Sway bars

[Patcon]

I have done a few hours of reading on here and some at HybridZ on sway bars. I am looking at ordering a sway bar kit. I always felt like the stock setup rolled too much. There are a number of people with kits listed, but It seems there are like basically 3 choices:

            The ST kit with the rear bar behind the differential and custom "Transverse brace plates" $320-356

            The FutoFab orange bars with the rear bar behind the differential $450 but the rear bar is back ordered

            The MSA kit which looks to have the rear bar forward of the diff and the floor has to be drilled $220

How many of you are running front and rear bars?

Any complaints?

Which kit are you running?

Are any of you having frame problems up front? This is probably my most significant question. I don'e really want to do any welding up front since I have all that area finish painted.

 

[7tooZ]

I have the MSA bar for about 15 yrs. haven’t had any issues on my driver. No racing or rallying though.


72 body and block, everything else 71, Tokico springs, Illumina, R180 CLSD, 83 close ratio, 3.90 gears, Ztherapy SUs, BRE 15X7 Libre wheels and BRE front spoiler.

[Patcon]

23 minutes ago, 7tooZ said:

I have the MSA bar for about 15 yrs. haven’t had any issues on my driver. No racing or rallying though.


72 body and block, everything else 71, Tokico springs, Illumina, R180 CLSD, 83 close ratio, 3.90 gears, Ztherapy SUs, BRE 15X7 Libre wheels and BRE front spoiler.

Do you have both front and rear bars? Does the rear bar mount through the floor?

[gnosez]

The real question is how do you intent to drive your car?  A rear sway bar is a great addition to a street car and larger fronts or rears will reduce body roll. Some of us racing Zs don't run rear bars and have larger fronts.

As to a larger front bar causing some inner engine bay metal to detach from the engine bay frame rail, that will happen if you run the car hard and with sticky tires. It's why I added reinforcement plates.

Remember that sway bars are just one part of your entire suspension set-up (shocks, bushings, springs, alignment, corner balancing, wheels, tires and tire pressure). Just adding a bar, front or rear will change how your car handles but in which direction is unknown unless you tell us more about your set-up.

And how you attach the end links can alter the set-up (too tight on one side, over tight on both sides, too loose, etc.). Scales will tell you when you have it right.

 

[Patcon]

9 hours ago, gnosez said:

The real question is how do you intent to drive your car?  A rear sway bar is a great addition to a street car and larger fronts or rears will reduce body roll. Some of us racing Zs don't run rear bars and have larger fronts.

As to a larger front bar causing some inner engine bay metal to detach from the engine bay frame rail, that will happen if you run the car hard and with sticky tires. It's why I added reinforcement plates.

Remember that sway bars are just one part of your entire suspension set-up (shocks, bushings, springs, alignment, corner balancing, wheels, tires and tire pressure). Just adding a bar, front or rear will change how your car handles but in which direction is unknown unless you tell us more about your set-up.

And how you attach the end links can alter the set-up (too tight on one side, over tight on both sides, too loose, etc.). Scales will tell you when you have it right.

 

Thanks John for the reply

You had a number of entries in many of the threads I read through last night. This is going to be a street car and will probably not be driving that aggressively. I have the Tokico combo set that showed some issues with the progressive front springs. We will see how they do when I set the car down. I may end up having to go back with Eibachs. Even so it is still relatively soft sprung. So it seemed like the proper thing to run the bar set. I am leaning towards the ST bar setup as it seems very well thought out and complete. I may space the bar out towards the rear like I believe John Coffey recommended to prevent binding. I wish I had done some discreet reinforcing upfront earlier, but I don't want to take the two steps back right now. I know tearing the mounts out can be an issue. How else does the damage show up on the front frame rails? Never mind I found that on your site for the sway bar plates. Separation from the frame rails to the inner fender...

The most extreme driving I expect to see with this car is twisties in the NC mountains or events at Zconn. However I don't expect to be testing the limits. I have too many hours in the car to risk wrinkling it all up

[gnosez]

If you do decide to use the ST sway bars, you're absolutely correct on needing to off-set the bar about 3/8- 1/2 inch back using a spacer. I have had one on my 240 street car for more than 12 years and it as had those spacers installed from the beginning.

I should be coming down for ZCON/Atlanta and hope to see you and your Z there.

[Patcon]

3 hours ago, gnosez said:

I should be coming down for ZCON/Atlanta and hope to see you and your Z there.

I will fab up a spacer. Looking forward to Atlanta. Lots of new faces to go with usernames.

[Woody928]

For what its worth if you haven't made a decision I'd highly recommend the ST kit, I looked at all three options when I did mine and I thought it was the best choice in terms of fitment and value for money. I don't like the design off the MSA kit with drilling of the chassis involved and the Futofab kit doesn't seem to justify the extra price from anything I've read. 

The rear ST kit bar made a massive difference to the handling of my car, currently having reinforcement plates added to the front frame rails before the front bar goes in so as to not cause any damage to the chassis and prevent any potential for twisting or extra stress. Great addition ?

[Patcon]

1 hour ago, Woody928 said:

For what its worth if you haven't made a decision I'd highly recommend the ST kit, I looked at all three options when I did mine and I thought it was the best choice in terms of fitment and value for money. I don't like the design off the MSA kit with drilling of the chassis involved and the Futofab kit doesn't seem to justify the extra price from anything I've read. 

The rear ST kit bar made a massive difference to the handling of my car, currently having reinforcement plates added to the front frame rails before the front bar goes in so as to not cause any damage to the chassis and prevent any potential for twisting or extra stress. Great addition ?

Thanks for that input. That is what I was thinking too.

[charliekwin]

I have the ST kit on mine, and have no complaints, though I have a 280.

When ordering time comes, check Summit Racing. I've found they tend to have the lowest prices (or very close), and free shipping over $99 is definitely a money saver on large items.

[Patcon]

thanks

[Chickenman]

FWIW...... the original Nissan Comp rear bars for the 240Z were mounted just like the ST kits.  They seemed to work very well and I don't recall any issues. I ran the " Autocross " bars. 22 mm Front and 23m rear. Road Race was a bit bigger  up front if memory serves me correct.