removing front sway bar

[turbo buicks]

what are the benefits of removing the front sway bar? is this one of those DRAG STRIP ONLY mods thats a b*tch to run on the street or does it really not matter? would like to save a couple pounds on my daily driver and free up some space but if its gonna be a hassle to drive i wont do it. please help

thanks

 

[timothydog]

Pulling the sway bar off lets the driver side front end lift up a little more when launching. The thing weighs 30-35 pounds too so it's just a little less weight in the front.

As far as affecting the handling of the car, If you drive normal and not take off-ramps at 50-60 mph it will drive just fine.

 

[turbo buicks]

how hard is it to remove/put back on?

 

[timothydog]

4 bolts holding the rubber bushings to the frame.
2 studs connected to the A-arms. More than likely you are going to break these studs when you crank on them if they have never been replaced. That's ok. You can buy a new set real cheap.

 

[turbo buicks]

how will i get the thing out if i break a stud?

 

[turbosam6]

If you break the "studs", they will pull out. He's just talking about the end links to the sway bar. Just break'em, they are cheap and readily available. BTW, I pulled my sway bar last year, car drives great, and I got ET streets, skinnies, 90/10's, 50/50's, so you should be fine. Just don't go to hot into corners!

 

[Ken Cunningham]

"Your mileage may be different" dept...
I took my front sway bar off. Was driving up a 2 lane hill with a couple of dips, partial throttle, maybe 2-4# boost, when the front end started going up and down. First one side, then the other, like I'm watching a see-saw from the side. Pretty spooky stuff, so I put the bar back on. The roads around these parts are just too bumpy and torn up to drive without it, IMHO.

 

[John Larkin]

I took mine off last night and went for a ride. First impression was it drives like a '74 LTD with quick steering. LOL! I didn't notice the front end rising quickly on take off with stock shocks though. Performing slalom type movements/weaving resulted in a whole lot of body roll, but not uncontrollable. It would not be wise to hand the keys to just anyone after you do this; the car isn't tight.

I broke one of the end links removing the bar. After a judicious amount of PB Blaster and some wiggling with Vice Grips, everything just pulled apart. I bagged it, tagged it, and put it in the barn. Weighing it on the bathroom scales showed 21 lbs including it's hardware. That's substantial IMO.

However, I am wondering if 90/10 shocks would actually help. Doesn't the 90/10 mean 90% of the shocks energy used for compression and 10% used for rebound? If this is true, then normal driving would be enhanced by the shocks not allowing the side under load to "dive" as much as even a stock shock. Just a thought.....

 

[azgn]

if you are going to do a lot of street driving, wouldn't recommend removing the front bar and 90/10's.......if you are going racing, by all means do so.....I put my front bar and KYB shocks back on and my 60' times went to hell

if you have the large rear bar (like ATR) it will drive better....not normal, just better

the bar comes off and the 90/10's go back on when it cools down

 

[b4black]

If your looking to save weight, then get a hollow 36mm bar of a 3rg generation F-body. They are only about 12 pounds (I think, maybe less). The handle as well as the solid 32 mm

I would never drive a street cat without the front bar.

 

[salvageV6]

Anyone have the GM part # for that hollow 36mm 3rd gen. bar?

TIA

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by salvageV6
Anyone have the GM part # for that hollow 36mm 3rd gen. bar?

TIA

Yeah I do, but I'm not going to give it to you. I bought one for $66 which is a great deal for a new sway bar. Then I went to the junk yard and found 3 at the first junk yard I went to. The junk yard only wanted $13 for the bar and all the attaching hardware.

If you really want the part number its:

14094344

and you need 2 bushings:

14094389

And you will still need to modify the frame mounting brackets, or get F-body brackets from the junkyard, and while you are there, for only $13....

 

[KEVINS]

I was running 1.60-1.61's so I DISCONNECTED the front bar for a run or two to try and get a 1.5 but it never made any difference at all... Not too surprising tho for my combo.

ks

 

[azgn]

Kevins, you are getting better 60' times than most cars making a lot more power.....my car was high 1.4x to low 1.5x without swaybar and 90/10's....put 'em back on, and now high 1.5x low 1.6x....dunno why, 'cause not spinning the slicks either way...it just comes out harder with the drag shocks and no bar (pulls both front tires)

 

[KEVINS]

It would be interesting to see your car with and w/o the bar in a vid. You should be able to see/hear what the differences are in the way it launches. That's a pretty cool difference I think what usually happens in that type of situation is that the car has a chance to "wind up" before actually crossing the beam then shooting out quicker.. I dunno..

In regards to my car I prolly launch my car harder than most anybody else with 15psi launches so I don't know how representable my combo really is.. I hope to run some 1.5's next time out but who knows..

ks

 

[jsta6]

UNGN

"bought one for $66 which is a great deal for a new sway bar. Then I went to the junk yard and found 3 at the first junk yard I went to. The junk yard only wanted $13 for the bar and all the attaching hardware. "

UNGN:
I thought they only came on 92 camaros with the 1le option. Do you have the AC Delco part number? I want to search for other cars with this bar.

 

[UNGN]

Re: UNGN

Originally posted by jsta6
UNGN:
I thought they only came on 92 camaros with the 1le option. Do you have the AC Delco part number? I want to search for other cars with this bar.

I thought is was a 1LE option, too, but big hollow bars were on a bunch of cars that were not 1LE cars. They may only have been 34mm instead of 36mm. They would still give all the weight reduction and maybe a little less understeer. 36mm appears to beyond the beending capabilities of sway bar manufacturers, anyway. On my 36 mm bar, you can measure 36 mm, 34mm maybe even 30mm, depending on where along the oval cross section you measure.

Go to any junkyard with more than 20 3rd gen F-bodys and you will be sure to find at least a couple with large, hollow front swaybars.