Ok. I would like to improve the handling on my car without going overboard (harsh ride comfort), so I have decided to look into buying a rear swaybar from whiteline. For a car that hasn't had any suspension mods done (and probably wont too much anyway) will 20mm rear swaybars do, or would it be better to spend another $70 and upgrade to the 18-22mm adjustable ones.
I have a 2000 TJ exec. (no rear swaybar from what I could see)

If you want better handling you should be upgrading your suspension at the same time.. maybe lowered springs and decent shocks. This will affect your handling greatly. Even slightly lowered but stiffer springs will make a huge difference. The sway bars will also help.. I have a heavy duty sway bar on the front of my car, but it is also lowered.

Just remember you will need to buy the mounting brackets for the rear swaybar too.. About another $50 from whiteline..

if you want to increase handling and retain ride quality, many suspension shops can tailor progressive rate springs for you, just describe what type of driving you do and they can sort something out, a rear sway bar or any sway bar for that matter is designed to reduce body roll, as they are also known as anti-roll bars

get better tyres.

Cheers fellas, but the question still stands. Is it worth paying an extra $70 odd dollars to get the thicker 18-22mm adjustable ones for a car that wont have serious suspension mods done on it, to improve handling?

Honestly, I wouldnt be putting on a rear sway bar at all.. You have IRS for a reason.. To reduce body roll, I would just be upgrading the front. Just my opinion tho..

Cheers fellas, but the question still stands. Is it worth paying an extra $70 odd dollars to get the thicker 18-22mm adjustable ones for a car that wont have serious suspension mods done on it, to improve handling?
To answer that no i can't see the point in going for the adjustable one if you have little suspension mods in mind, even tho its only $70, but the problem with fitting just a rear sway bar is tho it will reduce body roll even more, on standard springs and shocks you will notice the fore and aft pitch and dive characteristics, of a standard car at a greater extent.

Honestly, I wouldnt be putting on a rear sway bar at all.. You have IRS for a reason.. To reduce body roll, I would just be upgrading the front. Just my opinion tho..

Then why do Sports and VRXs have them?

Z

Then why do Sports and VRXs have them?

Z

They also have different suspension set up..

Probably because they are meant to handle better..especially with more aggresive driving..

Then why do Sports and VRXs have them?

Z
Remember, the sports and vrx have a different suspension calibration (spring and shock rates) to a standard car, and when desigened were targeted at a more entuasiastic driver, hence also adding a rear sway bar, the engineers would not have found one necessary for a car with standard suspension and just used for normal driving

They also have different suspension set up..

Probably because they are meant to handle better..especially with more aggresive driving..

Exactly..so if you want to improve the handling of your exec, adding a rear swaybar is a good option (along with front swaybar, shocks, lower springs, etc, etc.. :)

Z

I think you will find that it just comes down to cost and not overall intention. If they can reduce costs then they will as long as the car handles competently. A rear sway bar will reduce understeer and if you are going to do very mild suspension mods then a standard bar will do fine. If however you were going to do springs and shocks and a front sway bar then the adjustability would be useful down the track for fine tuning.

Exactly..so if you want to improve the handling of your exec, adding a rear swaybar is a good option (along with front swaybar, shocks, lower springs, etc, etc.. :)

Z

Yeh.. my point was more so rear sway bar should come after other mods which would improve handling more so, such as stiffers suspension/shocks. Personally I have found this to be more than adequate for normal to aggresive driving.

Just opinion.. I have a rear sway bar ready to put on my car.. but havent had the need.

Yeh.. my point was more so rear sway bar should come after other mods which would improve handling more so, such as stiffers suspension/shocks. Personally I have found this to be more than adequate for normal to aggresive driving.

Just opinion.. I have a rear sway bar ready to put on my car.. but havent had the need.

Sure, that's a fair call. If it was me, I'd most likely do it, but probably after the other stuff. My Sports has one already, so it's a moot point for me. :)

Z

go the fixed 20mm if you aren't going to do much except for maybe lowering. once you start to upgrade to a strut brace, front swaybar, wheels, etc. you would want to stiffen an adjustable 22mm swaybar to fine tune and balance the car. what greenmatt said :)
rear sway bar is the best FWD handling mod to do, you will see a massive difference, even with standard susp. upgrading the front swaybar only, is bad news as it makes the factory induced understeer worse!

you're probly better off getting a front strut brace before the rear sway. you'll notice more of a difference with the strut brace...... trust me

you're probly better off getting a front strut brace before the rear sway. you'll notice more of a difference with the strut brace...... trust me

There's definitely a strut brace in my future. :)

Z

Yeah I have a strut brace in mind in the not too distant future and maybe monroe gt's but I really don't want to change the ride quality as I only go out to the track once every two months. Would these mods improve the handling a bit over the factory exec?

if you get shocks to properly match lowered springs, the difference in ride quality will be negligible and hardly noticable at all. what you will notice is the ability to take corners with more 'spirit', and also the lack of 'floatyness' of the suspension.

Then why do Sports and VRXs have them?

Z

Add's weight so that commodores feel like they're in with a chance :bowrofl:

Add's weight so that commodores feel like they're in with a chance :bowrofl:

Pffft yea as if :bowrofl:

Like any mod, suspension mods depend on each other - only together they "close the circle". Somebody mentioned that std Magna has no rear stabiliser for not needing it. Yeah, they come with RE 92 tyres don't they. Grip is outta window way before the suspension gets loaded. Put real tyres on and it becomes a different story. Sports/VRX et al come with other than RE 92 rubber - different scenario.
If one had to choose one suspension mod out of all to be the first and only one - wowh, difficult. I quess I would go with tyres first.
But, when I installed my adjustable Whiteliner it made BIG difference. But note that I already had existing mods there. For me to say definitely if strut brace or rear stabiliser is better, I would need to dismantle them all, do test driving etc etc. In other words, not gonna.... :D
But I claim rear bar made bigger diff than front brace.
Go with adjustable, so in future u can tickle it according to your tyres etc.
So there.

Cheers fellas, but the question still stands. Is it worth paying an extra $70 odd dollars to get the thicker 18-22mm adjustable ones for a car that wont have serious suspension mods done on it, to improve handling?

I've got the base 20mm whiteline rear one on mine and its so far unmodded as to the rest of the suspension. I'd be tending to put the extra $70 into a front strut brace - that tightens up the steering etc as well - with just these two mods the car is tight and handles sweetly in normal use.

i highly recommend front strut brace and rear sway bar...... takes corners very flat now. :badgrin:

I called them today and ordered the adjustable ones.
Cheers everybody.

Honestly, I wouldnt be putting on a rear sway bar at all.. You have IRS for a reason.. To reduce body roll, I would just be upgrading the front. Just my opinion tho..


My 84 Pulsar Hatch had IRS and front and rear sway bars! And no, it wasnt an ET, and yes, it was completely standard. IRS was designed so that the rear wheels can utilise the suspension travel independant of the other. Hence the name Independant Rear Suspension.

With a solid axle suspension sytem, if one wheel goes down, the other goes up. In a nutshell anyway.

all this sway bar talk and not too many of you actually are getting any..... well, not that I got any calls or emails anyway. :)

Independent Rear Suspension is way better than live axle, but still upgrading the sway bar will help a lot with bodyroll and handling. Every car company make their cars to a budget, that's why there's aftermarket industry to upgrade these parts and make them work the way they should.

Cheers.

The first susp mod I did on my car was the rear sway bar and it was by far the best mod I every did, the improvement in handling was F$$n brilliant, by far the greatest improvement of all the susp mods I've done and would argue this till I was blue in the face. I only wish I had of got the adjustable one, Glad to see you did you wont be sorry.

Just be careful when you first drive her cause she'll hug the apex heaps tighter (watch the gutter :bowrofl: ).

I'd lower the car 1.5-2" with some KYB shocks and dobinson springs. They're not as harsh as Kings and you'll still have nice ride comfort.

Then look at swaybars and strut braces later because you might like the new ride as is.