sweetlou69

SO im looking to get a suspension this winter. I was looking at the steeda handling pack. Are the swarbar end links worrth 150$ or should i use that dough and get LCAS instead?

Norm Peterson

From the Jeg's site:

Unless you're into hard-core handling/cornering (think serious auto-X or open-tracking) there is little need for building any adjustment into the sta-bars (sway bars). No offense or flame intended, but until you know why you might need this item and realize what it might do for you, it's doubtful that you'd benefit by it.



The strength I won't argue with, nor will I comment on the "greater turning radius" beyond wondering through my fingertips what they mean by that(???).

But "do not produce noise" is big-fake-toothy-grinned-salesmanship at its finest (worst?). Rod ends may not squeak like poly is apt to, but they WILL eventually loosen up and rattle. Guaranteed. The only question is how long it takes. Cheapie rod ends without any sort of sealing against the elements will start talking at you much sooner than will high quality pieces that you protect with some sort of sealing system and maintain on some sort of schedule.


There's no reason to rush into this item - you can always add it later.


Norm

sweetlou69

Norm-

As far as the suspension upgrade. I want to kill some wheel gap and have a nice handling mustang. I hit the 1/4 miles a few times each summer but never really autocross maybe once or twice for fun. I mostly want a crazy handling car mostly for street driving. I had an EVO and used to that insane feel and handling so i was jsut trying to beef up the handling on my stang. So u think sways are not necessary?

Norm Peterson

I'm not questioning whether the sta-bars themselves are necessary, as they are one of the 'tools' for shifting the understeer/oversteer handling balance, flattening the cornering attitude, and quickening the time it takes for the car to take a set. The others being springs, shocks/struts, and geometry (roll centers, roll steer, etc.). Having an adjustable sta-bar can be a good thing if you're inclined to tinker and have the rest of the setup such that the available adjustment is in the right direction (for example, if you've ended up with a case of heavy mid-corner understeer you wouldn't want the available front sta-bar stiffness adjustment to range between "too stiff" and "way, way too stiff"). Though I think it's the more common approach to choose springs and a front bar and leave the final adjustment to the rear bar.

What I do question is the need for adjustable endlinks themselves, unless that's the only endlink available to fit a particular bar. Normally, adjusting the lengths of endlinks is reserved for after you've got coil-overs and are in the process of balancing the corner weights. In that case, you normally leave the sta-bars disconnected while the corner wieghts are set via the spring heights, and you then use the endlink adjustability to re-connect the sta-bars without disturbing the setup.It's true that you could make some sort of corner weight adjustments by playing with the endlink lengths and doing nothing else, but that's not a particularly efficient way to go about it (preloading the baralso changes the spring loading - a little like preloading the suspension against itself). IMO, there's a little more salesmanship going on here as well, as I think that a greater effect is being hinted atthan is actually available.

I suppose that you might use the endlink adjustability if you were only swapping around among the various bar stiffness holes if the hole locations weren't spot-on or if your chassis was slightly 'skewed' for any reason, but most of that sort of fine-tuning is beyond what any street driving needs or what most people would ever feel while driving.


Norm

sweetlou69

ok so i can prob skip the endlinks. what about as far as the aftermarket sway bars? i mean im sure they do help,but like i said im not into Auto X-ing really and mostly want it to be good handling for the streets and somethin that would help out alittle on the 1/4 mile. Should i just got like shocks/springs/LCAS and skip swar bars? or do you think new front and rear sways would be a good idea also?