does anyone know what the pst sway bars are made out of and if they are any good. Im looking at a total suspension rebuild and shopping around for the best parts

 

plug - http://www.spohn.net/

I just picked up ther Tubular steering brace, good quality and cheap prices, even shipped up to North.

Others use Kenny Brown and and SSM, but I believe the sponsor above is the most used ? on the site anyways.

 

Sway bars are basically springs, so they are all made out of spring steel of some type.

PST's products seem to generally be OK, as far as that goes. Whether their particular choice of sway bar rates and such things matches your preferences, is an entirely different matter. As we all know, a "slightly firm" ride to one person, might be "bone-jarring" to the next. But it's safe to say, just about any "performance" suspension upgrade will improve the car's handling at the expense of ride comfort.

 

Spohn sells a 34mm solid front bar- see sponsors at top of page
TDS sells a 23mm solid rear bar- see top also.

This is my perfered set up after testing. Spohns 25mm solid bar is too much for the car with SFC's on it. This will matter also what spring # you deside to run front and rear but the 34mm/23mm solids bars would be my recommendation over everyone elses 36mm hollow/24mm solid combo (Spohn's package is 34mmsolid/25mm solid)-this rear bar is just too much and lifts the rear of my car after installing SFC's.

I don't know the rate betweem the 36mm hollow and the 34mm solid front bars but would greatly assume that the 34mm solid is more stiff.

 

The stock IROC sway bars for 34mm, are they hollow too? From what I have heard, all of the sway bars on the f-bodies are hollow. I just wanted to confirm before pruchasing a different set.

 

We'll soon (within 2-3 weeks) be offering a second sway bar set up option. The same front with a 22mm rear. Solid 4140 heat treated spring grade chrome moly just like the other bars.

That way we have both bases covered. Some people prefer more bar and less spring, others prefer more spring and less bar. We'll have either set up available.

These are the highest quality materials you'll find on any sway bar on the market. Our bars are also hot formed, not cold bent like most others out there.

Steve

 

Thats great news for everyone- I think we have all been brainwashed into the 36mm/24mm combo because that was the biggest stock bars offered by GM- but bigger isn't always better.

Steve, I just wanted to add that my combo that works on my car with the 34mm solid/23mm solid is on a lighter frontend V6 car. I would agree with your choice of the 22mm rear bar for the heavier front V8 cars- the 34mm/22mm will help reduce the rear wheel lift on them. Should be a perfect balance.

To any that don't under stand this much and wonder why a V6 can run a heavier rear bar (in ratio to the front bar size) than a V8- let me explain:

The weight of the V8 motor will sway the front end more than the front end of a V6 car. That extra weight will twist or sway the entire chassis all the way to the rear of the car more and if the rear bar is too stiff then the inner rear tire will start to loose contact/or grip with the road.
A smaller rear bar in proportion to the front will allow the rear to flex enough from the chassis sway and keep the inner wheel better planted giving better traction. Springs rates come into play here also but I think with most aftermarket spring combos offered combined with SFC's( stiffer than normal chassis), the smaller rear bar is better

 

the type of driving I do having a little body roll is good. Which is why I'm kinda scared of putting aftermarket sway bars. But when this smaller sway bar set comes out I'll probably pick them up to test them out.

 

Rev, You guys drift driving should try the biggest rear bar possible combined with a whole lot of power to get you out of trouble when that *** end hangs out. I can do this all day in my Vette- I use to bump the rear swaybar heimjoints to the stiffer position (after I would clinch a fast enough run while autocrossing) and go out and have a blast. The fence would line with spectators real quick when they new I was up to this. My run times would suffer about 8 seconds slower on an average 70sec course but it would look faster drifting.

The more stiff the rearend is and less body roll, the more control you will have over drifting. Less traction on the inner rear tire helps promote rear wheel drift (loose) and alot of pedal to blip to keep it where you want it. Alot of the drifter will run lots of negetive (edit: Rear camber) camber to do the same thing- however we don't have this adjustment.

 

Anyone know this one?

 

The 34mm & 36mm front sway bars GM supplied are both hollow. I also sell the 24mm rear bar, but am currently out of stock. My web site only shows products that are in stock or have a scheduled re-stock date. If a product goes out of stock it is automatically removed from the site until it is re-stocked.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

What came stock on the rear with the 34mm front bar? I didn't measure that one yet.

I need to get the best system for when I lower the car, and for the street. I do some racing, but it is usually straight line. I corner carve ever day, because it is fun!!!

 

23 MM rear stock with that bar, the 34 and 36 were hollow, and theres a solid 32.

 

Yea but for more high speed control and overall control over the car. Its bettet to have a car that grips the road good. But to have enough power to keep the rear wheels spinning. Having slight oversteer is good but to much will be over kill. I prefer more of a equal setup with the suspension. Meaning not stiff rear/soft front but 50/50. It allows a more controllable slide. Before I used to like having a stiffer rear when I did slower drifts. But now days I normally enter a drift at about 45+mph or sometimes even around 89mph so having an oversteering car aint so good.

 

Drift driving that i've seen never allows for the driver to ever straighten the vehicle even on straightaways. Mildly stiff suspensions still have cushion to absorb bumps and promote traction- so if the idea is to stay pitched and utilize wheelspin to control oversteer then the idea is not to have rear not emphisize on road hugging contour, but rather a stiff suspension that will glance over dips and bumps not causing grip and sudden change in chassis attitude.

Now based on your statement above about more high speed entrance and the looks of your sig picture, I'm led to ask this question: What method are you using to enter a high speed drift?

Meaning are you flying down a straightaway and then throwing your car pitch into the next turn, scrubbing speed until you slow and then regain traction? Are you turning and braking to unload the rear then hard on the gas to keep it there? Are you utilizing tractor brakes or the e-brake to promote pitch?

The reason why I ask these questions is because any softness in the suspension will cause the car to be more unpredictable in a drift. Just try this in a Cadillac and you'll be looking backwards in a heartbeat.

With my Spohn 25mm solid rear swaybar on the car I can enter a cloverleaf onramp here in So. Calif. (Chapman & 55Fwy S.) that has a decreasing radius kink at the last 20* of the 270* corner. I hit that kink at 72 mph and with a small snap of the wheel the car drifts out and remains pitched for about 20 yards and then my under powered V6 cannot hold it out there any longer and it eases back into grip. Now with the lighter 23mm bar it will not do this. The car maintains traction and all four wheel will drift together if pressed harder (No pitch-no sprintcar type driving- complete stability) I can tell you fisrt hand that the smaller bar will make this hard on you if you wish to enter and maitain corners like a sprint car rather than a 4-wheel drift power slide.
Hope this helps.

 

okay now I'm allitle confused as to what I was trying to say...haha anyways for the high speed drifts I usually break the rear end and slide the car one way for awhile by doing a clutch kick then I slide the car the other way to face the turn and use the brakes (either slowly pressing it or slamming on them to lock up all 4 wheels causing a 4 wheel slide) and the ebrake to keep the angle and to get to the right speed for the turn. But thats morely for this sharp turn that we have at the track. I usually break the rear end out about...alittle more then 1/2 of a 1/8mile dont really know what that would be...For longer/wider turns I usually just come up to the turn and kick the clutch and moderate the gas and controlt he steering to keep the car going through the turn.
I can see what you were talking about before...but I dono I guess really its all about personal preference. Right now my car doesnt have much oversteer. Atcually its tuned to hug turns pretty well. For me I like a car taht will hug a turn with ease and to break out the back end you have to break it out via clutch, ebrake, etc. I cant really explain it....but when my car slides I can keep the angle of the slide very slight if I want. And if I want more of an angle I hit the gas more or turn the steering alittle. Like when you have a car thats more oversteer instead of being a 50/50 like set up..the rear end wants to fly around and swap with the front. While with a more 50/50 setup you control what the car is. Dammit I cant really explain it without using my hands to show you what I mean haha

 

I love this quote it is tough to explain things, much easier to strap someone *** in and take 'um for a ride to show things.

I get the idea of your driving style well though- good explaination. You pretty much like the style of what I call "Stunt car driving". This is what you see in the movie and TV with most police type chase scenes. However- they have it easy with lower speeds and tractor brakes. (Alot like Mickey Thompsen stadium truck racing but on pavement)

With that style of driving I would agree that a more balanced setup is better- it will get you out of trouble easier by just lifting the throttle slightly. An oversteer setup will allow the car to set better into the corner but if you miss you entry point and apex-then kiss your cars *** good bye.