Educate me on 911 sway bars

[Skytrooper]

What are considered the most desirable for a mid 911 (lets say a '76 ) ?

[lateapex911]

I think the Smart Racing bars are the winners. Best geometry, and the flexibility of changing bars is cool. Plus they are very adjustable in the car. Quality is way better than Weltmeister and the like, top notch. Expensive, and worth it.

[tonythetarga]

Originally Posted by Skytrooper

What are considered the most desirable for a mid 911 (lets say a '76 ) ?

What are you doing with the car? Street or track (50/50...60/40...70/30???)

You might be just fine with Carrera stock bars from an 86, especially if you have stock torsion bars. Is the car lowered or stock ride height? Weight? Shocks?

Lots of other info needed as the whole suspension works as a unit. Over doing the sways with everything else stock doesn't make a lot of sense. You might consider a broader upgrade to all components or start collecting bits to do the upgrade all at once.
PS, since you're right around the corner, you should consider the Niagara PCA DE at Watkins Glen on October 12 & 13, 2009.

[Cory M]

this has been discussed many times, doing a search will give you a few days worth of reading material

[Skytrooper]

Tony,

I haven't done anything to the car just yet...only brought her home Friday I will be doing "spirited" street driving (I work at the Rochester airport, so the Farmington to Rochester drive needs a little something) . I am also planning some AX and possibly get in a DE or more next year. I did 6 DE's last year (2 with Niagara), but in my other car (not a 911).
Basically I was given a 911 sway bar and I need to get the part number off of it to compare with what I already have on the car. As far as I can tell all suspension components are stock...so I am limited with what I can do. If it is the same as what I have then I will pass it along to some other soul who might need one.

[JerryL]

See Attached for a nice guideline, Steve W. is also a firm beleaver in Smart bars, I will be adding a 20m Rear as soon as I move the fuel pump and weld in the Wevo rear mounts.
Read Steves info, lots of it then call him to hook you up, he supports our passion.

Regards

Welcome to Rennsport Systems, Porsche Performance Products for the 21st Century

[Skytrooper]

My fault guys, I was looking more for the stock factory sway bar information. I looked on the 1976 PET and it showed a 16mm and a 20mm for the front...I didn't look at the back. What I am trying to do i determine what the different factory suspension set-ups included.

Sorry for the confusion. If anyone can provide a link where I could do my own research..I would be good with that, or the voice of experience works too.

[IROC]

In the big picture, a good suspension is composed of components that are designed to work as a system. Changing one thing without assessing the impact on the other components or to the system as a whole will usually not allow you to make the most of your upgrade. In other words, it is best to approach modifications to your suspension with an eye to assembling components that will work well together and meet your goals.

For instance, adding massive sway bars to a car like yours with stock torsion bars is going to ask the sway bars to do more than their fair share of controlling roll. If you're going to leave the torsion bars stock, I would opt for larger factory sway bars. Rather than some of the aftermarket offerings.

Stock on a US-spec '76 911 was 20mm front and 18mm rear, IIRC. RoW cars had a 16mm front and no rear bar in 1976. A nice upgrade is the 22mm/21mm factory bars off of a Carrera as was mentioned above.

[Skytrooper]

Thanks Mike ! That is very helpful. I want to know what came with what for exactly the purpose of keeping things correctly matched. The way my car handles now I probably will not do anything at all to it, but curiousity got a hold of me and now I am looking for those answers.

[tonythetarga]

The sway bar should have a number stamped on one of the ends. The other way to check is to measure the thickness with a caliper.

[hdbmw]

Hi, I agree with the other guys that the late Carrera bars will be a great choice for your application (22/21 and I have some, always check them, early Carreras are smaller but would still be an improvement).

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Skytrooper

What are considered the most desirable for a mid 911 (lets say a '76 ) ?

I would depend on what you want out of the car

stock US 76 Targa came w/ 16mm late style underbody front sway and no rear sway.

Carrera for that year would have 20mm front & 18mm rear, which is a very nice street combo.

there are several styles of adjustable, Smart Racing being one of the better but for most you don't need to pay that kind of money.

I don't know if they are still available but I intstalled H&H carrera adjustables on my '72 that were very nice at a very reasonable cost

if you aren't upgrading the rest of your suspension to much better spec the '76 Carrrera is probably the way to go

[Rich82SC]

Brothers this is my first attempt at doing a “thread” or being on a Forums. I’m currently in Iraq (4th tour) and I’m buying upgrades for my 1982 911SC. As for the suspension I bought new Bilstein Sport shocks front and rear. Just bought a new set of Fusch 16x7 front and 16x9 rears. I talked with the rep from Elephant racing and he told me I need to start with upgraded torsion bars then go with the sway bars. My mechanic likes the “smart racing” product… Stating they mount tighter to the bottom of the car. Less chance of dragging them on something. My question is what torsion bars and I’m guessing from this thread Smart racing sway bars… OR do you all have a better set up/suggestion… I like the commits of parting it together. I currently do not drive in DE etc… I’m at FT Hood (tragic day today) and the open road is working for me now.
If by me posting my question vs. who started the thread is bad form please let me know.

[RWebb]

H&H, Bill?

or H & R?

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by RWebb

H&H, Bill?

or H & R?

to Rich82SC
It depends on what you are looking for, I really do like the stock suspension 99% of the time for mostly street use w/ bigger wheels and tires which you already have. Be sure to get some nice sticky tires.

If you track the car a lot, then the body roll gets old so heavier t-bars w/ solid mounts and heavier adj. sways and R rubber makes sense.

For a street car w/ occasional track days then what you have w/ some adj sways makes a lot of sense

[Rich82SC]

Thanks for the info… Currently the SC is set up with original 16x6 front and 16x7 rear… Your comments about the larger set… I have yet to mount them (I have 4 months tile mid-tour) but your comments makes perfect sense! My mechanic also stated the sway bar application has pleased several other drivers vs. the $$$ required to replace T-bars and sway at the same time. I’m thinking the savings equal SSI and new exhaust! LOL
Question; would you agree the “smart racing” sway bars are the way to go?

[glewis80SC]

Rich
I did the sways and tbars together on my SC and really glad I did. I do track the car as often as I can and the difference was amazing.
If you could save and do both at the same time that would be my sugestion. Like some else said it is a system as a hole that works together doing one without the other kind of depletes the purpose.
I have the Smart racing sways and they are worth the extra cash. But if the car is not going to be tracked or auto crossed I think the money could be spent elseware.

[Rich82SC]

Thanks… if you don’t mind me asking what T-bars did you go with? And what was to total cost to replace the T-bars? I assume the cost is in the labor. I also have a 2003 C4S. My wife drives a Cayenne S, smile! I do love the way the C4S drives. Doing it as a system with a focus on one area at a time (previous comments) makes sense. As you can tell I’m in a quandary. My first plan was all required suspension work first. That said I guess the SSIs will have to be on hold.
Bro you’re up late! It’s 0930 in Iraq.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Rich82SC

...would you agree the “smart racing” sway bars are the way to go?

yes, they are by far the nicest

IIRC, the rear bar can reduce the gnd. clearance a bit

the question is -- do you need to spend that many $$?

answer: No

but you might want to

Google could not find the H&H ones that Bill mentioned - and kept suggesting H&R, hence my query to him.

Tarrertt makes bars as do others - none I've seen are as nice as the SRP bars

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by RWebb

y....
Google could not find the H&H ones that Bill mentioned - and kept suggesting H&R, hence my query to him.

....

As I said I don't know if they are still in business, they were a very reasonably priced through the chassis adjustable system that I had on my '72 way back in the day