I have a general idea of what a rear sway bar does. But can someone be more specific in what it does? Is there anything negative in installing one?

 

it stiffens your rear axle.
progress rsb connects at 4 points, 2 U-bolts on the axle, and 2 U-bolts on the frame, behind the rear wheels.

there are no negative effects. some cars get oversteer as a result, some become neutral. i have not experienced this, so oversteer is unverified on my account.

 

Whats oversteer?

 

Oversteering occurs when a car’s front tires have more traction than the rear tires, causing the car's rear end to slide outward during a turn. Also known as fishtailing.

 

its a torsion bar, basically using one side of the suspension to keep the other side from getting too far (in ride heighth) away. basically if one side goes 'down', itll try to pull the other side down, thus minimizing roll.

it can cause oversteer because the car will tend to 'roll' less. this lack of weight transfer to the outer wheel can induce an oversteer condition, the back end of the car swinging out or even coming around.

 

So i'm assuming if you had to make a sharp sudden turn on a wet rainy or perhaps icey day, then you may loose the rear end of your car and start to spin. (God Forbid).

Other than that it's great to have right?

Thanks for the OVERSTEER definition, i always wondered what that meant.

So BODY ROLL is just defined as a car leaning to one side on a turn?

 

yes, yes, and yes.

understeer being when you point the wheels in a given direction and the car doesnt follow, goes almost straight. also called 'plowing'. suspension tuning is basically a compromise of driver style and application.

 

Ooooooooohh, okay!! Didn't know that either, thats why i love this site!!

 

There are FAQs on this:

https://maxima.org/faq-5-Suspension.html

 

AAAAHAHAHA i should have expected that by now. ^^^

 

Understeering vehicles are much safer than oversteering.

First, in the case of oversteer you have to do some counter intuitive things to recover from the skid. Ex. in most cases you have to press your gas pedal rather than your brake pedal in order to control the skid. In the case of understeer all you have to do is to slightly press your brake pedal.

Second, when your. car oversteers the car moves sideways, which means that your chances of avoiding obstacles (trees, polls, etc) are lower. (the width of your bumper is only 4 - 5 feet, the length of you car is over 10 feet)

Third, injuries from side collisions are generally more serious than injuries from front collisions.

 

Wow it must be harder in the winter considering all the ice and all. OoOoOo =0

 

Yes it is harder in the winter, but considering low speeds at which everyone drives in those conditions it is not as dangerous. If you not ganna go out and do some real stupid things the worst that might happen is that you will have to replace your fender. When the pavement is clean, however, the possibility of your car starting to skid is lower, but considering the speeds we drive at in the summer time the results are much more dramatic.

 

also consider that FWD cars are MUCH less prone to oversteer than RWD cars. since i live in FL and dont know what snow or ice is, ill dial in as much oversteer on a FWD car as i can within reason. a maxima sure isnt gonna put more oversteer than my project truck... a stiff max isnt anything that i cant handle.

 

The negatives are how much it costs, waiting for it to arrive, and having to take the time to install it. Mostly it is the possible oversteer, but nothing else.

 

Mine cost $110 shipped (used), took 4 days to get here from Chicago, and took less than 30 mins to install... that doesn't seem too "negative" to me.

Even for brand new RSBs, you can get em for like $150 from Cattman and Brian will probably get it to ya in a week...

 

Thanks for the info guys. So basically as long as I don’t take fast hard turns on snow or wet pavement then I'm fine regarding oversteer. Right?

 

Can a RSB be installed alone with the car jacked up? Or is it more complicated?

 

Yes it can be done alone.... but use jack stands for your own safety....

http://www.moodym.com/maxima/tech/addcorsb.html

http://www.greghome.com/Greg%27s%20G...StillenRSB.htm

 

I think what's important is that you get used to the handling characteristics of your car with the RSB... IMO oversteer can be dangerous for a driver even in perfectly "normal" conditions if inexperienced or ignorant.... once you get used to it however, you'll know how the car will react and what to do, even in unexpected, emergency maneuvers.

 

yeah but a RWD car almost always have oversteer so %35 of the cars out there are more dangerous then a Max with a RSB so I would say go for it unless you are a ****ty driver, if you are going to spin out in the snow with a RSB you will spin out with out one too

 

Exactly... you have a good point on the RWD cars...

 

Thanks!

 

Got it, thanks.

 

There is still no proof that a RSB actually improves handling on LOWERED maximas. Besides the rear beam already has a sway bar built in, so a better way to control rear body roll is stiffer springs IMO. An aftermarket RSB on a lowered car is overkill cus it just binds the suspension. I'll take more rear roll with more grip and control without having to worry so much about snap oversteer anyday because all oversteer means in our cars is loss of rear traction, which means lost time. Neutral > snap oversteer.

 

"Proof" as in some sort of technical test? How might this be done because I wouldn't mind looking into it myself. My experience is that the RSB effects on a lowered Max are noticeable, but whether good or bad is a matter of opinion, as you've stated above.

 

Well something quantitive. Because all i here is "there's less rear body roll" or "it feels more solid and planted." These things are fine and well, but don't really say much. The onus is on the propenents of the RSB to prove that it improves handling altogether. Until then, it's safe to assume that all it's good for is less rear roll and snap oversteer.

Edit: Maybe somebody could set up a skidpad with a certain radius and time how long it takes to go around with and w/out the bar. And perhaps a ghetto slalom course??

 

I agree with the need for a quantitative test for absolute results... but I started a thread recently based on pure opinion with regards to this, so feel free to comment in there too:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=412478

One thing that I was thinking about was the purpose of installing a RSB. Many people do it because it is a common handling .Org mod or it is claimed to be the "best bang for your buck" handling mod, and not because it will necessarily benefit their driving style and conditions. I intend to auto-x the Max at some point and a RSB will give me some "snap oversteer", as you call it, and flatten out the rear on those short, sharp corners, which is what I am looking for.

 

well i know a way to test this, get one of those liquid sphere globe compass that mount on your dash, on the outside shell mark with a white out pen 5degree incriments, when u take a hard turn have someone take note to how much the fluid tips in the globe

 

Or just get someone to auto-x with and without the bar? 3 runs with and 3 runs without around the same course and take the average of the times. I dunno... there are many other factors in play there...

 

Exactly, the most accurate test!

 

One other piece of advice; most people suggest adding an FSTB at the same time as the RSB. This reportedly also stiffens the front end, and negates some of the oversteer.

I can attest on my car that with the RSB (adjusted to max effect) and FSTB, the handling is almost neutral, with slight understeer when really pushed.

No problems with it after two years and 45k miles.

 

But you aren't lowered. Nobody's disputing that a RSB helps dramatically on a car with stock suspension. It might be overkill with a lowered setup, however. That is all...

 

what brand RSB and FSTB do you have?