76 C3 - looking for a 'better than stock' front/rear (matched) sway bar set
12-10-2011, 10:49 AM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
76 C3 - looking for a 'better than stock' front/rear (matched) sway bar set
Rebuilt the front suspension and now working on the rear suspension;
Does anyone have suggestions/recommendations on a complete front and rear sway bar set that will work in a better than a stock configuration? Street use only, the car stays off the track, not looking for anything crazy.
Mike
Does anyone have suggestions/recommendations on a complete front and rear sway bar set that will work in a better than a stock configuration? Street use only, the car stays off the track, not looking for anything crazy.
Mike
12-10-2011, 11:13 AM
#2
Le Mans Master
How big is the front bar now? Is it OEM-should be around 7/8 Inch to 1 inch, I believe-with or without FE7/Gymkhana sport suspension? Most C3's do not have OEM rear bars unless they were a BB cars or a gymkhana suspended car.
With all that said, I would highly recommend the setup that I run on my 78 L-82 4 speed that had the factory gymkhana suspension. The OEM factory front bar is 1 1/8 inch. I run poly bushings on the mounts as well as the endlinks which greatly increases the overall effectiveness of the bar.
In the rear, I would suggest running the factory rear sway bar of 7/16 inch with poly mounting bushings which again will increase the effectiveness of the bar. Most C3's including my 78 were setup from the factory to understeer/push at the limit which is what mine use to do. To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS! which almost all the aftermarket sells in 3/4 inch/5/8 inch/7/8 inch etc. These bars with non factory endlinks severely limit the rear trailing arm travel and can lead to snap oversteer for the novice driver. GM designed the rear sway bar endlinks differently from any other car they sold at the time to accommodate the Independent rear suspension. You could also use a 9/16 inch factory OEM rear bar-depends how much understeer you want to dial out of the front with the 1 1/8 inch factory bar.
My car has a host of other handling improvements over the factory car and corners like it is on rails, but I ran the above setup for years with basically the factory suspension and was very pleased. GET GOOD TIRES!!! There are almost none availbale in 15's and you would have to go 17/18's for ultra high performance tires. I run 255/45/17 ZR's on mine-Incredibly superior to any 15's out there which are all junk-Don't be fooled by the raised white lettering on the tires that have 70's technology!
Hope that helps!
With all that said, I would highly recommend the setup that I run on my 78 L-82 4 speed that had the factory gymkhana suspension. The OEM factory front bar is 1 1/8 inch. I run poly bushings on the mounts as well as the endlinks which greatly increases the overall effectiveness of the bar.
In the rear, I would suggest running the factory rear sway bar of 7/16 inch with poly mounting bushings which again will increase the effectiveness of the bar. Most C3's including my 78 were setup from the factory to understeer/push at the limit which is what mine use to do. To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS! which almost all the aftermarket sells in 3/4 inch/5/8 inch/7/8 inch etc. These bars with non factory endlinks severely limit the rear trailing arm travel and can lead to snap oversteer for the novice driver. GM designed the rear sway bar endlinks differently from any other car they sold at the time to accommodate the Independent rear suspension. You could also use a 9/16 inch factory OEM rear bar-depends how much understeer you want to dial out of the front with the 1 1/8 inch factory bar.
My car has a host of other handling improvements over the factory car and corners like it is on rails, but I ran the above setup for years with basically the factory suspension and was very pleased. GET GOOD TIRES!!! There are almost none availbale in 15's and you would have to go 17/18's for ultra high performance tires. I run 255/45/17 ZR's on mine-Incredibly superior to any 15's out there which are all junk-Don't be fooled by the raised white lettering on the tires that have 70's technology!
Hope that helps!
Last edited by jb78L-82; 12-10-2011 at 11:20 AM.
12-10-2011, 11:52 AM
#3
Race Director
If you or anyone else is interested I have a 1-1/8 front bar, a 15/16 F-41 front bar and a 9/16 BB rear bar (with hardware) available, I also have a 15/16 front bar setup for rod ends (heim joints)...send a PM for more information.
12-10-2011, 12:38 PM
#4
Racer
Thread Starter
How big is the front bar now? Is it OEM-should be around 7/8 Inch to 1 inch, I believe-with or without FE7/Gymkhana sport suspension? Most C3's do not have OEM rear bars unless they were a BB cars or a gymkhana suspended car.
With all that said, I would highly recommend the setup that I run on my 78 L-82 4 speed that had the factory gymkhana suspension. The OEM factory front bar is 1 1/8 inch. I run poly bushings on the mounts as well as the endlinks which greatly increases the overall effectiveness of the bar.
In the rear, I would suggest running the factory rear sway bar of 7/16 inch with poly mounting bushings which again will increase the effectiveness of the bar. Most C3's including my 78 were setup from the factory to understeer/push at the limit which is what mine use to do. To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS! which almost all the aftermarket sells in 3/4 inch/5/8 inch/7/8 inch etc. These bars with non factory endlinks severely limit the rear trailing arm travel and can lead to snap oversteer for the novice driver. GM designed the rear sway bar endlinks differently from any other car they sold at the time to accommodate the Independent rear suspension. You could also use a 9/16 inch factory OEM rear bar-depends how much understeer you want to dial out of the front with the 1 1/8 inch factory bar.
My car has a host of other handling improvements over the factory car and corners like it is on rails, but I ran the above setup for years with basically the factory suspension and was very pleased. GET GOOD TIRES!!! There are almost none availbale in 15's and you would have to go 17/18's for ultra high performance tires. I run 255/45/17 ZR's on mine-Incredibly superior to any 15's out there which are all junk-Don't be fooled by the raised white lettering on the tires that have 70's technology!
Hope that helps!
With all that said, I would highly recommend the setup that I run on my 78 L-82 4 speed that had the factory gymkhana suspension. The OEM factory front bar is 1 1/8 inch. I run poly bushings on the mounts as well as the endlinks which greatly increases the overall effectiveness of the bar.
In the rear, I would suggest running the factory rear sway bar of 7/16 inch with poly mounting bushings which again will increase the effectiveness of the bar. Most C3's including my 78 were setup from the factory to understeer/push at the limit which is what mine use to do. To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS! which almost all the aftermarket sells in 3/4 inch/5/8 inch/7/8 inch etc. These bars with non factory endlinks severely limit the rear trailing arm travel and can lead to snap oversteer for the novice driver. GM designed the rear sway bar endlinks differently from any other car they sold at the time to accommodate the Independent rear suspension. You could also use a 9/16 inch factory OEM rear bar-depends how much understeer you want to dial out of the front with the 1 1/8 inch factory bar.
My car has a host of other handling improvements over the factory car and corners like it is on rails, but I ran the above setup for years with basically the factory suspension and was very pleased. GET GOOD TIRES!!! There are almost none availbale in 15's and you would have to go 17/18's for ultra high performance tires. I run 255/45/17 ZR's on mine-Incredibly superior to any 15's out there which are all junk-Don't be fooled by the raised white lettering on the tires that have 70's technology!
Hope that helps!
"To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS!"
So if I stay with the factory front sway bar and go with a 3/4 rear sway bar with the factory links.. that should be good, correct?
Thanks,
Mike
12-10-2011, 01:44 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
WOW, thank you for the feedback.. I believe my car has the 7/8 front sway bar.
"To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS!"
So if I stay with the factory front sway bar and go with a 3/4 rear sway bar with the factory links.. that should be good, correct?
Thanks,
Mike
"To balance the car to more neutral handling, I swapped out the factory rear bar 7/16 to an OEM TYPE 3/4 inch REAR BAR-Do not use a larger aftermarket rear bar with NON FACTORY ENDLINKS!"
So if I stay with the factory front sway bar and go with a 3/4 rear sway bar with the factory links.. that should be good, correct?
Thanks,
Mike
If you find after the addition of the front bar, that the car understeers too much for your liking, I would add the 7/16 inch rear bar with poly mounting bushings, and that setup would probably be satisfactory, but only you can make that determination. My setup with the 3/4 inch rear OEM type bar is used with a host of other modifications and really is designed for the utmost handling capability of the C3 chassis, and may not be suitable for typical street driving and your driving capabilites but I could be wrong. Below is my setup:
Front:
1 1/8 inch OEM bar with all poly bushings
Shock Tower spreader bar
Poly upper and lower control arm bushings
550 springs, 1 inch lower than stock
Every OEM component replaced-ball joints, tie rods, idler arm etc
Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks
255/45/17 ZR ultra high performance summer only tires
OEM steering box-Blue printed/rebuilt with custom components-zero play
Rear:
360 Monospring with poly cushings
Competition adjustable Strut rods with Heim joint ends
3/4 Inch OEM type rear sway bar with poly mounting bushings
Bilstein Sport shocks
255/50/17 ZR tires
Hope that helps!
12-11-2011, 04:04 PM
#6
Racer
Thread Starter
Mike, not driving your car and not being where you are to actually evaluate the handling, it is very hard to make armchair recommendations to you without some reservations! With that said, if I was you, I would put on a 1 1/8 inch OEM bar used on the later C3's with poly bushings as described above, evaluate the handling, and if to your liking, leave it alone without a rear bar as many C3's had no rear bar and some don't like the handling with a rear bar since the more neutral the handling, the more you as the driver, have to be prepared for corrections, if you cross the handling limit.
If you find after the addition of the front bar, that the car understeers too much for your liking, I would add the 7/16 inch rear bar with poly mounting bushings, and that setup would probably be satisfactory, but only you can make that determination. My setup with the 3/4 inch rear OEM type bar is used with a host of other modifications and really is designed for the utmost handling capability of the C3 chassis, and may not be suitable for typical street driving and your driving capabilites but I could be wrong. Below is my setup:
Front:
1 1/8 inch OEM bar with all poly bushings
Shock Tower spreader bar
Poly upper and lower control arm bushings
550 springs, 1 inch lower than stock
Every OEM component replaced-ball joints, tie rods, idler arm etc
Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks
255/45/17 ZR ultra high performance summer only tires
OEM steering box-Blue printed/rebuilt with custom components-zero play
Rear:
360 Monospring with poly cushings
Competition adjustable Strut rods with Heim joint ends
3/4 Inch OEM type rear sway bar with poly mounting bushings
Bilstein Sport shocks
255/50/17 ZR tires
Hope that helps!
If you find after the addition of the front bar, that the car understeers too much for your liking, I would add the 7/16 inch rear bar with poly mounting bushings, and that setup would probably be satisfactory, but only you can make that determination. My setup with the 3/4 inch rear OEM type bar is used with a host of other modifications and really is designed for the utmost handling capability of the C3 chassis, and may not be suitable for typical street driving and your driving capabilites but I could be wrong. Below is my setup:
Front:
1 1/8 inch OEM bar with all poly bushings
Shock Tower spreader bar
Poly upper and lower control arm bushings
550 springs, 1 inch lower than stock
Every OEM component replaced-ball joints, tie rods, idler arm etc
Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks
255/45/17 ZR ultra high performance summer only tires
OEM steering box-Blue printed/rebuilt with custom components-zero play
Rear:
360 Monospring with poly cushings
Competition adjustable Strut rods with Heim joint ends
3/4 Inch OEM type rear sway bar with poly mounting bushings
Bilstein Sport shocks
255/50/17 ZR tires
Hope that helps!
Mike
12-11-2011, 10:31 PM
#7
I run a 15/16" front bar and a 9/16" rear bar, with stock rate springs. The front bar is mounted to the frame with rubber bushings. I use poly end link bushings. I feel this gives a good ride/handling/NVH compromise, with a nice steering feel.
The rear bar is completely stock.
If you drive more aggressively than I do any more, you will be happier with larger bars. But I am no longer 22, and this works fine for me.
If you want to use the 1 1/8" front bar, with a 3/4" rear, the car will corner like a go cart, if that's what you want. A stiffer spring will not require as much bar. That's why the gentleman with the 355 lb rear spring is only using a 7/16" rear bar.
Last edited by gcusmano74; 12-11-2011 at 10:35 PM.
