....and get sodomized by some idiots that wont fix your car.

 

Got the Wonder bar for X-mas and got it installed. The install was easyer then getting the car up.

Front end feels much more solid and the handling is improved.

For the cost and effort this one is a winner!

 

Finaly got my wonder bar!! will have pics of instal later today hopefully.

 

Got my wonder bar in. Had to open up the holes just slightly and there was no provision on the drivers side for the stock sway bar clamps tab to go through so I cut it off. I have new energy suspension bushings now and those did not have that tab. Can't blame TDS for the fitment my front end was probably slightly out of whack. Great product noticable difference in feel has to be one of the cheapest and best suspension components you can buy and TDS product is top notch.

 

ok here is my problem, I got the sway bar off and was attaching the wonder bar and I hung the drivers side of the bar with the 3rd mounting hole. Then when I went to the passinger side and put the bolt in the 3rd mounting hole and started tightning it down about 1/4 the way down the bold it starting to look crooked and I scooted the flore roller closer to have a look. And the bar seems to be too short. it is like 1 or 2 mm to short. I took the bar off and tryed to thread the bold in and now it won't go in straight. I think I am screwed! and it is really pissing me off! anyone had anything like that happend? what did you do? I might be able to make the mounting hole in the bar longer but my threads still seem to be messed up. Got to go drive the beater to work now. thanks to anoyne who can help.

 

You ran into the same problem I did. I used a Dremel with a grinding bit to open up both holes slightly on the wonderbar to give me the clearance I needed. As far as the messed up threads you cross threaded the bolt and damaged threads a bit. Not a big deal but you will need a thread chaser/tapper to cut them straight again. Double check the thread diameter and pitch and find that particular tapping bit. I think its about a 3/8-16 but don't qoute me.

 

Well, I got the bar on and luckily I didn't end up having to cut anything!!! whoo hoo! I took the car for a short drive tonight and the steering is really presice and going around hard corners where without the bar it would have really been flexing and creaking, the bar really stiffened it up! I am really surprised and impressed!
Add me to the list of satisfied customers. A+!

Edit: my new front struts migh have added to the new stiffness in the corners, but I really recoment the bar! I don't think my T Tops creaked as much eather... time will tell.

 

i just stumbled upon this thread and boy does it seam like a for-sure improvement modification.

do these come factory on the 91-92 firebirds? v8 model?

 

no, i believe SOME 91 model Z28's may have gotten some left over IROC stock, but other than that no. Only the IROC's got the wonder bars.

 

aight thanks man, just wanted to clear that up

i'm already getting too addicted here, and i dont even have the car yet!@#

 

l
l They're in.Definitely a vast improvent! (Bad pics, though)
\/

 

on a related topic, do these aftermarket suspension and steering components, in a general sense perform a lot better than factory parts, for street use only?

I was considering, when the time comes, to replace the LCA, sway bars, and probably get the whole steering package, outter&inner tie rods and that whole deal, struts, shocks, ect

i believe the aftermarket parts (most) aren't an arm and a leg compared to the factory prices, and this is very important because i wish to keep my car for at least 5 years without having to worry about these things (unless something stupid happens of course), from normal wear conditions i'm refering too.

thanks.

 

I have 36mm front and 24 rear sway bars so I don't think the $350 it would take to replace those would be an improvement, the endlinks and bushings are worth an upgrade to Polyeurathane, LCA's definate aftermarket improvement as well as tie rod ends shock struts can all be improved through the aftermarket products. Shocks and struts probably giving you the biggest noticable improvement. Heres a pic of my wonderbar.

 

omcrider what sway bar bushings are those u have

 

There the Energy Suspension 1 3/8" bushings. Which in reality equals 35MM. I shopped all over knowing that Energy Suspension did not have a 36mm. This site I found claimed they had the sway bar bushings for 36mm, well when I got them I noticed they were the 1 3/8" Energy Suspension ones. They work fine although there is a small gap that pretty much closes up after tightening them down. Supposedly Guldstrand Motorsports out of So. ca. has some that he actually designed a mold for the 36mm sway bar. So you might try them also.

 

thanks man,
when the time comes i'm gonna replace the steering, shocks & struts at the same time, probably just reinforce the lca's unless they are bent
the sophan front end steering package comes with everything i need, plus i will grab new bushings & boots for the sway bar, and for the lca ends also, $142 for each sway bar is a little step and i didn't think it will be worth it.
tranny and torque arm mounts are a good idea also
i'll do the motor mounts when i but a new motor in....

what about the panhand bar, should that be on my list?

car by may
complete steering, strusts, springs, shocks, catback by july

 

I can confirm that GULDSTRAND sells the 36mm polyurethane (red) and poly-graphite (black) bushings. They are the source for the bushings I modify and use for my greasable front and rear sway bar bushing kits.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

Yeah and did I mention Lon at TDS sells the 36mm greasable bushings. When I talked to the guy at Guldstrand he mentioned you also Lon.


SEEK007: I am not sure how you plan on reinforcing the LCA's I imagine you could remove the stock ones and weld in another piece of sheet metal to box them off, but that alone wouldn't be worth the time. Keep your eyes out on ebay and the classifieds here. I picked mine up off ebay for $65.00. The Panhard Bar should definatly be on your list. I am doing my upgrades all out of order sue to whatever bargains I find first but if you had to choose this should probably be a good order from start.


Bushings and Endlinks (if you do not have 36/24 sway bars find some used stock replacments, cheapest way)
Shocks
Springs
Sub Frame Connectors
Wonderbar
Strut Tower Brace
Rear Lower Control Arms
Panhard Rod

 

Yeh i was gonna get some from LOn later i just saw yours were red and wondered where you got them. I know energy suspension doesnt have the 36mm cause i tried to get some from them b4. Lon do you sell the red ones cause i like the red.

 

i was gonna replace the items that affect the alignment at the same time, so i don't gotta keep re-doing that, the front steering, shocks, springs, and struts seem to be what really makes that change dramaticlly

i'll do the swaybar endlinks & bushings, lca, fca bushings, panhand probably at the same time also, maybe even before so its all tight

as soon as i get the car i'm going to weld in my own sfc, wonder bar, and stc (3 point i'd imagine) as i do enjoy to be creative and i like to weld, considering i don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on metal that cost no more than $50

i will look for deals naturally and grab them when i can, after a few weeks of reading 100's of posts it seems these cars are quite reliable, and i wouldn't imagine extremely hard to work on

i'll have a 91-92 firebird by may definitely, hopefully sooner, and i know i won't be disappointed
i saw one today, exact year i want, oh my it was so beautiful, the front end is so huge and it sticks out perfectly, so wide as well

 

Yes I sell both colors. You can specify red when ordering them online.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

Oh yeah forgot to mention tie rod sleeves, Your right springs shocks struts tie rods, all will effect alignment. You Panhard (Buy adjustable) will help locate the rear end alignment. The springs will be the biggest alignment culprit (I imagine you will buy eibach or similiar that lowers it slightly). Your STB, SFC, Wonderbar, Control arms, sway bars and bushings, none of these replacements will dramatically require alignment.

 

i was looking at the bilstein hd shocks & struts package at $550, that's expensive but i think i just need to keep looking around a bit, i was not planning on lowering it because the roads in pittsburgh really suck, and i don't want any clearance problems, i found 4 replacement springs that are still better than factory for $100 - Moog oem Replacement Spring Set, id rather not pay over 200 for lowered springs now anyway, maybe later

yeah now i'm going to replace those things that don't effect alignment, slap on a hooker catback exhaust, tune it up, and then i'll wait until i got more money to do the rest of the suspension and i'll wait until im gonna drop in a new engine to get the hooker headers.

 

sorry to takeover this thread, it still pertains to suspension upgrades

i'm only a daily driver that will never do any racing or anything more than some donuts so tell me what u think about this setup, if i go with the decently priced:
Moog Springs,
KYB GR-2 shocks + struts http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2456604318
4 shocks + 2 struts for that price is way better than the other ones in my book

, then i'll be able to afford the adjustable panhand bar, and ALL new poly mounts/boots

i found these, and compared to the sophan they are $180 cheaper
http://www.thirdgenresource.com/inc/pdetail?v=1&pid=588
what brand are those parts? i'd imagine stock or a bit better, with those would it be a good idea to put poly boots, etc on them?

 

I wouldn't waste my time on those, especially for 200.00 go to the PST website and order from them, they include the bushings as well and the kit is around 125.00 i think for polygrahpite or cheaper for rubber. The idler arm can be had from them too and the centerlink which is around 50.00 i think. plus all their suspension stuff is MOOG which you know is quality. Trust me once you pull your suspension apart to rebuild it, you won't want to have to replace it sooner after using off-shore parts.

 

could not find that kit, cant find anything that says moog or polygraphite, i definitely want to do it with quality but sophan is really expensive and i could probably buy from napa and get good quality but that will be a good chunk of change as well

 

Here is the link to their site, as you can see i was a little off on the price, the kit for thirdgens is 159.00 which includes all the stuff from the other kit you mentioned exept the idler arm and centerlink, however it does include polygraphite bushings and all your bumpstops etc. The center link is about 45.00 and the idler arm is 40.00. Apparently they upped their prices some since i last checked. The regular rubber bushing kit is 149.00 so for 10.00 more i would suggest the polygraphite, which you can read all about on their site.

http://www.p-s-t.com/gm/gmcatalog.html

I bought the center link and the idler arm, but in actuality my centerlink wasn't very worn, so i could have probably skipped that. THey also carry KYB shocks and struts, as well as groundforce (read stock type) springs. their shipping is relatively quick, and customer service has been top notch. They however do not have wonderbars, just to get the thread back on topic, and I would suggest getting the TDS one.

 

I agree you don't want to use off-shore parts to rebuild your suspension. Guess what PST uses for their kits? Do you see anything on their web site that states that the parts they supply are made in the USA? That is because they are not domestic manufactured and certainly not MOOG. We've had some local Members discuss their experience with purchasing the front suspension kits from PST. One word GARBAGE. Some of the end links had such a sloppy fit to they wound up not using them at all. One of the tie rods wasn't even threaded at all. I also don't understand how PST can say the polygraphite bushings they supply are a "PST exclusive". Perhaps you were confusing PSC (Performance Suspension Components) in AZ with PST. PSC uses ES (Energy Suspension) polygraphite bushings in their kits which are indeed made in USA. Both ES and Guldstrand sell bushings made of polygraphite. Maybe someone ought to tell PST that their "exclusive polygraphite bushings" aren't.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

hmmm... i'm not trying to call you out Lon,but you must be going off of old information. You are I have my kit right here and the ball joints are Moog, in fact they say moog on them. The tie-rods say moog, The Idler arm doesn't say moog, however it does say made in the USA on it. The only part that does not say MOOG or Made in USA on it is the centerlink. They are all cleanly threaded and rather solid. I have also had one of their super kits in my 70 chevelle with their polygraphite bushings for going on 8 years, with no problems whatsoever. While i do admit some posts i was able to look up with the search key said the supplier varies, apparently, on the day I ordered they were all mooged up. I do understand that perhaps the bushings are not an original idea or even manufactured by pst, however they (much like psc) have a lifetime warranty. i still say the kits they supply (at least the ones i have) are quality. But again this is a little off topic since this thread was originally about the wonderbar which you supply, and i agree is a high quality piece.

 

just installed it love it major difference Erik U DA MAN!!!!!!:hail:

 

Can't wait to put mine on, got it from spohn, about a year a go that part of the fram cracked and i had to get it rewelded. So hopefully this will help it from not happening again.

 

still loving the wonderbar, handling is freakin amazing

 

just put mine on today, awesome product! Installation was a breeze. won't be able to do a test drive for a while though

 

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I just installed my steering brace today and I hardly felt any difference at all when I took it out for a test drive. The steering was a tad bit tighter than it usually is, but nothing miraculous.

Maybe it's TDS's bar that gives F-bodies such a great handling improvement... I bought a Spohn bar since it was convenient (ordered Spohn SFCs along with the steering brace).

Either way, still a good peice and worth the $60 for the peice of mind.

 

i love the bar, honestly i cant tell u if i feel a difference with it just because i lowered my car this weekend, so i installed the springs with the bar, overall the handling with the car lowered and the bar is incredible...WOW. i just need some bucket seats now so i wont fly out of my window!

 

I noticed a pretty noticable difference when i put mine on of course its not going to change the whole car but it helped the steering alot.

 

i have a 92 Camaro with the F41 suspension... So would this be a direct bolt on? Like i know it will fit my car but my question is, do i already have a wonderbar kinda thing and this is just like a better replacement or do i have to drill new holes in the undercarriage for this to fit?

 

A mack your '92 wouldn't have a "wonderbar" from the factory.They were an IROC only item.One could have been added by a PO unless you bought her new.It's a definite easy bolt for your car.I bought mine from TDS,in Raw Steel color,and it was a breeze to install.There is a very noticable difference from before and after the install.And you will like dealing with TDS.Lon knows the meaning of excellent customer service.

 

Yea i actually did alittle bit more searching and found out that no holes need to be drilled or anything, and i'm almost positive i will be getting one either tommorow or with the next week. My only question is approximately how much is shipping? I mean i know the wonderbar is only like 4 pounds but its pretty damn long.

 

I paid less than $15 for USPS priority shipping from Ca to SC.The bar itself weighs 3.7 pounds I believe.

 

HEY! for those who (think you) can't install a wonder bar because of radiator hose issues (as in TOMPs post in the begining of the thread). with a little modification you can. i just saw this thread and read threw it. realised no one had pointed this out. heres what i did on my V6bird a while ago. i yanked out the fan shrout and cut off the guide for the radiator hose. took 10 minutes. car has run fine for almost a year w/o the hose guide. i think i have a picture of what i am talking about.

well, i can't find the pics. upon re-reading the thread i made in the v6 forum last year. you can read up here

i'll give you the jist. my 86 came with 14" wheels. due to this my steering box has never realy been stressed, like on most 15"-16" wheel cars with big heavy V8s (like my GTA). so when i put my wonder bar on i noticed NO difference. however i know that stuff is solid in the fron now the GTA feels sloppy as hell. can't wait to put the wonderbar on there. i'll postback when i do.

 

double-posty action! sorry