I'm looking to go with a bigger front sway bar to help my ZX on the autocross track. I've found a 1 1/8" Suspension Techniques bar through Summit and other sources. Is anyone aware of a bigger bar available or can provide any feedback on the bar mentioned above?

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80 280ZX - B Street Prepared [teamziptie.com]
69 Firebird 400
83 Thunderbird Heritage

i think msa has bigger ones, not 100% sure on that tho, try zcarparts.com

and performancecenter.com

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'83 280zx *.* 2.5 Freeflow Exhaust, 4in. Outlet Top Speed Muffler, Type R Blue LED Lighted Shift Knob, Nismo Steering Wheel (wrecked in 06)

'83 280ZX-T 72K Original Miles @ Purchase, NGK BPR7ES Plugs, Greddy Type S BOV, NSX Boost Controller @ 10psi :D Faze Boost Gauge, Air Fuel Ratio Gauge, Cold Air Intake, Full 3" Apexi Turboback Exhaust, 3" Test Pipe, Walbro 255 Fuel Pump, MSD Blaster 2 Ignition Coil

[www.picturetrail.com]
[www.cardomain.com] << Turbo Z Album

Thanks for the link, but they only offer up to 1 inch on the front bar. I want to see if there is one availabe bigger than the 1 1/8th inch bar that Summit has.

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80 280ZX - B Street Prepared [teamziptie.com]
69 Firebird 400
83 Thunderbird Heritage

Haven't seen one, but you don't want to go to big. You would be far better off running stiffer springs. Many true race Z's don't run sway bars just stiffer springs and good struts.

Me thinks that bigger does not necessarily = stiffer. No sense installing a biger bar if it's limp. You gotta look for empirical data. What do the people that are winning have?

1.125 is the largest available prefab. If you want something bigger, you'll have to make it yourself; however, the 1.125 is more than ample.

Note: with the 1.125 bar it will rip out the box rail. Therefore you must drill thru the box rail and use 4" thrubolts with body washers when installing.

I can't figure out why you would only want the front. You will end up with understeer with only the front. Heavy duty bars work for me, but they must be matched up in pairs.

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TUATZ
[zekfrivolous.com]

Since you're running BSP I would come up with a suspension upgrade plan and focus on springs and shocks. Adding a bigger front bar may help but you want to rely more on springs and shocks to improve the handling of your 280ZX.

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John Coffey
[www.betamotorsports.com]

I am running the ST 1 1/8-inch in front and 7/8-inch in the rear which I bought from Summit Racing. These were the biggest bars I could find. I wanted them to reduce body roll during autocrossing.

Installation was not too bad, they arrived a neon green but a quick rattlecan job fixed that. The rear bar was kind of a pain though and took some monkeying. I had already replaced all of my bushings with urethane bushings, athough I used the bushings that were provided.

On the autocross track I could noticably tell a difference in less body roll. The steering also felt more dialed in if not twitchy from more input from the bigger sway bars. I am still trying to get the rear bar dialed in though. When I first installed the rear bar, I tighened it all the way down and my Z began fishtailing (at the autocrosses), so I loosened up the bar and it seemed to help. But now with the sway bar loose, the middle of the sway bar occaisionally hits my exhaust and makes a wierd noise. I am working on identifying swaybar end links that are adjustable (THK maybe, if I could figure out which application would work on my Z). I am also thinking about putting the stock sway bar back on and seeing if that helps.

A quick picture of the new front sway bar, bushing, and mounting hardware:

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1978 280Z - I wish I had this much money in my 401K.

&lt;[www.cardomain.com];

Has anyone tried using adjustable end links for there sway bars? I have not used them and I too run a large frt and rear bar. If someone has used them,how did they work? Good,bad no difference?

"Note: with the 1.125 bar it will rip out the box rail. Therefore you must drill thru the box rail and use 4" thrubolts with body washers when installing."

Body washers is one method. Check out how JeffP mounted his bar on his car. "C" Section channel that slides over the frame rail altogether and uses through supports to support the area during torquedown.

Big Bars will rip the mounts off any Z 69-83, it's not a matter of 'if' it's a matter of 'when'...

Like John C states, springs are usually more effective in controlling the body long term. A big bar is more of a 'street fix' for someone who wants a compliant spring rate for uneven road surfaces, but doesn't want a lot of lean in the corners. When you're sprung right, you get by with a much smaller bar than you would otherwise think.

As for a 'limp bar' that's a non-starter, they are spring steel, generally the thicker the cross sectional diameter, the stiffer torsionally they are...same as torsion bars. I don't know of any commercially available bars for the Z where a larger diameter has a LOWER torsional rate than a smaller diameter one.

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People Are Idiots, Just look around here and you will see!
Tony D: "Knowledgeable but Caustic"... rationull
You simply can't call someone a F**ktard here, no matter how truthful it is.
[www.ozdat.com]

"Body washers is one method. Check out how JeffP mounted his bar on his car. "C" Section channel that slides over the frame rail altogether and uses through supports to support the area during torquedown."

I used body washers on my S30 after drilling their the frame rail. When torquing down the sway bar, I ever so slightly crushed the top of the frame rail. I then did what Jeffp did. I had a C/U-channel welded over the frame rail after two steel tubing pieces where installed inside the rail.

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1972 Datsun 240z - Only the shell is stock

"As for a 'limp bar' that's a non-starter, they are spring steel, generally the thicker the cross sectional diameter, the stiffer torsionally they are...same as torsion bars. I don't know of any commercially available bars for the Z where a larger diameter has a LOWER torsional rate than a smaller diameter one."

My point is that people throw suspension parts on as they do other parts without knowing what part affects what characteristic. No measurement or documentation & frequently results are akin to what one would receive from urinating off the high side of a sailboat.

And by the same token, the same common sense that says you go to the lee side to do your business says a larger bar is stiffer torsionally...

Whether or not you need it...well there is another story altogether.

Buying Big Swaybars is kinda like getting the Alabama Claps. You didn't think you'd get it but damn sure once it happened you realized you done gone tooooo far on this one...

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People Are Idiots, Just look around here and you will see!
Tony D: "Knowledgeable but Caustic"... rationull
You simply can't call someone a F**ktard here, no matter how truthful it is.
[www.ozdat.com]

Junkman, the winning guys in BSP are running hi $ C-4 'Vettes. I'm within 2-3 seconds of these guys.

John C & Tony, I replaced the shocks/struts/springs this winter with the Tokiko HPs and springs. The car has an open diff, and my thinking was that by stiffening up the front with a bigger bar, I could prevent the outside wheel from lifting in the crossovers and turn arounds. At some point an LSD will find it's way under the car, but it seemed that a logical progression would be to replace the stock 22mm bar and get to 1" or bigger. As far as the rear goes, I see that MSA only sells them for the ZX in pairs, but based on the information I've read (albeit, mainly in the archives) replacing the rear bar with a larger bar may not deliver the desired results - I reference 280Z-hab's post in this thread. I'm coming to the conclusion that adding a bigger rear bar is something I can investigate later.

The car currently has a tendency to oversteer if I go into the turn too fast. Had that happen in a very crowd pleasing way this Sunday. Since we had 6 runs, I was experimenting by entering the crossover at a higher speed (after a slight right hander there was a short straight stretch & I planned on braking harder before hitting the late apex) and the rear and front decided to swap ends. Most times, I can get the car in and out by braking and then rolling into the throttle, but again my thoughts tend to think that by stiffening up the front end, the outer rear wheel will be less likely to spin, and I can consistently put the car where I want and exit the turn with more speed.

ZDoc, thanks for the heads up on the box rail. I would figure that reenforcement should be done even with a 1 inch bar.

There's been some good input on this thread. Thanks, guys!

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80 280ZX - B Street Prepared [teamziptie.com]
69 Firebird 400
83 Thunderbird Heritage

OBX now sells ATB center sections for under $400 with a lifetime warranty---

Xander has one in his V8 Powered 260 and it's holding up well.

For under $600 you could have the ATB, in which case you WANT a differential in weights on the rear end to let the differential work...

Then what do you do with that fancy bar? You're probably right, steer clear.

John really has the right suggestion: look at the goals for the project long term and figure out what you need to get there. If you will be using this or that---it may negate the selection of other components earlier in a 'staged' buildup.

Frank 280ZX was #5 at the MSA AutoX this year behind 4 fully prepped Auto-X cars (one with brakes good enough to spin a 245 Hoosier 15 degrees on the rim under braking!).

Stock Bars, 1 coil cut 2+2 springs/ Tokiko Blue Struts and some setup work. Not BSP Competition for sure, but for a $400 desert car with bad ball joints it wasn't bad!

The really sad thing about the ZX is that you need REALLLY stiff springs in the back to make it work right without a bunch of tire movement. Street Springs I would say are simply too soft for serious Auto-X in a ZX.

Take a look at the photos of Frank's Car at the MSA Auto-X. We ran 13X8 Slicks to both lower the car and get meat on the ground. The car, for being a stock P.O.S. was REALLY FAST. You might try someone's 13X8 Slicks if you have the opportunity...see where your lap times go and how much better you corner.

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People Are Idiots, Just look around here and you will see!
Tony D: "Knowledgeable but Caustic"... rationull
You simply can't call someone a F**ktard here, no matter how truthful it is.
[www.ozdat.com]

I recall seeing the photos of Franks car. I've got the 14X6 6-spokes with 225-50 Khumo V710's on all 4 corners - 8 inches of contact, but I see where the 13X8 set up would drop the back end.

I've been trying to figure out ultimately where this car is going to go. Two important considerations are 1) Rust - how crazy to I want to go on a car that is going to need some serious body work in the future, and 2) I'm going to have at least one kid in college for the next 6 years. At the moment, it's main purpose is to take to the autocross and drive around town. Although, if I could place between the 2 top seeded 'Vettes for less money than they have in their tire/wheel combination.......

Thanks again to all who have helped on this thread.

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80 280ZX - B Street Prepared [teamziptie.com]
69 Firebird 400
83 Thunderbird Heritage