So I got fed up with the back stepping out on hard turns. I had the car up on the lift at work the other day to get a good look at the under carriage. I had noticed the rear sway bar was bent while installing the Coachman IST several months ago. I didn't do it... It must have been the original owner hot rodding over a speed bump or something! It takes a good impact to bend a sway bar. I confirmed that it was fubar while on the lift. Anyway... I've read about the affects a sway bar can have on handling when bushings go bad and when you lower or stiffen the suspension. I opted to remove it altogether as I've heard of autoX'ers doing it with good results.

WOW! It feels more like my old Miata R package. I can take turns with much more confidence now and have yet to break traction. Not to mention it saves like 5 pounds of weight, and no more squeeking! This encourages me to upgrade to a few more T3 products.

 

Interesting…….
!
Might try that out on the SA next time I am under. So MORE oversteer -ish, yes? Nothing too surprising tho I hope (ie. snap oversteer)??
Thanks

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

i've been doing this since the late 90's. i don't always do it, my 83LE i left it, but my GSL-SE and Peepers had it removed

Stu, its hard to describe exactly what it does, but basically removing the sway bar makes the chassis respond more linearly to steering/throttle inputs. it actually doesn't really change the under/oversteer balance that much.

its very easy, 6 fasteners, so try it, if you don't like it, it goes right back on

 

My 79' doesn't have a rear sway bar. The 84' GS I have has a rear swaybar. The cars are VERY different so a comparison is difficult. The 79' has newer tires and tired worn bushings everywhere, and the 84' has crap "mastercraft" tires and less worn bushings. I can say the 84 with the rear bar does seem more flat on turns, but the tires break traction faster, shitty brand rubber will do that though.

 

I was going to blame my tires, but now Im not sure it was them at all. Just basic Kumho Ecstas in a 205-50-15. Id like to upgrade to a better tire eventually. Now I can save money and only need a new front sway bar. I will eventually upgrade to T3 trailing and traction rods. Maybe control arms and RCAs too. He says hes developing more goodies, but I dont want to spoil it...

 

The problem is the sway bar tends to lift the inner wheel on turns much like a FWD
would and results in loss traction. I still have my on because, well, it's kind of fun that
way. If I were to autox, it would be the first mod I would do. Keeps more traction on the ground on turns.

 

I reeeaaallllyyy hope you're alluding to a Panhard bar, tri-link or four link setup...I've been trying to get him to develop a Panhard bar setup since we first emailed about developing coilovers for the first gen chassis.

 

He said hes developing several goodies I dont want to spill the beans though.

 

They told me the same thing like 1.5 years ago hahah. I messaged them last month again as I'm about to place a small order. Asked if they had anything in the works and was told nope :S

 

Back when I was still doing the parking-lot-racing, removing the rear bar made medium-speed turns much more controllable but it did make the very low-speed tight stuff more of a chore. Overall, I was happy with the bar off.

 

If your rear wheel lifts in turns, install a heavier sway bar in the front. My '83 was an SCCA spec racer with Tokiko shocks and stiffer springs with just the 1' plus diameter sway bar up front. I must say that this set up with extreme high performance street tires (treadwear 200), handleless better than my Porsche in AX.
Unfortunately, rear camber can not be adjusted, but I am installing adjustable control arms for the front end to maximize negative camber without cutting the front strut tower boxes.