Which should i get for suspension mods
 

This K member

http://www.brenspeed.com/km010.html

Or these sway bars

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=5

This will be only for street use.

K member = less weight up front, quicker acceleration

sway bars = more rigidity up front, quicker turning

cool, i didnt know that. so sway bars it is

get both, you will love it.

im going with the hotchkis sway bars as well , they are slightly larger then every other company i have looked at.

i thought it was one or the other? osont the k member a delete sway bar? thanks

No it doesn't they have a light weight radiator support that wont handle a sway bar if you are into a lot of drag racing but Steeda has a light weight and strong radiator support that will still handle a sway bar

What suspension mods do you have right now? What handling characteristics do you want to change?

If you just going to use the car on the street I'd say save your money and don't get either one.

Interesting....

A k-member saves weight. That's all. And frankly I don't trust most aftermarket K's for street cars. They save weight by being less beefy, and don't forget the control arms bolt to the K-member and all that lateral load goes into it.

Swaybars are actual suspension parts that are active. They are torsion springs. They add wheel rate when the car rolls, and the car rolls less because of them.

Really these two things are in no way the same and I'm not sure how you'd end up comparing and contrasting such different items.

Sam thanks for chiming in since i was going to get the sway bars from you. The car is just for street use and no track time at all. Right now im just running aftermarket shocks,struts and springs.

As for what im looking to get out of it...nothing. I just want to keep modding.

I'd be happy to discuss options with you, and frankly there are other (many others) beyond just swaybars and K-members. ;)

I'm sure you are trying to do something to make the car more to your liking. Most folks don't spend money if they are 100% happy. I'd be curious as what you'd like to see different about how the car drives, that's the only way I can know we are on the right trail with certain parts. I'm fond of comparing parts to pills... You take medicines to make your feel better, and shouldn't take meds that can work against your well-being. Well, changing parts is no different. I don't think you should change parts if there is nothing wrong. It's a waste of time and money. But worse, the resulting change could work against the goal of a better car. Mods for the sake of mods isn't a good way to setup a car. :)

If you want to work on the ride and/or handling, a k-member is no help. That's all about weight, period and are best left for serious drag racers. Swaybars are handling items. So are dampers, springs, PHB's, Watts links (touching on the biggest parts). The dampers and springs also have a tangible difference in the ride. Not so much with the other items. I see you have "aftermarket" shocks and springs. Not knowing what they are or how they are set (if adjustable) I don't know that you couldn't improve that aspect of the car. Just because something is not stock doesn't necessarily mean it's automatically better, period. Often that's true, but many folks use the wrong parts for their job, and can actually make things worse or not as improved as they could be.

I hope you don't think I'm out of line. Certainly you don't need to think exactly as I do and if you want a part and know how it'll effect you then it's your call. But again, whether or not you feel you want bars, I haven't seen a shred of evidence here you'd be at all well served by a k-member swap. And what's scary is I see votes (more than one) for that change.... but not really any rational support for those votes.

So...first things first.

What are the spring rates? Are the shocks/struts adjustable? Just throwing new suspension parts on don’t necessarily make the car handle better. Sway bars are used to add spring rate to the wheel in a turn, keeping the wheel planted, that’s why draggers don’t need one, they never turn:). f the springs are the same rate as stock and you put a beefier sway bar on the front, you will end up with a “soft setup.” Higher rebound rates are needed for the added spring rate caused by the larger sway bar.

Unless you need the sway bars, I’d go with something else. If you want to stay with suspension parts, a Watts link or a good set of LCAs (if you don’t have them already) will improve the ride. Another thing that will be noticeable is a one piece driveshaft. The stock 2 piece is a clunker. Both the Watts and the DS are in the price range of a good adjustable sway bar.

-Wayne

Bars aren't damped by shocks/struts. Springs are, but swaybars aren't.

Swaybars are a big change in handling and they cut body roll quite a lot (all the way to an immense amount) depending on the size. You can go too big, pretty much only at the rear though and that relates to what size is on the front still.

The OP has other parts already. WayneA and I seem to be of similar thinking in wanting more information, the only place I disagree is when he states that more bar requires more damping. That said, bars are not a replacement for a damping issue (and yes Virginia shocks effect roll too--just not the amount of it, but the rate of it's generation). And while the stock DS isn't great, it's not exactly high on my "need to change" list. A Watts link is very cool but it's not for everyone and again is not a replacment for ill conceived suspension setups that use poorly packaged components.

Thanks for the reply and information sam this is the kit im running http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...Pro-System+Kit
and i have no problems with it. It dosent bother me thats it is not adjustable because i dont do anything crazy with the car. Unless you this this kit is horrible,you think the next step would be those sway bars that i posted above?

What do you think i should go with? Am i going in the wrong direction? i just want a nice suspension set-up. thanks sam

For a daily driver, the Pro-Kit is a great balance between comfort and performance. This is what I put on our convertible. On our coupe we went aggressive with Steeda Competition springs. For those who think they want more, make sure you believe pissing blood is worth the improved handling. :)

Seriously, there are levels for everything on this car and when you start looking into a bunch of kits for racing, you will fail to enjoy this car on the street.

Sam seems to have his facts and his act together. I never bought anything from him, but it probably would have saved me a bunch of time to have called him. I know claims by manufacturers and distributors tarnish this market, but from what I am seeing Sam seems to want to provide answers to customers.

He does and im glad he's on this forum. Im sure ill be going in the right direction now and thanks to the other suspension heads out there