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I am looking at upgrading my sway bars and can't decide between the LG G1 bars and the GM T1 bars. What are the benefits and differences between them? Also, what would be better for auto-x, or would there be better options for roughly the price of those two items? Thanks.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the LG bars are just repackaged T-1 bars. That being said both are a good setup since you have 3 positions of adjustment. I personally run the Pfadt Heavy Rate Bars but obviously with them being out of business you'd have to find a set used. Not that hard but not exactly like ordering today and getting on Friday!
The adjustable are, indeed, nice. This allows you to tune a little better if adding different springs and shocks, which you will probably want to do sooner or later.
Call Sam Strano at Strano Performance. He's a corvette guy, autocrosser and won't stray you in the wrong direction. Are you running street tires or r comps? Alignment?
I have his 1 5/16 adjustable bar on my c6z and can get the car to do what I want it to.
I think the LG and GM bars are basically the same as well. Find the cheapest price, get the 3-hole rear bar, and get poly bushings from someplace like VBP if they don't come with the bars. Better yet, watch the classifieds forum for a set to come up for sale and save probably $300.
I am not sure of your setup but a T-1 set up is probably too
much for your vette. A t-1 needs at least a 315 size tire on
the Front. A sway bar is part of the whole suspension
package--shocks, springs, tires and front and rear sway bars.
I can't really teach you in a couple of sentences about sway
bars. I run different size bars front to rear. And depending on
the road surface. I have a pile of sway bars and sometimes I don't
run a sway bar on the rear at all.
Your best bet would be to talk to a sway bar builder--there is a lot
to know. Good luck.
I am not sure of your setup but a T-1 set up is probably too
much for your vette. A t-1 needs at least a 315 size tire on
the Front. A sway bar is part of the whole suspension
package--shocks, springs, tires and front and rear sway bars.
I can't really teach you in a couple of sentences about sway
bars. I run different size bars front to rear. And depending on
the road surface. I have a pile of sway bars and sometimes I don't
run a sway bar on the rear at all.
Your best bet would be to talk to a sway bar builder--there is a lot
to know. Good luck.
This is the kind of stuff I was looking for, thanks. If the T-1 bars are like that, then it is definitely too much for my car. Is Sam Strano the guy to talk to, or is there anyone else I should consider for this?
On the ADDCO website, there is access to a book on handling. I haven't had time to read it yet but it may be worth a look.
Es_Es_Tu, where did you find the info on Hotchkiss? Nice to include it on the Pfadt Chart for comparison. I did read about Hotchkiss specs regarding the rear bar but not the front.
It is interesting to see how the Front/Rear bias changes between production and aftermarket. JOC and T-1 are biased about the same, T-1 is just heavier.
On the ADDCO website, there is access to a book on handling. I haven't had time to read it yet but it may be worth a look.
Es_Es_Tu, where did you find the info on Hotchkiss? Nice to include it on the Pfadt Chart for comparison. I did read about Hotchkiss specs regarding the rear bar but not the front.
It is interesting to see how the Front/Rear bias changes between production and aftermarket. JOC and T-1 are biased about the same, T-1 is just heavier.
The hollow tube bars measure 1.25-inches in front and 1.125-inches in the rear, and are 20% stiffer than stock in front and are adjustable from +30% to -15% stiffer in the rear.
strano and van steel make similar bars with a stiffness between the c6z06 and the t1 setup
the ZR1 bars are in this category along with hotchkiss and addco
currently im running a zr1 front bar and a z06 rear; a z51 rear might be a better choice if you find the z06 rear to give too much oversteer
if you do some searching, youll find some folks here go for swaybars that are "softer" than the t1, but rely more on springs...
good luck!
I am no expert on sways but my understanding was that a stiffer rear INCREASED oversteer if the front was left the same. Softer reduces it. If you increase FRONT sway stiffness you reduce oversteer. Correct me if I am wrong but that is how I understood it.
Just went to Strano's website, the Hotchkiss front stiffness quoted on his website states 115% stiffer than the Z-51 bar, seems to me it should be closer to the JOC level for relative rate which would also change the front/rear bias to that of the T-1 or JOC selections.
The easy part is bolting the sway bar on the car. The hard part is knowing the best way to adjust it.
Can you tell if your car is oversteering or understeering on corner entry?
Are you taking tire temps.
You answer yes to both questions then by all means get adjustable sway bars. If you answer no to the questions then put your Visa card away. You don't need adjustable sway bars.
Anytime something is adjustable you have a chance of making things worse.
I am no expert on sways but my understanding was that a stiffer rear INCREASED oversteer if the front was left the same. Softer reduces it. If you increase FRONT sway stiffness you reduce oversteer. Correct me if I am wrong but that is how I understood it.
thats correct.
With a zr1 front bar, youre kind of limited in options for the rear, but using a c6z51 or a c5z06 rear bar with it will get you a bias more like what the t1 or pfadt kits have
The easy part is bolting the sway bar on the car. The hard part is knowing the best way to adjust it.
Can you tell if your car is oversteering or understeering on corner entry?
Are you taking tire temps.
You answer yes to both questions then by all means get adjustable sway bars. If you answer no to the questions then put your Visa card away. You don't need adjustable sway bars.
Anytime something is adjustable you have a chance of making things worse.
even minor things like the bushings and endlinks have a huge effect.
I temporarily switched my rear sway bar links to the factory units and immediately noticed an increase in oversteer from the preload effect.
I have a set of qa1 high misalignment units going on soon... biggest pita part (time consuming) is getting the car on ramps on a level surface when youre driveway and garage are all slightly off...
07-23-2014, 12:46 AM
School me on sway bars
