Sway bars

[Hottrodder427]

Are the front and rear sway bars the same? It seems like the one I put on the front is to short to reach the back side of the lower shock mount

[edwardb]

They are exactly the same. The front installation uses the farthest holes in the sway bar, and the rear installation uses the closest. But the bar themselves aren't any different.

[Hottrodder427]

The turnbuckles are on a steep angle, is that how they are supposed to be? I saw the pics of yours Edward, but it really don't show the angle. The bar does starch to the front right?

[edwardb]

Here's a quick phone pic of the pass side from the inside. The rod ends do tip forward a bit at full suspension droop. With the LCA horizontal, it is nearly straight up and down. Let me know if you want to see something else.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_0353_zpsptpjm1ex.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_0353_zpsptpjm1ex.jpg.html)

[GoDadGo]

Edward B,
> I've got Forte's .75 sway bar kit for my MK-4, with 3 Link Rear.
> Do you think I should install it or not?
> Your Opinion Is Valued!

Donnie,
> Mother's day worked out well for me.
> When you throw a Crawfish boil, you have enough folks to throw the body back on for a test fit.
> Drop by if you are on my side of "The Dell!"

[edwardb]

Edward B,
> I've got Forte's .75 sway bar kit for my MK-4, with 3 Link Rear.
> Do you think I should install it or not?
> Your Opinion Is Valued!

Appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm going to have to plead ignorance on this one. I've not had sway bars on my first two builds, and only have them on this one because they were part of the new suspension package and the 20th Anniversary edition. There are many threads on the other forum about sway bars. Here's one with a few additional links that may help.

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/258682-sway-bars-needed.html

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Not sure where you are in your build, but if you have not driven the car hard & discovered a problem that needs to be fixed adding sway bars is not a good plan.

[Jeff Kleiner]

GoDadGo,
With the factory spring rates these cars have a natural tendency to push (understeer). Installing a bar to stiffen the front without making a corresponding change to the rear will exacerbate that---in short it will be increasing the spring rate on the wrong end. I concur with BEAR-AvHistory; adding a bar without identifying whether a handling correction is needed is kind of like installing a bump steer kit without having measured to determine if bump steer even exists.

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

GoDadGo,
With the factory spring rates these cars have a natural tendency to push (understeer). Installing a bar to stiffen the front without making a corresponding change to the rear will exacerbate that---in short it will be increasing the spring rate on the wrong end. I concur with BEAR-AvHistory; adding a bar without identifying whether a handling correction is needed is kind of like installing a bump steer kit without having measured to determine if bump steer even exists.

Jeff

Thanks Guys! I'll set the car up for the bar and will test with and with out it. Thanks Again!

[canuck1]

I installed the links on my lower control arms for Fortes front anti sway bar years ago when he first started selling them. I guess I just don't do the kind of driving that requires it? I've never actually installed the bar. The links are bolted in place but still zip-tied up to the bottom of the shock mount. Tow hooks drilled for the frame pivots too. Ready to go, if I ever decide I need it!

Sean