[el cheapo]

thought this should be added to the sticky, but i didnt want to mess it up, it looks so good. Heres my question:

What is the diffrence in a strut tower brace and a anti-sway bar?

They do the same thing, right?

But they are two diffrent things?

thanks

 

[tire]

hahaha no, 'anti-sway bar' = 'sway bar', shortened.

strut tower braces go above the engine bay keeping the strut towers from flexing inwards while cornering.

 

[el cheapo]

hahaha no, 'anti-sway bar' = 'sway bar', shortened.

strut tower braces go above the engine bay keeping the strut towers from flexing inwards while cornering.

right.

I got that much.

So a sway bar mounts to the chassis, And its job is to prevent body roll.

Right?

 

[Horse]

No, a sway bar connects the lower control arms in the rear of the car and helps hold both tires to the road.

 

[el cheapo]

ahh. Ok. thanks guys. Love the info

 

[tire]

So a sway bar mounts to the chassis, And its job is to prevent body roll.

Right?

sorry for laughing at you.

body roll is affected by the suspension that is under it, not by bolting things to the chassis itself to keep it from flexing. a STB maintains the integrity of the chassis and the front sway bar reduces understeer/increases oversteer and does lessen body roll, but they are so neccessary, people don't usually refer to them as 'lessening body roll' as 'if you turned going more then 15mph you'd lose control and die'. for almost all street apps your rear sway needs to be thicker than the front. otherwise you get mad oversteer and that's almost as bad as not being able to turn as you'd like (understeer). subframe connectors maintain integrity of the chassis by, well, what the name says.

 

[el cheapo]

So a sway bar mounts to the chassis, And its job is to prevent body roll.

Right?

sorry for laughing at you.

body roll is affected by the suspension that is under it, not by bolting things to the chassis itself to keep it from flexing. a STB maintains the integrity of the chassis and the front sway bar reduces understeer/increases oversteer and does lessen body roll, but they are so neccessary, people don't usually refer to them as 'lessening body roll' as 'if you turned going more then 15mph you'd lose control and die'. for almost all street apps your rear sway needs to be thicker than the front. otherwise you get mad oversteer and that's almost as bad as not being able to turn as you'd like (understeer). subframe connectors maintain integrity of the chassis by, well, what the name says.

its all good. I didnt take it badly.

Im thinking about just hooking up with a stb and some subframes. hows that sound?

 

[tire]

the 99+ are stronger up top. STB's aren't needed much, but supposedly make a bigger difference on 94-98's.

i'd invest in subframes with or without cross braces welded on and a rear sway bar if you don't already have it.

what exactly are you going for, chassis stiffness, handling, launching, what?

 

[el cheapo]

Well, cornering and launching mainly. Id like to be able to go through corners without feeling like the body of the car is going to fly off the wheels. I guess lowering springs should be the first thing, huh? and shocks/struts.

 

[stangin99]

shocks struts springs and subframes with seat tracks.

Youll feel pretty solid with just that.

 

[tire]

shocks struts springs and subframes with seat tracks.

Youll feel pretty solid with just that.

what he said.

the shocks and struts just bolt on.
the springs will need spring isolators and shorter endlinks which will cost you the spings plus about 75$.

 

[el cheapo]

so much money. . . i am too cheap for this car stuff hahah

 

[tire]

doing it right the first time is essential though.

in fact, coil overs out perform regular springs if you really want the best.
want to hear about them?

 

[el cheapo]

haha, sure. If you wanna tell me about something im always willing to listen. I was actually wondering what coil overs were all about.

Read a little about them i think they replace the regular springs somehow, and lower the ride, and make suspension stiffer. and empty your wallet :mrgreen:

 

[tire]

they aren't horribly expensive, but they are more than lowering springs. they are lighter than a car with springs and have an adjustable height. you can lower it down for autox and raise them for highway driving. i'm not really in the mood to continue, i'll post later about it.

go to www.howstuffworks.com and you can find out better info than anyone here will tell you.

 

[Rick0636]

Customizing/modifing cars is expensive, whether you do it yourself or pay someone to do the work for you. I am a disabled veteran on fixed income so I have to be extra careful of what I spend, its really a tough hobby for me, but I do manage to do most of my own work, I don't do transmission work or ring and pinion swaps and a few other things, but most I can do right out in the back yard under my carport, lol.

 

[94GTStang]

You can reuse your spring insulators since your car is still new. They don't wear out that fast. Plus they run about $20 each at the Ford parts counter.