Any thoughts on replacement sway bars front/rear for a 280? How does one brand differ from the stock as far as feel goes? How does the thickness of the sway bar affect the feel of the car? And, about that gap with the ball joint....

For a 280 they're going to be basically all the same as far as design. Thicknesses will vary and the thicker the swaybar the less body roll you'll have. This does make a difference in the way it rides. Also, the really thick ones over 1" thick tend to tear up the front frame rails when you push the car really hard, so you might want to factor that into your decision.

Generally speaking, bigger front and rear = less body roll, better camber control.

Larger front bar = More understeer

Larger rear bar = More oversteer

MSA makes bars, Suspension Techniques make bars, Addco, and I think that's about it these days. I had a tough time finding any adjustable bars so I ended up making mine adjustable which was a big project, but that's more of a racing thing than a street car thing. I'm sure if you have stock bars with worn out bushings you'd feel a nice improvement just from replacing the bushings. Then you could step up to the larger bars if you still wanted more.

Suspension Techniques kit # 52095 - 25mm front and 19mm rear with the rear ARB mounted behind the diff (better position). Summit Racing is probably the cheapest source for this kit. The only negative is that the latest set I ordered came with lime green powder coated bars. Ick!

I have a matching set of adjustable front and rear bars for a 280Z that I removed from a retired BSP 280Z. These swaybars are used Arizona Z swaybars with endlinks. I would like to sell them because I went with a tubular adjustable front bar and matching rear swaybar on my 240Z.

Let me know if your interested via PM.

Suspension Techniques kit # 52095 - 25mm front and 19mm rear with the rear ARB mounted behind the diff (better position). Summit Racing is probably the cheapest source for this kit. The only negative is that the latest set I ordered came with lime green powder coated bars. Ick!

I ordered my rear bar about a year ago and it was silver. Lime green looks great on Kawasakis, but not under a Z...

I thought there was a fuel filter or pump or something mounted to the uprights on the 280s that had to be dealt with to use the rear mounted bar. Also, aren't the 280's mounts for the rear bar lower and further away from the frame? I thought that was the case, and that this makes them less prone to binding like the front mounted MSA bar for the 240, which binds really really badly or at least it did on my car.

I have the MSA set of swaybars, and I'm very happy with them. I needed to grind down the inner-rear bushings to get them to fit in the mounts, and had to unbolt the exhaust to get the rear one into place. Overall, it took a little muscle to get them, in, but they perform very well. Noticably less body roll too.