Steeda rear swaybars = JUNK

Well the rear swaybar has bitten me once again :-( After breaking a GT rear sway bar, a Cobra rear bar, and now a Steeda bar I am looking towards Maximum Motorsports for a solution. The Steeda bar only lasted 9 months which is how long I was able to keep the OEM bars underneath the 97 5.0 coupe. Mind you this is a mild mannered street car with MM rear control arms and Motorsport uppers and UPR spherical upper bearings on the housing and Motorsport "C" springs. The Steeda unit was purchased to prevent this from happening, I talked to them this morning and come to find out they are releasing another redesigned bar in a few weeks as this is a common occurance with their bars as well. Sorry, but I won't be going with Steeda swaybars again nor will I recommend them.

Stay tuned ...................

TIM -aka- MUSTTANGUY "at" AOL "dot" COM

formatting link

Reply to
Musttanguy
Loading thread data ...

Damn, Tim, what are you doing to that car? ;-p Even slamming into a curb at

55mph, I couldn't manage to break anything on my '96. LOL!!

Cindy

Reply to
Cindy

If Steeda knew there was a problem with their bars, way didn't they offer you a replacement ???

-ERIC

Reply to
Katmandu

It sounds like your mods may not be working to well together and causing you this problem. You may want to check out your rear suspension for binding or bottoming out.

MadDAWG

Reply to
MadDAWG

There has got to be something causing this beside bad sway bars. I have an extremely modified suspension system with stock front and rear sway bars and no problem with either of them in 50,000 miles of hard turning.

Reply to
Joe Cilinceon

I was breaking them with stock suspension (with exception of "C" springs) WAY before the MM lower spherical and upper sphericals installed with the Motorsport HD uppers. Had a long discussion with MM this morning about my setup.

There is absolutely NO binding with the spherical uppers/lowers in this suspension setup. The car hooks up well in corners and I am able to push it to the limits of its tires, straight line traction is a WHOLE different story :-)

I have ALWAYS liked most of the Steeda parts, this was really about the only companies products I install on customers cars (shifters, UD pullies, T/A's, etc.) But this sway bar issue has me annoyed.

TIM -aka- MUSTTANGUY "at" AOL "dot" COM

formatting link

Reply to
Musttanguy

The MM solid 38-lb. Cobra swaybar will be the last you buy. I'm not sure I'd use it with C-springs though, unless I had a spare set of kidneys.

-JD

Reply to
JD Adams

Believe me when I say I'm not defending Steeda. I'm running Kenny Brown's panhard bar, upper and lower adjustable control arms with Tokico Illuminia adjustable shocks/struts (set @ 3) and KB front springs. The car is lowered

1" in the rear and 1.5" in the front with Steeda camber/caster plates. I'm also running Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings thru out the car with the exception of the upper control arms at the rear end point of connections, here I'm running stock GT/Cobra rubber bushings. This along with stock rear springs and stock front/rear sway bars as per KB's instructions on setting up their suspension system. The only deviation from KB instructions are I'm running Steeda offset bushings on my front A arms to add about 3/4 " to the wheel base. This I also discussed with KB and they said it should be a great add on. I will eventually add their front k member with coil overs but for now it isn't possible.

Now I autocross the car at least once a month and never saw an expressway exit or entrance ramp I didn't try at full speed. The car handles like it is on a rail. As for off the line, other than tire spin (expected with street tires) the car tracks straight with no pull to either side. When braking the car doesn't nose dive nor does is squat when coming off a standing start hard.

With that said I can't imagine what kind of forces it would take to brake sway bars as consistantly as you have. You might want to check you torque boxes to see that they haven't broken loose or have some flex in them. I also would be suspect of the spherical ends. KB advised me against them for street use with their control arms as well as the pan hard bar ends (mine are all bushings). They told me they need to be kept clean at all times or binding will happen.

Reply to
Joe Cilinceon

Popped a stock Cobra (97) bar off at 28k. Threw on a 1983 Mercury Capri 5.0 bar and haven't had a problem since.

Mine came as a result to a sudden hook during a rear end slide-out. The car hopped and that was that.

My friend had a '97 GT... broke his bar... welded it... the other side broke... welded it again... the first side broke... removed it and left it off. He's a maniac though and probably shouldn't have a license. "My '88 Escort was the best quad I ever had. Even had heat 'till I took it off the quad jump and the doors fell off."

The stock bars will snap with any sudden jolt or odd twist because of the way the ends are connected to the bar (not very good to say the least). They always break there. I think the MM bar will keep that from happening if it's truely one solid piece.

JS

Reply to
JS

I'm not sure I'd use it with C-springs though, unless I had a spare set of kidneys. what is that supposed to mean?

Reply to
94stang

JD had them on his '98 GT and found the ride too harsh for an old fart like himself (J/K JD!).

Cindy

Reply to
Cindy
** JD had them on his '98 GT and found the ride too harsh for an old fart like ** himself (J/K JD!).

Eh, true, all true. They're fine if you match it with the proper shock rate, but I just didn't have the time or energy to make it happen.

-JD

Reply to
JD Adams

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.