gmoran1469

Last upgrade was Steeda billet LCA's w/ spherical ends and Adj UCA. I am liking urethane, so much tighter than rubber.

Was thinking either the x5 ball joint w/ the urethane bushing kit or upgrading my sway bars.

The car is a DD, but my DD is 1 minute from the house to work, then 5 minutes to get lunch, then back. The car sees more road use on the weekend from spirited driving than it does daily driving really.

Looking for opinions from people who have done the ball joint and bushing upgrade (don't give a chit about NVH unless it's totally rediculous). Also people who have upgraded their sway bars. I am still reading up on exactly what the function of a sway bar is.

Sam Strano

Swaybars cut roll, they are springs... but in this case torsion springs. They add wheel rate when they twist/the car rolls. Think of it like stiffer suspension springs, but without the ride penalty. Bigger is better to a degree, there is a point you can go too far (like you can with coil springs). The idea behind adjustable bars like the ones I make is to allow you to play with the balance and feel of the car to get it where you like it best.

gmoran1469

And wheelrate is a measure of pressure, correct? So basically, as the car rolls, they throw more pressure on the outside wheel? And going too heavy being limiting the amount of roll to a point where it is worse (more outward force than downward)?

Sam Strano

Wheelrate is the force you get when you add spring rate, to bar rate, and then figure the motion ratio of the suspension. Basically the more wheel rate, the flatter the car. The springs you have are mild lowering springs, I like that because the car works over bumps, the idea being that you get the rest of roll stiffness that most folks want from the bars working with the springs. Some guys use super stiff springs and small bars, some use huge bars and very soft almost stock springs. Each has it's pro's and con's. I happen to feel that moderate springs and moderate rear bars with a fairly stiff front bar is the best combination for cars that are driven on real world roads.

Yes, too much bar is bad... Mostly you end up with too much on the rear, not too many bars are too much on the front. Between all the bars out there, and the fact I carry a lot of them beyond mine, we have lots of choices.