I have been doing my research on sway bars and it seems that alot of people are buying the hotchkis aftermarket sway bars for like 150. But I noticed hellwiggs swaybars seem to be just as good and are cheaper and the hotchkis are 1 7/16 and Hellwig's are 1 5/16 to me not a big difference. And PST's bars are even smaller but only buy a fraction at 1 4/16 so to me it seems Hellwig's are a better buy. Can some one help me out a little before I buy this week.

 

I've Had Hellwig Front & Rear sway bars on my 87 camaro for about six years no complaints yet.

 

I can't imagine wanting a stiffer bar than the hellwig bars. Solid 1 5/16 front and 1 inch rear are plenty big. To make your car handle good, you need a combination of parts. SFC's, springs, shocks/struts, etc...
The Hellwig bars are a good place to start. They are all poly bushings with one-piece endlinks. I've had them a long time as well without any problems.

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82 camaro--original steering wheel, brake/gas pedals, seats--everything else modified
82camaro

 

Whats the biggest size sway bars that were available stock.

 

I read somewhere that a very small difference in the diameter of a sway bar makes a very large difference in the stiffness of the swaybar. I forget the math that was given but I imagine that 1/16" makes a bigger difference than you would think.

What's the right size for your needs ... I don't know ... sorry.

 

36mm hollow is the biggest stock bar for the front.


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82 camaro--original steering wheel, brake/gas pedals, seats--everything else modified
82camaro

 

Well thanks for all the help and after doing some more research. The reason everone uses the Hotchkis sway bars is they are the biggest you can possibly buy and the fact that they are hollow everything else is about 1 1/4 and the hotchkis comes out to about a little smaller than 1 1/2 which is kind of a major difference. The only thing else that come even close would be the 36mm holow that you guys mentioned which I could only imagine would be the 1LE sway bars which are probably near to impossible to find. So if anyone out ther has a 36mm hollow sway bar that they would like to unload you have a customer waiting. Other than that if someone else knows of the best deal I could get on a hotchkis one (Small side note the high performance corvette bars are about 30-32 and extreme high peformance are 38)

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1992 383 Z-28 w/SuperRam intake and ACCEL DFI(waiting on AFR heads this winter)

 

Actually the 36mm hollow "1LE" bar is relatively easy to find, it wasn't a 1LE specific item.

 

I have a used 36 mm front and 24 mm rear with brackets (the GM part number tag still in place, 14094344, on the 36. These were used on 1LEs, WS6s, and other applications. I BELIEVE they were the largest stock bars). I can provide the GM part numbers for the end links (poly or some synthetic, believe it or not) and insulators, if you wish. Should you be interested, please e-mail me.

JamesC

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Being hollow will reduce 'stiffness'.


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82 camaro--original steering wheel, brake/gas pedals, seats--everything else modified
82camaro

 

As I understand it, the 34 solid is the stiffest, followed by the 36 hollow. It seems, if I recall correctly, that there is a weight difference of some 9 pounds or so. I'm speaking of stock applications.

JamesC

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[This message has been edited by JamesC (edited March 22, 2001).]

 

Has anyone used the Spohn sway bars? I think they're 36mm hollow front & 24mm rear.