i have a 87 firebird the build sheet designates F41 suspension... i just got a '02 SS rear complete, with sway bar, adj LCAs and a stud girdle for a real good price, the question is; what size is the '02 SS rear swaybar?? just wondering if this is an upgrade or not and if so, how will it work with the stock front swaybar? if this question has been repeated or answered somewhere please point me in the right direction and delete this thread... also what would be the next logical step in upgrading my rear suspension now that i have the adj LCAs... panhard rod or torque arm? im building piece by piece eventually i will have a full aftermarket suspension, but i cant buy everything all at once so i want whats gonna make the best improvement in order, thanks for the help

 

You'll just have to measure to see which one (your stock or the 4th gen) is bigger - there wasn't any 'improvements' in the rear ends from 3rd gen to 4th as far as suspension goes it's all the same.

 

ok i didnt know if they put bigger bars in the newer ones or not... at the very least ill be able to sell one of them for 20$... on to the second part of the question?

 

Rear bars on an 02 SS are 19mm.

 

19mm seems awefully small. I currently have 24mm rear and 34mm front, but I did swap them both in from another vehicle.

Panhard would only be necessary if lowering the rear, as it centers the rear, and if lowering the car the rear will become non-centered (I think the lower you go, the farther towards the pass side the rear axle shifts).

Kind of the same with the torque arm I think - lowering changes the pinion angle of the rear end to the driveshaft, and adjustable torque arms are used to correct that angle by lengthening or shortening the distance of the differential to the tranny (the diff rotates one direction or the other as the torque arm gets longer/shorter).

As I understand it - adj torque arm not really needed for a simple 1in lowering - it's the guys with the hp monster motors that install to get a better hook-up at the track, and where pinion angle tolerances are lower due to the sheer power being applied to rear wheels on take-off.

I think that's right anyway - maybe wait and get a more suspension-savy member to chime in.

So anyway, unless you have a hp monster, or are lowering the car, either could be considered a 'next step'. In my simple mind, I'd think panhard bar before torque arm.

 

thanks for your input, sounds logical to me newb... im not lowering it and im hoping to get about 320hp or so to the rear wheels, so def not a HP monster lol maybe ill just leave that stuff stock for a while and get some SFCs then... then ill replace the panhard rod, then the torque arm, sound good?

 

bigger does not always mean better.

 

That's true.

If it were me, I'd worry more about SFC's - and definitely the wonderbar if you don't have that.

 

yeah no wonderbar its a base bird, i was originally worried that the sfcs and wonderbar would add a bunch of weight, and hence slow the car down, i should be in the 31-3200 range right now...
i think in terms of swaybars, bigger usually means stiffer, and as long as it works with the front bar, id say stiffer is better... its gonna see alot of straight line acceleration, but i do wanna drive it hard on the street and some occasional autocross when i find an event thats a reasonable distance from me

 

Mine is lowered 1 inch and I have no torque arm problems. A smaller solid sway bar is better than a bigger hollow sway bay IMO.

 

Careful putting on a larger rear bar it could induce more oversteer if the rest of the suspension isn't addressed. Now a larger front bar does wonders.....

 

Found this while doing a search...... X2 in bigger isnot always better. Check out frrax.com