New 911 owner sway bars advice

[jj007]

I am a new owner of a 1971 911 targa. I have noticed some "rolling" while driving around (forgive me if I am not using the right term) and have heard that installing sway bars on the auto can mitigate this. Could someone point me in the right direction of where I might read more about what my options are?

[Flieger]

Look in the Pelican catalog for sway bars.

You can search the forums using the button in the upper right.

Sway bars need good mounting points like the Wevo weld-in mounts if you track the car. The factory mounts tear.

Get adjustable drop links and through-the-tub front bar. The geometry and adjustability are better.

Stock Porsche sizes should be fine for your car, as Targas are so flexy that sways don't help much. You need to reinforce the chassis first.

Remember to match torsion bars and dampers to the sways. The torsion bars provide your primary roll resistance and the sways are more for tuning the front/rear balance.

[moneymanager]

Search on sway bars. Read Steve Weiner's Rennsport primer on suspension questions. My advice, unless you are planning to track the car, look for early stock "thru the body" (front) bars and the normal rear bar..15mm at each end might be an appropriate choice for street use... that was what the factory used on the "S" in 72-73. Going to 18mm or 20mm front or back or both would stiffen it up quite a bit. Should be able to find both bars for under $100; bushings and other hardware will probably cost that again. All of these parts can be found here if you are patient. Of course, if this is a track car, you are entering a different world, where starting with bigger torsion bars may make more sense.

[GarryW]

Congrats on the new longhood and welcome to the board. I have found that the search function helps you find intended and unintended information. I am guessing that your "rolling" situation may be more shocks than roll bar. If I remember correctly, many early cars did not have a front roll bar. Hopefully more knowledgable contributors will chime in here and at least this will get you back to the top (bump). We need pictures of the new ride. Have fun!........Garry

[911pcars]

If your car doesn't have sway bars now (at least a front bar), I suggest installing one or both, but I wouldn't count on just the sway bars to mitigate body roll. You will just trade the desired anti-roll characteristic for an undesirably harsh ride quality, especially with larger aftermarket sway bars, larger than those supplied by the factory.

I would suggest an overall system upgrade, over time perhaps, that includes increasing torsion bar size, good shocks and frt/rear alignment to go with the sway bars. Slightly larger torsion bars surprisingly help contain body roll without adding a lot to ride harshness.

Sherwood