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Changing my Sway Bar

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I have been laboring all this time with the sway bar that came with my car when I bought it. It has got to be an aftermarket unit because it hangs so darn low at the pivot point. So, today I got my new, OE style unit in from TRF and have forgotten, can I change this unit with the car in the air and the suspension sagging or should I seek out a drive-on lift and change it in the loaded position? My naivete is related to the early hour and too much strong coffee.
 
You'll want to tighten everything up with the suspension loaded. It can be easier to remove and install with it unloaded though. I put my car up (suspension unloaded) and then when it comes time to tighten the end links to the suspension I put blocks under the front wheels and lower the car to load the suspension (jackstands still under car, but lower, for safety)and that gives me room to tighten everything up. Just my $.02 though.

Also, do you have a rear bar? If you do and you go back to a smaller front bar it will upset your handling and make the car very twitchy. Just a word of caution.
 
Shawn,
I'm not trying to step on your toes but I think you understated the potential problems if you have a rear sway bar.
The stock front bar is approximately 9/16" diameter. The Addco replecement bar is 7/8", the Addco rear bar is 3/4". As far as I know there were no factory rear sway bars. If you do have a rear bar it is likely 3/4".
Using a larger diameter bar in the rear than in the front greatly increases the chance of oversteer. In other words the rear end can break away and come around. (My apologies to those who know the meaning of oversteer). Oversteer is more difficult to control than understeer.
If you do have a rear bar, measure the diameter. If it is larger than your new front bar you have a couple of choices. Stick with the old front bar and keep the rear bar or remove the rear bar and install the new bar. Based on my reading oversteer is very undesirable on a street car. I wouldn't consider using a larger rear bar and stock front bar as an option.
Of course if you do not have a rear bar none of this is an issue.
I installed the Addco front and rear bars. I'm quite happy with the results.
BOBH
 
What about the "matched" front & rear units from TRF?
 
bobh said:
Based on my reading oversteer is very undesirable on a street car.
Click to expand...

That's certainly true if the driver is inexperienced. But if you know it's coming, a little bit of oversteer is a heck of a lot more fun than pushing into the outside curb.
 
As the PDO of 5 short wheelbase Porsche 911s, I can tell you that oversteer is a lot of fun when you know it's comming, and scary as heck when you don't. The simple cure is to put fatter tires on the back than the front.
If you lived closer I would invite you to drive my 944 which will understeer or oversteer very predictably depending on the position of your right foot.
I have a sway bar on the front of my TR3 which I like. I have never thought of putting one on the back, but it would be fun to add a little oversteer to it.
 
The diameter of the bar doesn't always predict how much roll stiffness (or under/oversteer) it adds. Where and how it connects plays a large part too.

I run (well, ran) both front & rear bars on my TR3A (from ADDCO via JC Whitney); with the goal of having the handling near neutral with a modest amount of power on. As Bill points out, that changes with more or less power (although a TR3 has a lot less latitude in that department than a 911 /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif )

The TR2-3 suffers from another problem though, which is the rear suspension doesn't have enough travel and may hit the stops in a hard curve; changing the handling dramatically. If you bang the stop hard enough, the rear axle actually starts skipping sideways /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

Having the suspension loaded when you tighten up the sway bar brackets may help the bushings live longer, if they are rubber. But with poly bushings, I don't believe it makes any difference. They will turn rather than distort when you load the suspension.
 
Paul,
The matched front and rear bars sold by TRF are the Addco bars. Addco briefly explains the match in the installation instructions. I think Richard Good also discusses the need for matched sets.
The match that I see in the Addco bars is the dimensions I mentioned above.
J,
Throttle induced oversteer is great fun and fairly controlable. I still call it dirt tracking, from my younger wilder days. Unexpected or snap oversteer is dangerous. When you see the rear end of a race car come around and slam the wall you're seeing uncontrolable oversteer. Even the best drivers get it wrong sometimes. IMO a neutral setup is best. Use the throttle and some opposite lock when you want to drift around an entrance ramp.
 
I don't have rear sway bars. Those Falcon exhausts barely give me room for highway underneath my car. TRF sent me 11/16" replacement for my front end. I think this is within the range of stock.
 
bobh said:
Shawn,
I'm not trying to step on your toes but I think you understated the potential problems if you have a rear sway bar.
Click to expand...

No Worries Bob, I understated it a bit because its been discussed very heavily in some other posts on this forum and I just wanted to give Bill a reminder.

BTW... With a modified TR6 and TR8, I'm a big fan of power oversteer. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif Though I have been able to balance my TR6 and driving style without the use of a rear swaybar. My preference for a proper handling street car is one with slight understeer but the power to induce throttle-on-oversteer when desired. A totally neutral car can still be very twitchy and give you nasty surprises when traction gets limited, snow, gravel, rain etc... conditions that can happen quickly and unexpectedly in my neck of the woods. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
If you have standard Falcon pipes back to the mufflers, as from TRF, the rear sway bar will fit. It's very tight, but it fits. Just letting you know in case you should ever want to make the change.
The sway bar upgrade makes a big difference in the car's handling.
 
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