I have a fully loaded 96 z28.
I have Bilstein HD shocks (love em), a 32mm front sway bar stock bushings, strut tower brace, subframe connectors, lower control arms (poly), and 275/40/17 RE730's up front and Nitto drag radials in the back.

Now theres some debate to getting a larger rear sway bar and im still unsure. So i'll give it a shot again cuz one of the members is selling a 24mm rear sway bar with poly bushings.

What are the pros and cons here. Any advice/experience is gladdly accepted.

 

The purpose of the rear bar is not to reduce roll, almost all of that's done by the springs and the front bar. The purpose of the rear bar is to balance the handling.

The way it does this is by setting how much of the cornering load is handled by the rear tires. A bigger rear bar sends more cornering load to the rear tires.

The ideal rear bar will get the rear end to take some of the cornering load off the front, while leaving enough rear tire capacity to accelerate the car off a corner. How much cornering load needs to go to the rear? Depends mostly on the front springs and the front bar. The bigger these are the harder the front is working and the more rear bar you need.

With stock V8 springs and a 32 front bar the 24 is _way_ too big. Read old swaybar posts on this board. Most of the fast guys think a 21 is too big. Con - You'll overload the rear tires and cause the rear to step out when accelerating or in the rain. Not fast and not safe. Pros - none.

 

A 24mm is too big for the 32mm front. You would need the 35mm front to start to balance that 24 out.

 

"You would need the 35mm front to start to balance that 24 out."

"START to balance" is about right. The front bar increases understeer only a little because of improved camber control. The 24 is pretty extreme and would only be needed on a road race car with very stiff front springs.

 

Cool thanks guys.
I want to improve handling as much as i can. Car handles great right now but i want alittle bit more.

How does using poly endlinks sound?

Or using a 21mm sway bar/ Stock endlinks with the 32 mm sway bar?

Im not using a 35mm sway bar or poly end links up front because I want to be able to launch hard still. Its a compromise between the handling and accleration for me.

 

The 32 and 21 are fine, that's basically the 1LE setup.

 

The 32/21 setup was only used by GM for a few 1LEs in 93 before they dumped it for the 32/19, which is the true 1LE setup. With stock V8 springs, most of the fast guys here seem to like 32/19s or 35/19s. If you make a mistake on the rear bar, a litttle small is better than a little big.

Use the same endlinks at both ends. Otherwise you'll have one balance at turn in which shifts as the endlinks settle. Personally, I'd be surprised if you noticed the difference with poly at the strip.

At this point, with good shocks, V8 springs, and 32/19s your best path to improved handling would be a set of rear wheels with the Bridgestone 730s instead of the drag radials.

 

Forget swaybars. Replace your front tires with Nitto RII's.

That will help your grip much more than anything you can do with swaybars. You'll never have balanced handling with regular street tires up front and sticky Nittos out back.

 

so exactly how big is the stock rear bar.

 

Anti-Roll Bars
Bar Front (mm) Rear (mm)
Z28 (93+) 30 hollow 19 hollow
Z28 (93 1LE) 32 hollow 21 hollow
Z28 (94+ 1LE, 96+SS, WS6) 32 hollow 19 hollow
Z28 (3rd gen) N/A
24 hollow

LG Motorsports 32.5 hollow
21.5 solid

Addco 32 solid 21 solid
Addco (alternate) N/A 26.5 solid
Addco (3rd Gen) N/A 19 solid
Suspension Techniques 35 solid 25 solid
Herb Adams (short) 32 solid N/A

 

bruecksteve,

Just looked at your web site. Very nice car, really like the color!!!

 

Thanks!!