Sway Bar Upgrade

[zeusdog]

Originally Posted by Lyle O

Agreed, great write-up, Z. Please post a photo, if you can, of the rear black billet brackets installed, especially showing the grease fitting, and how low it hangs (as Doug and Kevin mention). I would think, however, that $1.50, 90- or 45-degree bend fitting would help most issues though. Plus, I don't think my car sits as low as the one you show, Doug...

Sorry it took so long to get back to this. Here are two photos of the rear sway bar installed on my '83 SC. For reference, the rear of my car has not been lowered from factory height. ('83s were delivered in the US at ROW aka euro height. My rear fender is about 25" even above the ground.)

I have not had any problem with the zerk fittings so far (2 weeks or so), but the roads around here are most smooth. The zerks are definitely one of the lowest points on the car, but since they sit between the rear wheels, it would take a pretty nasty bump between the rear wheels to hit the zerk fittings. Entering or exiting a steep driveway wouldn't do it. There are other maneuvers that might, though.

Zeusdog

[WP0ZZZ]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

I found the calculator at the Sway Away web site is helpful when you get around to figuring what spring rate your sway bars will add to each end of the car.

Could you share a link to the website, please?

[RSBob]

Are these the same parts? No specs provided by Pelican and they are very red. Part #: EIB-E40-72-015-01-11

[WideRide 86]

Originally Posted by zeusdog

Update: With the car sitting on the ground at normal ride height, I have tried to move the end links to the softer (forward) holes on the front sway bar. At least with my car, it does not seem to be possible. With the lower end of the link in place, the middle of the end link hits the fender washer on the half-bushing before the upper eye can be moved far enough forward to bolt into the softer setting on the front sway bar. I was hoping to try that setting in hopes of reducing understeer a bit more.



Zeusdog

Were you able to make the adjustment to the softer setting? It looks like the swaybar also gets quite close to the chassis at that location.

Does your front sway have two for 3 adjustments? The description on Eibach's website says "Front Sway Bar is Solid and 3 Way-Adjustable." That seems to conflict with everything on this thread.

Thanks for the great writeups!

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Originally Posted by WP0ZZZ

Could you share a link to the website, please?

sorry for late response
here ya go
/swayaway.com/tech-room/torsion-bar-wheel-rate-calculator/

[Jonny042]

I installed these on my 85 Autocross car and I'm really pleased with them. Not going to bother re-hashing the install (they install like sway bars, and they fit really well!) But do have a few pics:







I'm what cyclists refer to as a "weight weenie" so habitually weigh everything I take off or replace on the car....










I can't say that I've fully put these through the paces yet in terms of expolring their adjustability. Since I had fresh rear tires, but old, hard, fronts (long story) for my final event of the season the car was understeering at the limit but I chose to play it safe and kept both bars at the middle setting.

What I can say for sure is the car reacted FAR better/faster than before, particularly in transitions. I'm running 21mm front and 28mm rear torsions in a 2350 pound car, which is fairly soft by most standards, but the roads (and empty parking lots!) around here a absolute S%^&%$# by any standard. So with this soft setup I was previously getting quite a bit of body roll.

With the new bars,both the turn-in and side to side transitions were quicker and more precise than ever before. Honestly it was like having a quick steering rack compared to before. The improvement was that obvious. Speed in Autocross is all about creating the largest radius arcs, through the course, as possible. The new bars shortened the length of time spent wallowing along in a straight line between the arcs so I was able to navigate the course with much less steering input.

Another way to think about it is that I was able to keep the tires working more of the time, instead of waiting for the body to roll over and (finally!) take a set.

In closing , I would say these bars perfectly suit a car with streetable torsion bars which may not have enough spring rate (and the associated low speed dampening) to adequately control body roll.

Thanks to Ryan and Eibach for bringing these to market!

[Jonny042]

The action shot!!



Note the suspension travel on the car - it might appear to be bottoming in front but I raised my spindles 40mm and shortened the bumpstop and added strut-shortening seal holders.

[Jonny042]

Last post on the topic, I promise!

I've noted a few posters have mentioned it looks to be difficult to adjust the front bar to the softest setting. I'd have to agree that it's probably not the ideal setting due to the angularity of the links.

In fact the links are short enough that the efficacy of the adjustment using that 3rd hole is probably a bit limited, due to the inescapable limits of the geometry involved. Not the fault of the design, just a result of the confines they were working in. Overall they did a pretty good job coming up with a fully bolt on solution that fits and works.

However, I had a good look at my mine and I think lengthening the front links by threading the rod ends apart (while still leaving adequate threads engaged) would allow one to select the frontmost adjustment hole without binding.

[Trackrash]

Looking good. Cool that you have 1,320 posts.

FWIW, I think you will find that you may want to put the rear on the softest, then fine tune the front to get the best balance. At least that is how my setup worked best.

edit: well it was 1320.

[Jonny042]

Originally Posted by Trackrash

Looking good. Cool that you have 1,320 posts.

FWIW, I think you will find that you may want to put the rear on the softest, then fine tune the front to get the best balance. At least that is how my setup worked best.

edit: well it was 1320.

Yeah, I blew it. But I thought the same thing!!

[Kraftwerk]

Originally Posted by Ryan H

Kits will include all necessary hardware including bushings.

Would it be possible to order just the rear bushings ?
Also: What is the diameter of the rear bar? I see that the front is 24mm.
Thank you,

[acme911]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk

Would it be possible to order just the rear bushings ?
Also: What is the diameter of the rear bar? I see that the front is 24mm.
Thank you,

Rear= 25mm

[slipperyslope]

great post - thanks all.

I did my rear last couple nights (3 hrs) and am planning on fronts this weekend. I am going middle setting on each. Have done new Bilstein Sports shocks and Turbo tie rods thus far. There is a local shop that does race car set-up etc. I might just get them to do front as it needs aligment anyway and they can help with setting. If so, I'll post their recs.
New paint as soon as this gets completed!!!!

[Ryan H]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk

Would it be possible to order just the rear bushings ?

Sure. Just email me: rhoegner@eibach.com

[Kraftwerk]

Cool!
Thanks Ryan and Acme911

[goat]

Bringing this thread back up.
Just picked up a set from our host.
My question is while I have it up on stands are there any other things I should do while I am doing this project?
Or things you wish you had done yourself?
Thanks Tim

[chrismorse]

If we assume the car is currently "balanced" or currently properly corner-weighted, before the new bars are installed, it is important to adjust the drop link lengts with a "suitable" sand bag in the drivers seat, correct tire pressure, one half tank of gas and to do the link installation on a FLAT surface, or, reset the corner weights, just to be sure and reattach the drop links as above.
I do not have enough experience with swapping bars, while the car is on stands or on a lift to suggest a more accurate way to get a good result.
Chris

[chrismorse]

Originally Posted by WideRide 86

Were you able to make the adjustment to the softer setting? It looks like the swaybar also gets quite close to the chassis at that location.

Does your front sway have two for 3 adjustments? The description on Eibach's website says "Front Sway Bar is Solid and 3 Way-Adjustable." That seems to conflict with everything on this thread.

Thanks for the great writeups!

When I started replacing anti roll bars on my green car, I first tried to center the bar, laterally, then tried to get the links vertical, ( 90 degrees) to the chassis and bar, using spacers, longer bolts and "Safety" washers for more misalignment tolerance.
I presume that anti roll bars and links are more effective/linear/predictable and longer lasting when operating at the most favorable angles, I.e. 90 degrees.
I also realize that adjustability goes either side of this ideal- but, it is something to try to adjust toward.
Chris

[Qcurtis88]

I've added the Eibach sways to my 81 SC and I'm on the fence if it was a good idea.

I started on the stiffest setting front and rear, and felt like I was about to die going into corners. WAY too tail happy for my liking. Also made me realize how well my car was setup with OG bars (Shoutout Sublime Silverlake).

I then moved the rear to the softest setting and kept the front stiff. This was a huge improvement over the previous settings but still felt less confident than my stock setup in the twisties.

Latest settings are both front and rear set to the softest setting and I'm finally feeling somewhat back to par. Understeer was relatively predicatble and no terrifying oversteer characterisitics.

My last test will be moving front to the mid setting and keeping rear the softest. Will report back soon but as of now.... I have a bit of buyers remorse as I could HAUL ASS in my stock setup and these new sways are making me question each turn rather than feel confident. Bit of a bummer but maybe mid setting is the sweet spot.

81 911 Targa
7s & 9s - 16s

[PeteKz]

What T-bars and shocks do you use? If you go to stiffer sway bars, you need stiffer T-bars and shocks too, etc., etc.