I was looking at a set of traction bars on JEGS the other day after I went to change the fluid in the rear diff, when I noticed that the sway bar was smashed against the pan. I replaced the sway bar linkages with HD ones from Advance but now when I do a burn out or do a quick turning start froma dead stop the car shudders really bad when it tries to pos out. Lakewood makes a set that replaces the stock lower control bars and bolts to the rear end with an adjustable pre-tensioned shock on it. they run for about 265. Would that take up the slack in my rearend?

 

Moving to the suspension forum....

 

Not sure what that's supposed to mean?

It is normal for the sway bar to get REAL CLOSE to the rear end cover when the rear end drops down all the way (as it likely was while changing the fluid...). Look at it: it's not straight, rather, it has a "kink" in the middle; the ends are held in place, to the chassis, by the end links; therefore, as the rear end moves up and down, that "kinked" place rotates too. It's designed to clear the bottom of the housing with the car at its normal ride height.

If the way bar end links you got are the wrong length, get the right length. "Looking up" the supposedly "right" part # might or might not get you what you need. Look at what you've got; if they look too short, get longer ones, and if they look too long, get shorter ones. Ideally you want the "arms" of the sway bar, where they hook to the links, to be level, with the car sitting at normal ride height.

In any case, NONE of that has anything to do with any "shuddering", or groaning or chattering. Nor for that matter, do the control arms.

There is no "slack" in your rear end.

The Lakewood "traction action" bars are crap. They break. They will not "fix" what you're complaining about, nor will they "fix" anything else, nor will they make the car work any better. They are a wrong solution to a problem that doesn't exist, but that uneducated people whose entire car modding career has been spent on leaf-spring cars (2nd gen, Nova, etc.) think exists, so they spend money on them even though it's stupid. Don't waste your cash on them. I'm surprised that they're even still available, given that most people have learned better by now.

If your car has a posi (doubtful but of course quite possible), then changing the fluid and failing to put in the posi additive is what's producing the chattering. Change the fluid again; except this time, first put in a bottle of the GM "limited slip additive" that you can buy over the counter at the dealer, then fill it the rest of the way up with grease. If you're careful not to get your new grease dirty when you drain it, you can just put it back in, after you add the additive.

 

^^I'm not sure if he's talking about that, I think he might mean wheel hop :shrug:

Maybe he'll post up again and we can help.

 

the sway bar linkages were bent causing the sway bar to hit the differential cover, I replaced those with HD ones and now the bar is where its supposed to be, the problem is when I leave the line/ burnout the car shudders from side to side when turning and burning and hops on straight launches it'll burn good through first, then leave a gap when it shifts gears then the rear end shakes from side to side then corrects itself. its a side to side body movement not any chattering or groaning. As for the fluid it has the additive in it and when I do a brakestand both wheels initially engage then one breaks free and I end up with a long *** one wheel wonder.the sway bar issue was resolved with the new linkage kits it now sits below the pan instead of mashed into it. it was like the previous owner ran over something and bent the grade 2 bolt which are now grade 5's

 

Try LCARBs. My car used to do that "skipping from side to side" thing no matter what else I did. LCARBs TOTALLY fixed it. Also eliminated wheel hop.

 

not to sound like a total idiot but what is the unabrieviated version of LCARB. This is my first 3rd gen im used to saturns and chevy trucks

 

Lower Control Arm Brackets

 

Relocation Brackets

 

http://www.spohn1.com/?action=product&pid=1017

 

a set of spohns tubular control arms and LCARBs made a big difference in the rear end of my camaro. really tightened things up. car felt more solid.

 

first things first, you need to realize that this car is 16 years old. You need to take a close look at everything. Do the bushings look like they've ever been replaced? How about the shocks? How about the springs?

Wheel hop is the suspensions' inability to control the rear(diff) through its range of motion. Properly set relocation brackets may help your geometry and may increase your traction, but not having them is not the cause of wheel hop.

Sounds to me more like you need to do some updating of old worn parts.

The fact that it sometimes spins both tires and sometimes only spins one could either be saying it has an open diff or a worn out posi.

 

I've gone through as noted and redone the sway bar linkages, the bushings on the lower control arms are next on the list, even tho im just going to buy new ones with the eurythane bushings. the shocks have been replaced, the panhard bar has been tightened and the bushings replaced. Im leaning to a worn out posi but it could very well be an open diff