I have a friend who is a mechanic. He doesn't work for a dealer, an independent garage. I have taken my cars to his shop for years to do work on it since I have access to the lift. The last time I took it there, I asked him if he thought it would be a good idea for me to add the sway bars to it. He didn't think the car would benefit from it. He showed me the production sway bars & said he wouldn't worry about it.

Can you guys explain what kind of performance handling benefits you have seen after adding the AE swaybars?

THX.

 

A FSTB will help a bit with steering response and hard cornering, but the real difference will come with the RSB.

I did the FSTB first because it was cheap (under $50 on eBay) and easy to install. I noticed a little difference, but was glad I didn't spend much on it. Then I recently went for the Cattman/Progress RSB deal for $110, and installed that with little problems, and I must say it is a noticeable mod. Body roll is really reduced.

If you are going to keep your suspension pretty much stock like me, then you really can't go wrong with spending about $160.00 total for those two items. My mechanic told me the same thing as your mechanic did when I first mentioned I wanted a FSTB and RSB, but I waited for the right time/pricing and went for it. I'm glad I did.

 

Your mechanic is very mistaken. While the FSTB will provide benefit, it's not night and day noticeable. The RSB is like night and day difference when driving even under normal conditions. It will keep your car upright while cornering rather than being pulled towards the window. I 100% guarantee you'll love the difference!

 

..and I can't believe the difference!! Much better handling. As others have said...best bang for the buck for a suspension mod!!

 

Some reading on this subject. But I will save you the trouble and give you a little break down. The FSTB actually stiffens the chassis of the car by not allowing the chassis to flex when taking corners. The reason most people don't feel a noticable difference is most people cannot feel the chassis flexing. To me this is more of an apprearance mod, but does have practical reasons.

However, the RSB keeps the body of you car from rolling (for you old school guys...the name anti-roll bar comes to mind). The RSB will almost eliminate the "lean"(AKA body roll) you feel when taking corners hard. The reason many people feel a noticable difference immediately is because the max even with the SE suspension tends to roll a lot.

 

Question re: the progress rsb. I bought one 2 months ago and I'm finally going to be installing it tomorrow. Someone mentioned, "a few problems", as they installed it. What are those few problems if you don't mind me asking.

 

The installation is actually straightforward as long as you jack the car up high enough for you to comfortably work underneath and as long as you remove the rear wheels.

I have a sad little 2-ton jack which doesn't give much lift when placed at the middle-rear jack point, so it didn't give me much height for the placement of the jack stands. It was pretty cramped working down there.

Also, some people have used ramps so they don't have to remove the wheels, but I found it was too difficult to work with the trailing arms part of the installation while the wheels were still on.

 

I have installed RSB, I just need the FSTB so...... bad.


~limsandy

 

Well ,thx for all your input. Sounds like I'll be adding a RSB soon. I'm not into modding too much. I like it mainly stock, but stereo is MOD #1 (I HAVE to get that Blowes POS out of there). Then I'll do the RSB. Since I have access to a lift, I think the RSB mod will be a cinch (cue Murphy).