Strut Brace versus Sway Bar

[JimNB]

My 911T has neither up front.

Which one should a put on first ?

[nhromyak]

What are you trying to accomplish?

[JimNB]

I am hpoing for a "tighter" ride overall, not necessarily only improved cornering/handling.

[addictionMS]

sway bar for sure, only after you have tightened everything else up would I worry about the strut bar. First you might consider the condition of you shocks as well.

but always...tires make the biggest difference


Jim

[Jack Olsen]

Swaybar first, I'd say. A strut brace is really a finessing device, like turbo tierods. It's for that last few percentage points of adjustment. Swaybars are part of your overall foundation.

[Rot 911]

Here is the order in which I would do things:
Tires
Shocks
turbo tie rods
all new bushings
front and rear sway bar
upgrade torsion bars
strut brace

[Steve W]

However if you do put in a front swaybar, you need to balance it out with a rear bar too, otherwise your fronts will be too stiff, and you will end up understeering. Swaybars though should come after you've already upgraded the shocks and springs. Bilstein sports will give your car a very nice tight ride - you may think as if you just added swaybars.

[Milu]

Finish with the strut brace. In my experience you only feel the benefit of the strut brace in seriously fast mountain driving or on the track, the rest of the time it's just compromising luggage space.

[davis911s]

Jim email me, I think I still might have the sway bar from the 70S I parted out

Shawn

[Don Wohlfarth]

Before doing anything make sure you have decent shocks.
The next would be to replace the torsion bars.
The next would be to install a sway bar. The sway bar is used to tune the suspension after you have selected the correct spring rates (torsion bar).
The strut bar goes between the front shock towers to keep them from moving. Doesn't make a lot of sense to have them secure when you've got worn out shocks, weak torsion bars, and an oversized sway bar. Strut bar should be fairly far down the list.

[911pcars]

I agree with Don's checklist. While many install sway bars before torsion bars, installing springs first offers more dramatic (positive) changes in handling characteristics.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

[Hellgate]

Be sure to check out your bushings on the a arms and the shock bearing. On my old '69 they were original and replacing them made a huge difference. Netrix (sp?) is a very good option. Firmer than stock and much softer than polyurethane.

My car didn't have sway bars either, hard to imagine a P-car with out them, but adding them made a big difference; and the handling became tuneable, if you install them do adjustable ones. If you can only do one at a time do the front first. Begin by setting them full soft and adjust from there.

Another area people sometimes over look are wheel bearings. If your's are loose simplely adjust them, if they won't adjust, buy new ones. Makes a world of difference.

[Randy W]

Yeah, I also agree with Sherwood. Everything else you do to the suspension will depend on what torsion bars you select. The spring rate will determine the shocks, since these dampen the springs. Then sway bars are selected depending on your springs/shocks and performance goals. This is also the order in which all the race team suspension guys I know tune 911s: 1) springs (depending on the track and weather), then 2) shocks and 3) sway bars (depending on driver style and how the car behaves). Strut bars can be felt on any 911 (more so on Targas), but they are way down the list of suspension mods.