I'm just wondering if it's hollow or solid... I thought it was hollow, but I was told it was solid. It's an '85 z28, stock swaybar.

 

It should be hollow, except for the ends..

 

If the bar is hollow, there will be holes at both ends of the sway bar near the end links. If your bar has the holes, its either a 34mm or 36mm sway bar. The hollow bars are hollow from one end to the other. All rear sway bars are solid.

 

The rears are all solid. The front swaybars that are hollow will have little holes in the bar like an inch away from where the endlinks go through the bar. The solid front bars are... well... solid.

 

conflicting answers... so would it be hollow at the ends or in the middle? Also, would it be hollow where the bends in it are? If it was hollow at the bends, it might break there. Does someone just have a z28 swaybar they can cut apart to find out?
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I should have been more specific, I did just mean the front swaybar.
Tomorrow I'll try to see if it has the holes or not.

 

In case your confused on this... some front bars a solid and some are hollow. It depends on the size. The larger bars (34mm and 36mm are hollow), and the smaller bars are solid.

If the front bar has the little holes, the entire bar is hollow. The only place a hollow bar is solid is where it was smushed down on the very tip of the swaybar where the endlinks go through. Otherwise the middle part, the bends, everything else is hollow. Heck, tap it with a wrench in a couple of spots and ear the vibrations (this only works with it off the car)... it is hollow all the way through. If the hollow bends of the bars broke, GM would never have sold billions of these swaybars. It woudl be extremely expensive to just make the bends solid and not the other parts of the bars. You would have to slide hunks of metal into very precise places of the bars so they are at the bends when the bars are made. This would be extremely expensive and unpractical.

If there are no holes, and it doesn't look like they may be filled with grease and grim or paint, the entire bar is solid.

 

Yes I understand ,what you are saying, but one post said the ends of the bar are hollow and the rest is solid, which seems confusing, and doesn't really make any sense, I'd assume it was a typo

 

If it's from an 85, I suggest that the bar is a solid 34 mm. At any rate, the hollow 36/solid 24 combo didn't arrive until 89 on some Camaros; Some Firebirds were equipped with the combo from 86-92.

JamesC

 

James, do you know if it could have the 34 mm hollow? The brochure for the '85 camaro says it has a 1.3 inch swaybar, which computes to 33 mm, and I measured it to verify this, and it measured at approx 1.3". This must mean it has the 34 mm swaybar. I'll try to find a time today to see for sure if it's hollow or solid.

 

I'd think my 85 IROC would have had the hollow 34 bar if it were available. My OE was a solid 34, BTW. My guess is that it's solid--at any rate, let us know.

JamesC

 

JamesC, you're correct, it's solid, or at least appears to be due to a lack of holes near the endlinks. But, I crawled under the car today with my calipers and took a more accurate measurent, and it measured at 1.255", or 31.8 mm.
Would this still mean it is the 34mm swaybar?

 

There is a 32 mm (I've never heard of the ZK3 RPO). It would be interesting to know if your rear bar is 27 mm. Check the following link:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...-sway-bar.html

JamesC

 

I just checked my RPO's, and I don't have ZK3. I only have about 3 and 1/2 lines of RPO codes. I'll see if I can find a time to jack up and crawl under my car today, and measure the rear swaybar. Maybe someone can determine what bars I should have by my RPO codes. JamesC, that link lists the 27 mm as a front swaybar, according to that thread I must have the 21 mm rear swaybar.

 

A 27mm rear bar? That'd be a tad rediculous lol
You probably have a 32/21 combo- I don't see an 'F' codes on your RPO list.

85 FE2 FRONT (34 MM) 14073013
85-87 FE2 REAR (24 MM) 10035033
85-86 ZK3 REAR (21 MM) 10021221
85-86 Z28 (EXCEPT FE2) REAR (21 MM) 10021221

84-85 ZK3/Z28 FRONT (32 MM) 14047917
84-85 EXCEPT F41, ZK3/Z28 FRONT (27 MM) 14019268

 

Oops, typo. The 32/21 is what I was shooting at.

JamesC

 

Racing geek explained it better than I did, sorry!! Maybe the IROC's had hollow front bars, or mine maybe some aftermarket unit..

 

Some of the IROCs did have hallow bars. I think most of the IROCs with 34s were hollow. All the 36s were hollow, but I think those were a 1LE/WS6 option. My 91 RS with F41 suspension had the 34 hollow/21 solid rear.

 

As far as I know, the factory 34mm solid front bars were only used on the factory race cars, and since only about 50 of those cars ever existed, good luck getting an original GM 34mm solid bar.

The 36/24 bars were only on the WS6/1LE models.

My IROC-Z came with the 34mm hollow front.

 

My 85, as I mention above, was equipped with the solid 34. I suggest they're pretty common.

JamesC

 

My rear swaybar measured at 23mm, so I assume your right james, I must have 32/21's.
Altough 23mm does seem a bit large to call a 21...

 

Listen to racing geek. He's exactly right.