Upgrading Jbody suspension

[GLHNSLHT2]

I cut the sway bar to length with a hacksaw. A blade for each side just to make it easy. No, just a regular TiN (titanium nickel) coated pilot drill and then a drill to the size the tap needs. The pilot drill was a #1 or about a 1/4". DO NOT TRY IT WITHOUT A PILOT DRILL! Trust me, I tried. That's why if you look at the pic the whole isn't quite centered. Was just trying to go faster and the funny thing is I was able to make the hole faster using the pilot drill. It was very easy with the pilot drill. I used a 1/2" hand drill because I couldn't figure out a way to easily clamp it in the bridgeport

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazymadbastard By the way the questions are just that, not critiques. Thanks to you we have more options.

That's exactly why I went this route. I had purchased a bar made from high quality spring steel for it. Well with my eibachs, koni's and 1990 front suspension the car actually sits low enough that the bar won't bolt up to the a-arms because its straight where it needs to bend down and hits the control arms before it can get close enough to the arms. I tried a couple different bars from the same vendor, even one made for a 91+ car. That one looked like it would work with the car in the air and no weight on the tires. We didn't check it with weight on the car for some reason and I could of gotten killed on the 6 hour drive home because the bolts for the end links rubbed on the curb protector built into the side wall of the tire, the poly bushing rubbed on the wheel and the head of the bolt rubbed on both CV boots. What I don't under stand is how other people are getting away with this bar. I'm sure it hits on big enough bumps even if you have stock suspension. So anyway, it was the same diameter as my stock bar and the only advantage in it's $200 price was the end links so I figured I'd make my own. My endlinks move a lot more freely and let the suspension work like it's supposed to.

The pics you see are with bone stock J-yard a-arm bushings. The car really hooks in the corners and rides nice and will burn both tires off for as long as you can spin them as I said earlier with the stock bushings. I had poly bushings in the car with this bar as well and didn't notice much difference. I liked the stock bushings better as the car was a little more eager to turn in when trail braking. I have a theory. The poly bushings allow the control arm to slide from front to back on the sleeve which the kmember clamps down. The control arm has to squeeze the poly before it stops moving. This back and forth motion causes a toe change. This toe change makes the car not want to turn in. It's a bit scary on downhill off camber corners. I don't like my cars going straight when I'm turning. I'd rather have oversteer. I've solved all the bad things that stock and poly bushings do. But unless you guys have a lathe it's a little hard to reproduce. Sad thing is I think they should of come with this mod from the factory. It's amazing how much better the ride and handling is. It rides so smooth it's scary in comparison to the stock and poly bushings. What's even cooler is that if you jerk the wheel to avoid something the car snaps that direction instantly. I can throw the wheel back and forth so fast that soon I can't keep up with how fast the car is going back and forth and I'm just getting slammed around in my enthusiast seat. Ok sorry for rambling. Was just meant to correct a grammer error.

[crazymadbastard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 92lebaronGTC Neon strut tower bar. Both of which has improved my handling a decent amount.

Hey Steve, what year neon did you get that bar for?

[Travis_k]

I found a better(cheaper by far also) solution for making swaybar endlinks. Go and get the endlinks from the front swaybar on a 91-94 nissan sentra (probably other cars too, but the sentra ones i know will work) and should be alot cheaper than buying new ones.

[Reaper1]

I'm using a bar with end links on my 1990 Daytona. It currently has 1991 A-arms on it, but it also has Eibachs and Koni's. I don't know how your car is set up, but mine is nowhere near hitting anything on the suspension, ground, wheels, or tires! I can't fathom how your can be that much out of whack unless you have it really slammed. I like your idea, don't get me wrong. I just don't know how in the world what you've described can happen!

[GLHNSLHT2]

I'm assuming this is towards me?? I have Eibachs, Koni's and 89-90 arms. Johnny's 1 1/4" bar hit so much at rest I couldn't bolt up his end links. I could only imagine it's gonna hit on people's cars when they hit a bump if there car isn't lowered. I drove to Johnny's so he could see. 6hr one way drive. We tried a different bar. The stock bar bends down to clear the a-arm. Johnny's bar just goes straight. We then tried on a 91+ big bar. It cleared the a-arm but we didn't really look at it with weight on the car I think because we got distracted by all the people that were there and we were in someone's garage. We had to use some pretty long end links to get the bar to bolt up. Well the links were long enough, and the ends were close enough to the tire to rub. But I didn't notice the rubbing till I got home. What I saw scared the hell out of me. I could of blown a tire at 75+MPH. I took the bar off immediately. The car sits low but not slammed. It has un-cut 2801 Eibachs and 1990 front suspension.

If you're using 91 A-arms then your sway bar is different. I have never seen Johhny's 91+ bar on 91+ suspension so I can't comment. But his 84-90 bar will not work on a car with eibachs and I believe it will hit on bumps with stock suspension as well.

Johnny's End links still bind. Not as much as a stock setup but they do. My setup doesn't bind at all and can be added to a stock bar for $50.

[Reaper1]

Hmm...interesting! Makes me wonder how many othedr people have tried this?

[92lebaronGTC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazymadbastard Hey Steve, what year neon did you get that bar for?

Look up 95-99 Dodge Neon strut tower bar on ebay and that's what I got. That or I think Welcome to FWD Performance, Inc. has one for sale.

[capev86]

i would think your gtc would already have the shelby/cs rear axle and big front sway bar?! good idea to get rid of the clamps on the back....it looked like the stock - nose high/rear droop, only lower!

[92lebaronGTC]

I just sent out money for some poly bushings for my front sway bar, my bar measured out to be 1 1/8" I'll let everyone know if they made a noticeable difference after I install them.

[92lebaronGTC]

Got my polybushings in the mail and i'll post a pic when I install them, I just boxed in my panhard bar too after my friends and I bent it like retards. Handles better than stock now, the bar is extremely stiff now.



Looks strong enough to me. Those welds aren't going anywhere.

[tonyz2897]

A quick question on the heim joint end links. Are the bushings between the heims and control arms necessary? I think I may try this and bolt the heim joints solid to the control arms if it won't cause anything to bind.

[Dodgeboy77]

Up above Travis K mentioned that Nissan Sentra front bar links use a Heim type joint on the bar end and the control arm end is a normal end-link with two bushings. The ball/socket Heim part has a rubber boot on it, which is nice.

I've been looking at these in the boneyard and it seems that most Nissans use this same kind of end on their front sway bars, not just the Sentras. I haven't measured, but they look like they come in different lengths, too, depending on the model. If I get the image copied okay it's for one from an '89 240SX and cost about $15 from Moog. Bill

[Dez]

I installed Eibach springs on my lebaron. I was going to put on the clamps from AZ but i decided to cut them instead. Lowered it about 1-1/4", however, i still want it a bit lower. Like yours mine is lower from the back than the front, but i have air shock so i can cut the springs a bit more and pump up the shocks

[92lebaronGTC]

My poly sway bar bushings went in without a hitch, the green stuff keeps them quiet for sure and the ride has improved. Next I would like to replace the control arm bushings, I might do that when I replace my struts if that's possible. Overall a great product, i'm very happy with the results.

[beast2462]

I bought a set for my 93, but I'm waiting until I can afford the struts to put them in. I hate paying for allignments.

I swapped the whole K frame (control arms and all) from a Daytona into my LeBaron when I switched to a 5 speed, and my ride improved quite a bit. Apparently my bushings in the original part were total crap. I'll do the sway bar bushings as well. sounds like they help.