Z28_DAD

iTrader: (18)

im heading up to the track on friday. would it be ok to drive w/o it on the car?
im talking about the front btw

SiL3NtXWS6

iTrader: (17)

I drive my car all the time on the street with no front sway bar. Just take it easy, no stupid **** and you will be 100% fine.

CarolinaWS6

i drive mine everywhere without mine

Studytime

iTrader: (15)

I drove mine daily w/o a sway bar until one day I realized how much I was missing. I've put my front sway bar on and it's staying. It's fine for a day or two to go to the track and back, but I've seen the light and my front bar is staying put.

Ben T.

RoastEmSS

tons of people run without it, suppose to help weight transfer at the track

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Um.... leave it on (PLEASE) and when you get to the track just unhook one endlink! Simple, much safer on the road, and a hell of lot more fun to drive.

john shea

Drive mine all the time with no sway bar.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Yep, because that extra 10 pounds in a 3400 lb. car (before driver) is going to kill you. Unhook it, get your weight transfer. Hook it back up and get the roll control the car was designed with (which isn't enough for handling use, but it's better than NOTHING.

I know, I know you all do it and it's fine. It's not fine, it's not smart and you've been lucky that you haven't hurt yourself, or worse... someone else. You will spin the car in any kind of evasive move, and that only gets worse with things like drag shocks, big rear drag bars, etc.

To each his own, but do you really think GM would spend money on a part that did nothing? Uh, no. That's about all I have to say on the matter other than Studytime's comments are right on, and we had a long conversation about this very subject. He found out how much better the car really is with a bar than without, and again what are you giving up? Nothing, if you unhook one endlink (that's one nut folks) at the track you get the same effect as no front bar at all--but for the "extra" weight you are carrying which is very little. And much less than the other parts many of you install that have nothing to do with performance (like subs and amps).

MavrikTA

iTrader: (27)

Well the way I see it...there are THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of vehicles on the road everyday that didnt come with a sway bar. Swaybar is just like traction control...helps the driver. If a Jeep on 35's can drive around without one...Im pretty sure a F-bodly with a 2ft high center of gravity will be ok. If you can drive and you have any sense... you are just fine without it. I ran my car without one for a year and never noticed much of a difference.

Azrael

iTrader: (10)

The problem with your way of thinking is that the F-Body was designed to use a swaybar, whereas the THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS you are talking about were not. Would some of those vehicles be more stable with them? Sure...

Is the F-Body less stable without one? Absolutely.

Just cause one guy can survive with a bullet in his head doesn't mean any of us want you to go out and try it for yourself...

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

The vehicles that don't have a bar are DESIGNED to run without one and have things like greater springs rates. Further, you're comparing a lifted Jeep on 35's to a Camaro, what's that tell you about running around without a bar?????

I hate to say this, but if you don't notice a difference with the bar vs. without it... Well, either you drive like Grandma and haven't had the cause to really have to toss the car to avoid a problem, or just aren't a very perceptive driver. I'd guess the former over the latter. The last time I had an endlink break it was HUGELY obvious just driving down the road.

gun5l1ng3r

So Sam, would one of your sway bars be adequate roll control for the F-Body vs. the stock unit? (As you stated is not enough for good handling).

coolformula

iTrader: (21)

Sam's Bars are great!

I wouldn't be running out without a front bar.

To each his own. (how many times do we go over this one?)

JoeyAnderson

iTrader: (20)

I run 3.5" front wheels, no bar, big meats out back and a welded drag bar ~4000 miles a month, and I haven't even come close to a close call yet. Drive like you have some sense and you will be fine.

MavrikTA

iTrader: (27)

The Jeep analogy was just to further prove that SAFETY is from the DRIVER not a damn sway bar. If these guys can drive a top heavy Jeep on 35's without a sway bar(while they came from the factory with a sway bar), then our little cars 6 inches off the ground are not going to be so horribly effected as some people here are trying to convey. If you drive like an idiot, flying around 90 degree corners at 75mph then yes, it would be a significant factor in handling, but everyday driving, even spirited, will not be adversly effected enought to the point that it is a safety hazzard... like many of us have said...there is no replacement(sway bars, included) for common sense.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

skinnies don't have any grip, hence less likely to have a problem. With skinnies I'd say it's not unsafe. However, to recommend to folks that it's "fine" because you ( a generic you, not specific to anyone ) haven't had an issue is insanity. Most folks don't run on 3.5" wheels, but run 8" or wider and have a lot more grip.

To go back to the Jeep thing and tall vehicles. Nobody is going to drive a Jeep the way a Camaro gets driven, and if they do they deserve to get hurt. Look under a UPS truck sometime, they have HUGE bars for stability because of all the mass.

I give up. What do I know anyway. Go ahead run with no front bar, after all it's the hot ticket for handling. You know, still I haven't heard one decent reason for leaving the bar on and just UNHOOKING IT AT THE TRACK. Best of both worlds. The fact you won't even try that tells me how short-sighted folks are and how much the don't understand how a suspension works. Of course, that's not a surprise given how half the time, thank god not ALL the time, I'm banging my head off my desk because of things I read online (not just here, but all over).

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I built my bars for an expressed purpose, being roll control. They aren't the right answer for everyone, and a drag car should stay on a stock 30mm bar if that's what the real use is. But the flatter you want the car, the more responsive you want the car, the more you want things like more front bar.

LT Malice

iTrader: (3)

I don't like to lay down in the dirt at the track.

There. Someone said it.

I have been sans swaybar for a couple weeks now. I only drive to and from the track, and I drive like a grandma. I am very uncomfortable driving without my sway.

As soon as my drag binge is over, I'm putting my swaybar and 275/17 front tires on, and lowering the car 2".

94z28L

iTrader: (4)

i agree with him, just take it off at the track, how long does it honestly take you to pop off an end link? you change to slicks or change suspension settings in the rear and some guys even swap out third members on a 9 inch, it wont take that long to disconnect an end link

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

I definitely believe that a lot of people run without the swaybar and have been fine. But then again no one has probably ended up in the life threatening situation where you had to swerve the hell out of the car. Its that once in a lifetime situation that matters most. Who knows, maybe you will be fine. It's your own risk you take I guess.

What Sam is saying is how hard is it to unlink one end of the swaybar when you get to the track? It can be done with wheels loaded.

I'm not a huge drag race expert. What is the point of softening up the front? Is it to get better times or just for keeping the front end stable? How much power becomes the point where you have to worry about the front end becoming unstable?