sway bars

[deadhead]

Hey PT!
Thinking about updating my sway bars....ive been looking at the belltech sways along with the hotchkins setup....the belltech is less expensive but i hear awesome things about the hotchkins sways....is this a get way you pay for situation or is there a real difference? are their any other manufactures i should look at? oh i have a 70 A body buick skylark. Thanks everyone!

[deadhead]

oh cannot forget the muscle bars from ridetech...but i believe they are the most expensive ones running 750.00 for both?!

[ArtosDracon]

I've used hellwig on several occasions and they're quality isn't the best I've seen, but their value is the best I've found IMHO.

[wmhjr]

I've seen the Hotchkis and have had the Spohn and the Hellwig. The quality was good on all 3. Personally I thought the quality of the Hellwig might be a little better than the Spohn, but they were all fine.

[Tony_SS]

I run Suspension Techniques.. very nice solid bars.

[Skip Fix]

Put Suspension Techniques on out Honda years ago-very nice quality. Hotchkiss on my truck is good quality also.

[JRouche]

oh cannot forget the muscle bars from ridetech...but i believe they are the most expensive ones running 750.00 for both?!

I bought a front bar from ridetech. It was when I was buying some other stuff and thought might as well toss that in also. I cant tell much from looks but it looks like a really nice bar. I would be suprised if they make their own bars, but never know.

Anyway, nice looking bar, it wont fall apart anytime soon.

But.... I ended up not using it. Maybe for a couple of reasons. I ended up using another speedway bar like I had on the rear. Mainly because I was already doing some work up front and had the whole thing tore apart. So some extra fab work to make the speedway bar work was ok. And, I wanted a specific spring rate. I think anytime you add a spring (sway bar or suspension spring) its nice to know what the rate is. One size fits all doesnt work for suspension springs, and I think the same holds true for sway bar springs. But Im not recommending that route for a couple reasons. Just saying.

But anyway, thats irrelevant cause you are looking for plug and play bars. And so far ALL the manufactures tossed out there by yourself and others are good to go. Hellwig, hotchkins, spohn and ridetech. Not a bad manufacture in the bunch. I wouldnt be suprised to see that some have similar starting points. Like they were manufactured in the same plant. Kinda like refrigerators. Alot of names out there but only a few manufactures. Not sure.

But I dont think you will go wrong with any of those names you see. So then cost might be a determining factor. And fitment. If you are looking for a bolt in bar at this point you have the manufactures down. I would think what would set them apart is the attention to detain. How well did they measure the car its going into and will it be a simple remove and replace. Thats a biggy sometimes. JR

[Hotchkis]

Hey PT!
Thinking about updating my sway bars....ive been looking at the belltech sways along with the hotchkins setup....the belltech is less expensive but i hear awesome things about the hotchkins sways....is this a get way you pay for situation or is there a real difference? are their any other manufactures i should look at? oh i have a 70 A body buick skylark. Thanks everyone!

You'll be happy with any upgrade over stock or no sway bar on your Skylark. A swaybar is one of those satisfying improvements which you can actually feel.



The positive features of the tubular front Hotchkis bars, and adjustable rear bars are that the design allows roll stiffness tuning for improved handling balance and traction and is engineered to eliminate the hard mounted factory design rear bar. This system allows the rear sway bar to slightly pivot reducing fatigue and stress placed on the sway bar. Handling and traction are dramatically improved while the adjustable design allows for tunability for specific car set ups. This system is highly reccomended for high horsepower cars, or any GM A-Body owner looking for improvements in handling and traction.

[Dave@Hellwig]

Our Pro-touring bars offer the latest designs for your A-body. If you have stock suspension geometry, I would reccomend our 55703 1-5/16" tubular front sway bar and our 55868 1-1/8" adjustable rear sway bar. Our rear sway bar relocates the arms of the sway bar from the control arm and attaches them to the frame to allow the suspension to freely articulate. THis new design provides dramatically improved handling and ride quality over the stock setup by reducing bind in the rear suspension. THe rear sway bar features three adjustment holes to allow tuning the vehicle to match your upgrades and driving style. This bar has been well received by the pro-touring community. Here's some pictures of the rear bar.

[JRouche]

Just nit picking here. But if a guy was looking at two quality bars and the cost was similar I would think a chassis mounted bar vs a rear end mounted bar would be my choice. All other parts being equal. Just for the minor (15-20lbs) of unsprung weight difference. And really, that would only be a considering factor for me at the last step of choosing.

The quality of the manufacture (and you already have that nailed down, all good manufactures you sited) would be third in line for needs. Bar rate first for me. Second would be the fitment, it has to fit. And after all of that then weight and where the weight is placed (on the frame or the rear end) would be a consideration for me.

But as heavy as the rears are on some of these cars its prolly not much of an issue. But some folks are looking to reduce as much unsprung weight as they can.

Just a thought. JR

[Dave@Hellwig]

We looked at doing a chassis mounted bar but the layout of the GM A-body does not lend itself to a chassis mounted rear bar without major rework. Our tubular 1-1/8" rear bar shown above weighs 7.5 lb. and not all of that is unsprung. Besides, a rear axle assembly with brakes weighs about 300 lb so the effect is minimal.

[JRouche]

We looked at doing a chassis mounted bar but the layout of the GM A-body does not lend itself to a chassis mounted rear bar without major rework. Our tubular 1-1/8" rear bar shown above weighs 7.5 lb. and not all of that is unsprung. Besides, a rear axle assembly with brakes weighs about 300 lb so the effect is minimal.

Yup, 7.5lbs is not much at all, and like you said, only the cross bar and a portion of the arms are unsprung weight. I thought it would have weighed more for the diameter of it. Must be a fairly thin walled bar. What is the spring rate for that bar?

And really, the layout and fitment issues will dictate what bar you use. Again, if it doesn't fit then its a no deal.

But Im really curious about the spring rate. For a 1-1/8" bar to only weigh 7.5lbs its gonna be pretty thin on the wall.

And NO. Im not even saying thats a bad thing. Just curious. It sounds like its gonna be a sub 200lb bar or just over 200 lbs. Which really sounds like a good number. You get too heavy with the rear bar rate and you start getting into some poor behavior with the rear end. If I didnt know where to start, just shooting in the wind, Id rather have a 185lb bar in place then a 275lb bar. Better to under spring the rear bar than to over spring it. If yer shooting into the wind and dont know exactly what bar rate works for your car. Which to be honest, is most of us, I think.

A 185lb bar in a car that didnt have any rear bar is a great start. Kinda perfect actually. Just enough roll resistance to take some body roll but not enough to upset the rearend during most driving conditions. And yes, what bar is in front and along with so many other variables should be considered.

But for a semi stock front end with a bar I think a 185-225lb rear bar is a good idea. JR

[Dave@Hellwig]

The Hellwig PT bar is adjustable with three settings from 172 to 226 lb/in. The bar was desgined to work with the mods typical of the average PT car such as spherical bushings in the upper control arms and 135-175 lb/in rear coils. It will also work well with a stock suspension and spring rates. The adjustability gives the ability to find the sweet spot for your vehicle and driving style. With 175lb/in coils in the rear and spherical bearings in the upper control arms, the softest setting works great with an average street tire.