Just missed out on a set of sway bars in the Classified but have a question for those who know-
I'm looking for front and rear sway bars for my car which is running a heavier than stock equipment EG33 and was wondering what has worked for others? I know Tarrett and other companies make the full-on race bars but I don't think I'll need something that fancy. Anyone have experience with Addco or any other aftermarket bars? Any opinions on what would work, possibly someone with a V8 conversion could chime in as to what their builds are runnning? That would be in the weight range- I may run an autocross and a track once in awhile but mainly spirited driving on twisty roads which is everyones favorite! What works on your car?

Doesn't stevegm have a front or rear set for sale

Sold last week. Sorry.

Well then I have 2 sets available. 1 stock set from a '73 that I still have to pull from the car $350 + ship and another uniidentified set.
Mpg gets first dibs.

My car has a Weltmeister bar up front and a stock bar in the rear. I've only had the car a short while, but man it really corners flat with that set-up.

I like the stock bars ash parts. 19mm front with stock springs and for the rear stock bar and 100 lb spring .Smooth daily driver that is great in the turns...this combo is hard to beat but the 914-6 parts are getting hard to come buy

-Robert

I would suggest OE factory for your application; in the aftermarket, Tarrett is the go-to brand now. Smart Racing Products left the business and Weltmeister suffers from design and quality shortcomings.

Factory stuff works fine, unless you are going racing or doing autocross. My stock set made my five lug set up complete. The car handles very well and flat in corners.

I wont say "all", but "most" 914 racers that I know of do not use a rear sway bar.

The 914s on the track are about the "flatest" cornering cars of all the vintage cars on the track even without rear bars.
I believe the mid engine contributes a lot to that.

I think the biggest argument against rear bars is that it will make the car more likely to lift a rear wheel.
So unless you have a LSD, that is a highly undesirable trait.

I've got a factory F & R set on my 914. You need both of the factory bars to get the handling you want. The front alone does not do it. The pair together is perfect for a street car. Couple the bars with Konis on all corners, and my car really handles well.

My LE is 100% stock f/r, while the six has a stock front & a Weltmeister rear, keeping a Quaife grounded.

Hey thanks, I appreciate that! The other unidentified set- do you have any measurements for the bars themselves or do they look like the 73 bars? Also, I'm pretty sure that time ravages everything, so how does that figure in for sway bars- do they fatigue that much over time making original bars that much weaker? New is always new but if stock original holds up, they're already proven to work well...

I don't think the bars themselves fatigue like a torsion bar. It's the bushings that wear. I think the front is stock. I know the rear is an adaco sway bar as identified by sir Andy. I'll post a pic in the am. I know the adaco is not very desirable.

Thanks- you can PM me with details and pictures. I'd prefer stock but let's see what you've got! And if you're getting rid of these, what are YOU using?

Probably a tarret or grp front and no rear bar on my 6 conversion.

I believe that the Addco front bars are under-body, like the later 911 bars. Cheaper and easier to manufacture, but not as effective as the 914's through-body type. They also can't easily be made adjustable.

I have a Weltmeister bar. It's OK. User Artechnika on this BBS blames an undersized fastener on a WM sway bar kit for failing and causing his Six to roll. I haven't yet seen any problems on my setup, myself.

--DD

I actually think having front AND rear stock sway bars works much better. (on my car) Of course that is just street use so far.

Here is the front set up. I am running 180# springs in the rear with Bilsteins….

Click to view attachment

I'll be running heavier than stock engine and trans so I'm thinking a rear bar is a good idea also. How does your car ride with the 180# springs in the back because I'm thinking on replacing those also.

Chris Foley told be stock front and rear work well for a street car. My 6 will have stiffer springs so I'm going to leave out a rear for now. Easily changed in the future once the car gets on the road.

You're going with the EG33 also but I'm doing the automatic {for now} and that's pretty good weight for the rear so that's my justification for the rear bar. So you've got a stock front bar that still needs removal and an Addco on the rear of the same car? Do you know what your other car has for bars and could you sent pics? You can send pics of both sets on IM if you'd like, keep it a little more private that way...

That only applies to race cars and dedicated AX cars.

For a street car, a rear sway bar is indeed desirable. In fact, i have one on my car and only disconnect it for AX.

I have a stock f & r on a car. $350. A non stock set off the car - Make and price unknown.

I run a rear sway bar for the street. I live in a very hilly area. There is a particular tight hilly corner that causes the rear of my car to lift up. Without the rear bar my car will spin out on that corner.

I would like to understand why.
I could imagine that one difference between track & street is that on the street you would have a greater chance of more serious bumps like speed bumps, potholes or gutters.
But in those cases I would think that a less stiff suspension might be the better choice.


I guess Ive never had a rear bar and my current springs are 275s so I dont know what "normal" feels like.

Okay then- I'll take the stock set and I'm assuming all the hardware is with it, correct? Do you have the diameters for those also and do you know when you'll be ready to ship those?
Hey, I really appreciate you reserving those for me!

There are only two scenarios where you DON'T want a rear sway bar and both of those only apply if you don't have a limited slip in your transmission.

- In really tight low speed corners where you need to accelerate out of the corner with as much throttle as possible.

- Under hard (trail) braking when entering a tight corner.

This really only presents a problem at the race track or at an AX.
The reason being that in those scenarios, the rear bar will tend to lift the inner wheel and without a limited slip in your transmission, you will get wheel spin under acceleration and loss of traction under braking.


Under any other driving condition a rear bar will actually help balancing the car and improve corner stability.

Thanks for those details Andy! I'm running an automatice initially but building up a Subaru 5 speed with a limited slip and different final drive gears to lengthen the stride on the freeway. It sounds like the front and rear bars will help out cruising the canyons and any other roads matching the description of the PCH!