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After looking at the bushings on my front and rear sway bars on my 97' Z28, I decided I want to replace them. However I'm not sure if I should just replace the bars themselves with aftermarkets. This car is my summer only daily driver and I want improved handling with maybe a couple track days a year, so nothing harsh or super stiff. Is it worth it to spend a few hundred on new sway bars, or should I just stick with the new bushings? And if so, what brand is the best bang for the buck? I don't need top of the line with these
road courses/autocross would benefit GREATLY from aftermarket sway bars and shocks,but you don't want anything harsh. Harshness comes along with a suspension set up to minimize body roll for what you want to engage in.
Sam Strano of Stranoparts.com(one of this site's sponsors) would be of the best help to you.
^this to an extent.
Many of the right part won't really be harsh, and some will be far better than stock (like shocks for example).
If you want to upgrade, cheapest option you have is to buy a used front 32mm bar from an ss or ws6. That will match well to the stock 19mm rear bar.
Next would be to get a set of 35mm front, 22mm rear bars. Used, UMI or stranoparts.
However the best thing you can do to your suspension for handling is get good shocks, it won't even feel like the same car anymore.
It's largely a waste of money to buy sway bar bushings only. Bushings don't make the bars any stiffer, they don't change how much the car rolls, etc. If the stock stuff is shot you need them to be in good shape for the bars to work most effectively but new bars also come with all new bushings too. So you don't want to buy bushings, then buy bars and end up wasting money on bushings you can't really use anyway.
I agree that shocks are a huge deal and I can only assume the car has stock shocks and a lot of miles (nothing is telling me otherwise), and that's where I'd start with bars close behind.
Bars cut body roll, the amount of it. Shocks don't cut any of it, but they slow the rate of it way, way down. So the question is simple this: Does the car roll too much, too fast (flop), or does it do both things. If it's 1, that's bars and springs. If it's 2 that's shocks. If it's 1 and 2 together, that's bars and shocks to fix it. Mind you the RIGHT kind of shock, not any shock will result in a car that drives well. And you can *certainly* get sway bars that are very, very wrong for handling.
__________________ www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450 Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
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Thank you for the insight Sam I appreciate it. I am ordering your springs with the Koni shocks next week. I also just found out that my front sway bar is snapped at the end (see photo) so I might as well get a new hollow one from your site while I'm at it. I think I'm going to keep the rear one stock. The car tends to oversteer quite a bit.
If you want to do a front only that's fine, we can do that. But there are two things to consider along with that. One being that the front bar is busted and what's left of that attachment to the endlink is just flexing, meaning you don't have nearly the front bar you should have even from a stock part, which will make the car more prone to oversteer. Two being that from there we don't put a massive rear bar on like most others do anyway. I'm the original guy who ran a 22mm rear, most others are still 25mm and/or solid. I'm the only one with a thin wall 22mm rear just because I don't want too much rear bar.
Again, up to you but I designed the bars to not be really loose on purpose which is what you are after. I think what you'll find with a stock rear and my front is that the rear is a touch on the lazy side unless you run more shock to crisp it up which can compromise the feel and ride more than you might like... and it does't help the balance if the car ends up tight. You can always add a rear bar later if you try it this way (front only) and it doesn't pan out.
__________________ www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450 Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
If you want to do a front only that's fine, we can do that. But there are two things to consider along with that. One being that the front bar is busted and what's left of that attachment to the endlink is just flexing, meaning you don't have nearly the front bar you should have even from a stock part, which will make the car more prone to oversteer. Two being that from there we don't put a massive rear bar on like most others do anyway. I'm the original guy who ran a 22mm rear, most others are still 25mm and/or solid. I'm the only one with a thin wall 22mm rear just because I don't want too much rear bar.
Again, up to you but I designed the bars to not be really loose on purpose which is what you are after. I think what you'll find with a stock rear and my front is that the rear is a touch on the lazy side unless you run more shock to crisp it up which can compromise the feel and ride more than you might like... and it does't help the balance if the car ends up tight. You can always add a rear bar later if you try it this way (front only) and it doesn't pan out.
Awesome! That makes sense. I like experimenting and learning when it comes to vehicle dynamics so I'll start with the front and see how the ride is. Thanks again
__________________ www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450 Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
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Help with sway bars? 
