i always see people asking if they should go bigger or not, i'm wondering if someone can actually explain what the different sizes do and such, i searched and theres nothing.

i know i'm curious

 

this is because bigger is better when it comes to sway bars. they help reduce body roll and lateral movement especially in corners and tight turning maneuvers. that's why everyone advises someone asking this question to get the biggestones they can find/reasonably afford. if you wanna get better traction in a straight line, you can always unhook the front one.

 

so basically its ususally better to go with bogger bars?

 

yes. that's why i have the spohn chromoly sway bars on my car, and a lot of the guys here have the same. or they have GTA or IROC sway bars that either came with the car, or were pirated from a JY find.

 

Not entirely true. When it comes to sway bars, it is all about balancing. You will see many of the top racers, run smaller sway bars, in conjuction with high rate springs. Sway bars are great for tunning the suspension. The reason most people get bigger bars, is that it does make the car corner a little flatter, which is rather noticable when you have stock springs. The best idea is to tune with the sway bars, to get the balance that you want out of the car. If it is pushing, go with a smaller front bar and/or a larger rear, if it has a tendancy to oversteer, smaller rear bar and/or larger front.

 

I agree with Dewey

In my street camaro I run a high rate front spring with a 36mm WS6 bar (the car is very light in ther nose), along with a 18mm bar and soft springs in the rear. The car is meant to be driven with the throttle in and understeers off the gas. If I put a big rear bar (like a 24mm) it would oversteer way too much.

 

Basically for a full interior weight street car with full creature comforts,you'll want to put the biggest front swaybar you can find to control sway. Now with that said, What John and Paul have said is correct about finding a balance rear bar top go with that front choice for YOUR perticular car. That will generally range somewhere between an 18-23mm for most cars based on the front bar choice being either the hollow 36mm factory bar or the Spohn 34mm solid bar which is the stiffest out there. Now it is really dependant on coil chioce on the rear as to what bar is on there.

I have a bit of a side note: since I have a lighter weight frontend V6, I can get away with stiff rear springs and Spohns 25mm solid rear bar because my front end weight does not sway as much in a corner causing the rear inside tire to lift. People say that the aluminum LS1 V8 cars must be the same weight as my little V6, but they are not, the weight is also still more forward in the car- otherwise they too could get away with a 25mm rear bar- they cant.

 

would I now be either George or Ringo?

 

well since i have a 2.8 aswell, i could pick up a set of swaybars of a 86 ws6 trans am (34 front 23 or 24 back), i'm just curious if it make a difference, i love the way my car handles, but when i take a corner i get a fair amount of dive or bodyroll i'd guess you;d call it, would going bigger affect this? the car has entirely new suspension (new stock) with a completely rebuilt front end, minues strut towers

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question432.htm

http://www.tsimportedautomotive.com/Swabarra.html

 

kretos, I have a hollow 34mm front, and solid 24mm rear. I fell the car front to rear is balanced well.

However, I find that on some of the curvey roads here, the larger bars compress my soft stock springs so much that it will pull the opposite tire off the ground in some instances. Usually when going slow around a cornor. Their is one very paticular one when leaving work each day