rumour. Mine where so bad on a set of hollow bars I sent them back - all the way across the Atlantic. Because of the taper on the splines you cannot just file or machine them down to size. If its just a light sand then fine, but mine were much worse than that. My mechanic and I could see no way of making them fit. The Sander bars that Pelican sourced as a replacement were, on the other hand, a perfect fit straight out of the box. My mechanic used to only buy oversized bars from Porsche Motorsport but was so impressed with the Sanders that he now has them in his own car.

Just my £0.02.
Richard

That sounds really bad, now you got me worried again!


Eugene: Can Pelican source Sander bars?

[911-32]

They sourced them for me, partly because they sent me 915 29mm bars when I ordered G50 29mm bars and there were literally no SAW G50 29mm bars in the whole of the USA at the time available from *any* vendor. The only option was Sander bars.

Tom helped me out at the time - try a telephone call.

[HawgRyder]

A question if you don't mind.
Do the "spring rates" of the hollow bars differ from the solid ones?
My 69 is riding high in the front...I need to lower it...but the adjustment screws do not have enough range.
I know that I have to pull out the bars and rotate them to get better range.
I am just thinking ahead to the possible problem of having to replace the bars at that time.
Bob

[IROC]

Originally posted by HawgRyder
A question if you don't mind.
Do the "spring rates" of the hollow bars differ from the solid ones?

If the solid and hollow bars were of the same outside diameter, then the answer would be "yes", but IIRC they increase the OD of the hollow bars slightly to compensate.

Mike