Who sells the best hollow sway bar for my

[Roadrage David]

3000lbs road race firebird 700 hp/700 lbs tq/ 315 wide tires in frond 355 in the rear. trying to save weight and get the best bar availeble . i know there hase been a very long topic on it , but i need to narrow my choices witch sway bar to get. so please advice:smoke:

[Henesian]

I don't know how many people like the Hotchkis 1 3/8", but I don't, but I have never used it. I hate hollow bars. I just don't like its design because it's hollow, so its effective stiffness is decreased because you have to take the outside diameter subtracted the inside diameter. If you use a hollow bar, it has to be bigger than a solid bar, therefore making it harder to run gigantor tires infront, because you have a larger chance at hitting the bar at full lock.
If you look up circle track stuff, you can find sites that have NASCAR level of suspension equipment, like springs and swaybars. NASCAR machines use abnormally large sway bars, but they're splined and require special super heavy duty arms instead of links.

I'm not a sway bar guru by any means, but I hope this helps. Circle Track stuff is great for this kind of level of parts that you need.

[rjsjea]

I called these guys, between the tech help and service we spec'd out a hollow rear bar for my build.

http://www.1speedway.com/sb_rates.htm

[jocko124]

Talk to Marcus @ SC&C!

[Roadrage David]

Thanks so far guys!!

[James OLC]

I run a hollow bar from Hellwig. I think that they offer a couple of sizes/rates - I'm sure David will chime in soon.

[Roadrage David]

Anybody els who whants to chime in??? lol

[Gitter Dun]

Sway bar choices should be made from tuning the car. I know your trying to save weight but if you have to go to solid I wouldn't let the weight savings detour you.

On the other hand, I went from a solid Global West bar to a hollow DSE bar. It's hard to tell you now if it made a difference because I did get a slight loose condition but that could be because I had a rear shock fail me.

[Dave@Hellwig]

We do offer tubular front and rear sway bars for F-bodies. Our tubular rear bars are adjustable so you can tune the bar to match the vehicle. What year is your Firebird? That will help us make a reccomendation.

[Roadrage David]

Dave i 1968 firebird. i have run the Solid sway bar from Helwig for years!! .
no complains,
right now whe need to loose weight and need another great piece.
car is going to be totaly diferend then befor. ""High speed full out race corner carving speed demon"".I need the right frond away bar for it..........

[Dave@Hellwig]

We have a 1-1/8" tubular front sway bar for the 1st gen p/n 55705. It will cut the weight in half. It is about 10% softer in rate than the solid bar though.

[Tony_SS]

Could this be a situation of good weight? If you must have weight then wouldn't you want it low and near the wheels?

[Nessumsar]

I have 315s on the front of my Nova (same sub frame), and am running a 1-1/8" Solid Addco bar. I had it on the car before the large tires with no bar in the rear and it pushed a bit (as it should have). I did add a Hotchkis rear bar when I put the big front tires on; with those combined it should be much more neutral. It sould be drivable this next week, I'll let you know how it is.

[Gitter Dun]

Tony, good question on the good weight. I was not looking forward to adding 40 lbs with the addition of a Fays 2 watts link but I was told it was good weight. I wont know for sure until I test in April.

Dave, if it were me I would finish the build and then take it to the track for test and tune before spending money on a bar that may create a loose condition.

[Bryce]

Tony, good question on the good weight. I was not looking forward to adding 40 lbs with the addition of a Fays 2 watts link but I was told it was good weight. I wont know for sure until I test in April.

Dave, if it were me I would finish the build and then take it to the track for test and tune before spending money on a bar that may create a loose condition.


Off topic.... Gaetano, build your own aluminum watts link! Or hire me to. HAHA!

[Roadrage David]

Tony, good question on the good weight. I was not looking forward to adding 40 lbs with the addition of a Fays 2 watts link but I was told it was good weight. I wont know for sure until I test in April.

Dave, if it were me I would finish the build and then take it to the track for test and tune before spending money on a bar that may create a loose condition.
I know what you mean , But sins im going to build a second 68 firebird for my wife and son. i need to buy stuf anyway..
So if i can get the right away bar and loose weight at the same time, that would be bonus.

[Bryce]

I would suggest the splined modular sway bars..

[Roadrage David]

Bryce please ecsplain never heard of those befor. thanks

[Bryce]

I called these guys, between the tech help and service we spec'd out a hollow rear bar for my build.

http://www.1speedway.com/sb_rates.htm

Check out the link that rob posted.

[Roadrage David]

Bryce please understand im not only a dutchman but dislectic and partly word blind as wel . to me thats a riddel i need help with that stuf.. Thanks david

[Bryce]

No worries, I will try to explain. You order a straight tube with splined ends. The tube is your sway bar. It come in a variety of lengths and stiffnesses with the same splines on the end. Then you can order teh arms that connect to the lower control arm. These arms can be bent and cut to accomodate any setup. Then if you need a stiffer bar you can either chage the end link mounting on the sway bar arm. Or you can order a new sway bar. This is the best with multiple options.

[Roadrage David]

Ok cool . i gues i need to go as stif as posible?!. for my al out race set up.
What do you need to know about the car befor you can advice me.

[dondb]

David...i have read many discussions on sway bars over on LS1TECH for my 4th gen. car. After speaking with some suspension guru's over there, (mind you i'm no suspension expert) i was told: Because a sway bar is unsprung weight it helps for the bar to be lighter, in addition there is very little difference in the performance between a solid and hollow sway bar due to the circumference is the key to strentgh. I also spoke with Frank at Prodigy and he is of opinion to change out my current solid sway bar for a hollow one to help with weight and performance. I,m sure the experts will chime in...but i did notice a positive difference on my 4th gen. going to a larger hollow sway bar from stock.

[Gitter Dun]

Off topic.... Gaetano, build your own aluminum watts link! Or hire me to. HAHA!

LOL, too late, maybe next time.

One thing I would like to add though, Make sure the arms for the splined bar will allow for front tire clearance. Draw something up with some dimensions and make the arms or send the drawings off to the guy making the arms.

[JRouche]

Bars, links and arms oh my! LOL Sway bars? What? Un-sprung weight? Why? Mount the spring to the chassis no brainer.

I really dont get the setup with the bar mounted to the rear end. Packaging prolly.

Performance gains are gonna be had with ANY bar on a car that does not have one. Pretty simple. And thats what the aftermarket companies provide. Rear end mounted bars or chassis mounted bars. Solid or hollow. It really doesnt matter at this stage if you are going from NO bar to ANY bar, the gain will still be there.

I think its kinda trivial when we are talking about a car without a bar to begin with. The weight factor is super fine tuning and to be honest. A guy that doesnt even have a bar in place prolly has more tuning issues to think about than the weight of the roll (ok sway) bar. I like to think roll bar but thats confusing when talking about cars, like roll cages and its bars. I like roll bar, but sway bar conveys the idea better.


And back to the rear end mounted bars and weight. If someone is really concerned about unsprung weight they need to move the bar from the rear end to the chassis. Just my opinion.

Trying to figure out if a solid bar is better than a hollow bar due to weight means nothing if you arent willing to take the bar OFF the rear end. Its so much easier to remove the weight off the rear end by mounting the bar on the chassis and then you dont even care if its solid or hollow, the weight issue is removed. Plain and simple.

Ok, my liking? A hollow splined chassis mounted bar (hollow or solid) with aluminum arms.

Sometimes its a lil harder to make it fit. And if your frame isn't a frame, more work. But if you are serious about performance there will be a frame in there, not just a sheetmetal box (unibody). But you can even make the unibody work.

I put a whats it called these days, torsion bar sway bar, nascar sway bar, modular bar, three piece bar???? Im not sure of the correct name. I just think of it as a three piece sway bar, two arms and a straight torsion bar, hollow or solid.

And YES!!! Its a bitch to fit in. I thought the rear was gonna be the problem with ALL the links I had in place. Parallel 4-link, watts link and now some sway bar links. Hell, I have more links then the golf course.

But I found out is WAS the easier of the ends. The front end was really a bear. I thought I was limited for space on the rear. The front was way more confined. I didnt have ANY space for the three link sway bar. It was like threading spaghetti through a spiders web. Mainly cause I have an air ride setup. And all the links have to clear all the other links when its aired all the way down. And aired down it moves all the suspension much further than at ride height. Alot more clearance is needed.

But, after some bending and work I got it to work. There is NO touching of any metal for the entire travel of the front suspension. And for a three piece sway bar on a car that never had a bar it was some work.

Performance? Does it work. HELL yes. I drive around, on the outside, of any cars that Ive driven around. Including small hondas that are notorious for there handling.

Kinda fun to take a 49 year old car around the newer cars when Im on the outside. If Im on the inside its not even fun. Like taking candy from well, anyone... JR