I have a crack in my swaybar and when examining it, i broke it all the way through. It is right on the end right next to the screw. A freind offered to weld it (Should i try this or not because it may not flex right?)

This is a front swaybar, i heard they make quite a big difference to change. since they are 100-200$ i figure i might as well just do it. Which one should i get and what will it do for me over stock (Just wondering what i will notice performance/ride wise)?

I saw the bmr and was thinking about that. I can get it for just over 100. I also am hearing good stuffa bout strano 35 mm hollow for under 200$. What is the diff between the two if any?

 

the strano 35mm bar will probably be lighter for you, while still offering similar performance to a solid bar. You will notice decreased body roll in corners with any upgraded swaybar.

 

does less body roll mean that you just dont feel the roll or do you actually get better handling?

 

Less body roll would give you better weight transfer around corners. So yes you'll feel and get better handling.

 

First, let me ask where you stock bar is "Cracked". That'd be a very odd thing to happen. And the stock bars are also hollow, and you see the lines on the ends where the tubing is stamped down for the endlinks to pass through. So I want to make sure you don't think those are cracks.

That said, even with nothing wrong with a stock bar, a bigger front bar is IMHO the 2nd most important boon to a good handling and stable car (first being the shocks). The 4th gen likes a lot of front bar, for any use but outright drag racing.

The stock bar is a hollow 30mm. 1LE/SS/WS6's use hollow 32's. Then you have solid 32's, and then hollow or solid 35's. A solid 32mm weighs about 12 pounds more than a hollow 35 does, and is about 40% softer as well. A solid 32 is about 14 pounds heavier than a stock 30mm bar too. The way bars work, the inside portion does very little for the stiffness of the bar (since it twists less than the outside, which is why a bars stiffness is the OD to the 4th power). A hollow bar is slightly softer than an equivilent sized solid bar, but not much at all. Certainly not enough to make it worthwhile for someone who has a 1LE bar to go only a solid 32 IMHO.

There is a lot involved with it, but suffice to say pretty much everyone who has installed a bigger front bar has liked it. Even those that went 30-32, and then to 35 have liked the 35 better. BTW, this isn't always the case in the back and bigger is not always better in the rear, as it's a WHOLE different suspension.

 

Thanks for the indepth explanation, is very helpful.

It is kind of hard to describe the break and the swaybar is still probably functional. Basically, the end of it sheared into two layers. So the endlink has two pieces of swaybar attached (The broken off part is the shape of an o). I am worried that it may break on the highway or in a turn so i want to fix it. Afriend offered to weld it but since it does sound like a worthwhile upgrade, i will probably do the upgrade.

BTW, im thinking about your 35 mm hollow. Would that be too stiff for street driving and does it come with mounting hardware?

 

Sounds to me like it's not broken, you're just seeing the joint where the tubing was crushed together. How spread apart that is I don't know, but it can't be much (and wouldn't know how) with the endlink squeezing on both sides......

I would caution against welding anything on a swaybar. Bars twist, welds don't and will just break. Plus the heat doens't help the temper of the metal either. I agree about worrying about breakage, but I'm 95% sure your stock bar is fine.

That doesn't mean you couldn't do better than that bar. It only means that I seriously doubt it's broken. And no 35's are not too stiff for the street. Ask around, LOTS of people have them. The only folks who *think* it's too stiff, haven't tried it and are running a smaller bar.