# Talk to me about Sway Bars



## Chris Draper (Nov 19, 2007)

With a totally stock 2004 GTO that will be driven daily and only tracked a few times a year, would a sway bar be a good investment? 

I have not yet gotten a chance to drive the car so I don't know exacly how much body roll it has.

If it is a good idea, what would be the best, most inexpensive sway bar to get?


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## SANDU002 (Oct 13, 2004)

I put Hotchkiss, F&R, and it improved body roll on the road and in autocross. Worth the investment of a few hundred.


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## Dennis (Oct 23, 2007)

Chris,
Generally in racing, the sway bar is the last thing the teams use to tune the vehicle. First thing is usually the spring rates, then the shock rates, and the fine tuning of the balance by the use of adjustable sway bars. 

There are two school of thought in terms of springs and swaybars. One is the use of stiff springs and soft sway bars, and other team who go by stiff swaybars and soft springs. I use the former method.

Increasing sway bar rates will drastically decrease roll during turning transitions. However, this decrease in roll stiffness can be a detriment in the handling dept. as it will allow the vehicle to pick up the inside tire in extreme cases, and will decrease the total tractive force that will be available for your car to turn. In other words, your independent suspension acts less independent. Combined with the small footprint the GTO has with its skinny tires, the tires will howl in agony if the vehicle balance is not set up correctly. 

I suggest other things first before the bars.
If you do go with the sway bars, there is only Hotchkis.


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## 06 Blue Devil (Jan 2, 2008)

I would start with springs, struts, shocks to better control the body mass, along with front radius rod bushings and diff insert bushing, before doing swaybars. I have a Pedders track II setup with hotchkis swaybars under mine. Idid mine in steps, with the first being springs, struts and shocks. This one change made a world of differance in the car. The rest just made what I did first that much better.


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## Crisisman (Jan 19, 2008)

If your budget is tight, start with the Hotchkiss set. They are adjustable, so you can change their settings to fit your current setup. I recommend starting with them all set to the softest settings(which are firmer than stock) and then adjust from there. At just over $300 they are easily the most bang for your suspension buck.


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## JerseyGoat (Dec 2, 2005)

Installed the sway bars about a week ago. The car has noticably less body roll during transitions. It's worth the $300.00. Installation was pretty simple too.


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## cody6.0 (Nov 28, 2006)

With the GTO in near stock form I think it is almost impossible to have to big of a sway bar. Although don't try to use them as a cure all for weak springs or shocks.


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