Sway Bars.

M706

somethingmorethannothing
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
Hey, I'm lookin into getting a sway bar for under the hood, I don't know what would be a good brand to get?
Also, I'm wanting to drop my car as well, any good lowering springs you can suggest?
 

imazn

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
mmm the one under the hood is not called a swaybar. it is called a strut bar. good brand depends on the price you wanna pay and if you want something light weight or not. go ones on ebay go for 20 bucks. they're a solid piece of metal which is really all you need.

what kinda driving are you intending to do and what is your budget? do you live somewhere where you have to be careful with snow in the winter.
 


M706

somethingmorethannothing
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
I live in middle Georgia and we don't get snow but once in a blue moon. Sorry, got the names confused...won't happen again!!! LoL. I'm looking to tighten the suspension for my turns. I really hate the leaning effect that a car has when it takes turns.
 

imazn

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
sorry but define "the leaning effect." how low of a drop are you looking at ? something that's dumped or just clear the wheel gap?
 


daboyblaze

Loose Kannon's Finest
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
I like Neuspeed. It is more money, but you know you are getting quality. I found a front & rear upper strut bars brand new off of ebay for my 91 Hb cheap. I also fohnd a set of Neuspeed Race Springs brand newoff of ebay too, also cheap. I noticed a big difference and very pleased by the quality of Neuspeed.
 

M706

somethingmorethannothing
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
umm, leaning....like...the car leans. ex. when you take a right turn the drivers side of the car is lower than the passengers side...get it?
and for the drop, just to clear the gap.
 

caddy

I found Waldo
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
The strut bar is a top cross brace that stiffens your chassis. The sway bar (or anti-sway bar) is what prevents the body roll which is what I asume you mean when you say the car leans. The sway bars are installed on the bottom of the vehicle and thats probably what you (edit) meant to get. A stiffer spring/strut will also help in body roll, but not as well as a sway bar. But you'll have to do that anyways if you want to lower it.
 

imazn

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
uh i beg to differe but i dont think a sway bar is what he needs. they can be more trouble then you actually want. it can cause your car to spin out if you're not careful.

whenever you make a turn no matter what one side of the car will "lean". and neuspeed race springs are not for everyone due to its high spring rate. You will not need that for a daily driver who jsut looking for some look and some performance.

something like neuspeed sport springs will be more then enough with you with some tokico shocks.
 

caddy

I found Waldo
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
that's right, if you don't use the proper sway bar set up or you match the front or rear swap bar wrong, you could upset the handling of your vehicle. Sorry I should have explained further, i don't think a sway bar is what you need either (i was just explaining the difference). Just a stiffer spring/strut would make quite a difference. And if you still don't like the body roll, you can always add a stock Si swaybar setup.
 

civic hatch

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
if you so want a good matched set of sway bars then look into suspesion techniques they sell a set that is matched and it will cut down on most of your body roll but some body roll is going to happen law of physics. i have this exact set ang i got it with a set of tokicos illuminas type R coilover kit. this set up handles like a charm.
 

imazn

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
well what car do you have? i know hatchbacks have literally very little body roll to begin with.
 

civic hatch

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
Originally posted by "imazn"

well what car do you have? i know hatchbacks have literally very little body roll to begin with.
i have a 96 hatch cx and right now it about 1-1.5 inch drop but i have 17" wheels so some time it dont look like it dropedbut my car takes corners like crazy. the sway bar set does take some getting used to, like some one said before it does make your rear end loose but as long as you know how to handle your car then you should be ok. i took a driving course when i was in the military similar to skip barber (tax dollars spent well) and thats where i learned to handle a car how much a car can and can not take. i recomed a class like that for everyone
 

imazn

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
yeah those 17s have big sidewall so you get better control through turns. bigger wheels actually aid turning to a certain extent.

yeah those swaybars will make your rear loose because it suppose to give you more oversteer which increase in handle but decreases in safety. that's why most integra type R accidents have the rear end smashed up because the rear slides out.
 

M706

somethingmorethannothing
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
okay, this is my thread...but anyway...

So a strong Strut bar would be good, okay. Neuspeed, are they one of the best for this product. and about the lowering, just looking to get rid of the gap between tire and body, so what would be more desirable, drop springs or the adjustables? will they work well enough with stock shocks and struts?
 

Si_Racer13

JDMchris>>>
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
I suggest getting both front and rear, you will notice the difference more. I would suggest sway bars over strut bars, they work alot better. I got mine for pretty cherap from tornactive.
 

M706

somethingmorethannothing
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
anyone else second what Si Racer13 is saying? I'm not questioning you or anything.....ok.
this car is going to stay as my daily driver btw
 

caddy

I found Waldo
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
Ground Control makes a great sway bar for civics. It's fully adjustable too so you can tune the handling to the way you want. That's my opinion though. A strut bar will help your handling but not body roll. A strut bar is most effective in making the chassis stiffer, especially for front wheel drive cars where most of the stresses are on the frame. But personally, I'd first get a new shocks/springs and lower your ride first then see how that satisfies you, then add swaybars if you feel its not enough. You'll notice quite a difference even with just stiffer springs, depending on what you get.
 

M706

somethingmorethannothing
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
okay, i think i'd rather do that first (lower the car, then see how it is). what different kinds of setups would you suggest? what am i lookin at for $$$ and most importantly, what do i want to stay away from
 

caddy

I found Waldo
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
You can get away with just replacing the springs, but it will save you headaches if you buy struts as well at the same time. Also even better is if you can get a matched set (springs and struts designed to work together). If you get springs and struts, you will also need to get and alignment done, and you will need camber kits to do the alignment properly because if you don't your tires will wear. The ideal would be to get adjustable coil overs so you can change the ride height but it all depends how much you want to spend. As for brand, everyone has different tastes for ride height, comfort, and stiffness. I personally like H&R and Eibach, and think that Tokicos are a little too stiff, but that's just me. There's other good ones out there, so i'd ask around and see if you can have a ride in some cars that have different set ups so you see which ones you like. As for price, i'm in Canada so you'd have to talk to one of the other guys here about that...
 

imazn

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
honestly this is the way you should look at things. first and foremost, do not get sway bars. dont get the front sway bar or rear sway bar. you do not need it I repeat, you do not need it.

second, i dont even know what your budget is so is really hard to say what to tell you is a good setup. if you are goign to get h&r, i will say go with the sport springs. Neuspeed is pretty much the same as h&r, heck they use to be the same company until they split. you dont need race springs so sport springs would be a good buy.

if you are going to lower your car, you NEED to get shocks. those factory shocks are not setup to handle high spring rates. he is right about tokico being a little harsh but what do you expect, they're sporty. but they are pretty great i must admit. OZ99 on the board uses them and one of my friend uses them and they said they're great. and this is what i would suggest to go with the springs. and you can choose if you want the adjustability of the damper on the shock or not. that is up to you.

third, you'll probably need camber kit. you're looking at 300-400 bucks alone just on camber kit and an alignment. i think tokico runs around 300? and springs are around 150. well this is if you do it right... and yes doing suspension is expensive. but many people skip steps and they regret it.
 


Top