Body roll and sway bars?

[toecutter]

I have installed KYB's with 2 inch lowered springs in my 260. The ride is firmer and looks much nicer, however I would like less body roll in corners. I want the car to stay fairly level during hard cornering. As i understand it I can change to a thicker stronger sway bar to get less body roll. Is this correct? I have seen bars installed across the top of front and rear strutt towers. How effective is this? Waiting for recommendations fellas?

[St.stephen]

I have yet to install mine yet on my 260, However i have 1" lowered tokico's in my car and a 1" swaybar up front and 7/8" in the rear from suspension techniques. My 78 has a 7/8" up front with standard struts and springs and it helped alot.

[Ed]

I have a 1" anti-sway bar up front and put the stock sway bar from a early 260 in the rear and it made a big difference. From what I've heard the upper strut braces that you are talking about are quite involved. The simple little bar does little to be effective. There is an old post about those strut tower bars around here somewhere and it has a bunch of pictures of different bars. There was also alot of discussion about the effectiveness of these bars. If I were you start with the sway bars and go from there.

[St.stephen]

I agree, for those strut braces to really be effective they need to be done right. Although, if you are not autocrossing the car, I can;t imagine being able to throw the car around that much under normal legal driving conditions to warrant having them in.

[toecutter]

I am going to be replaceing some of the bushes and this would be a good time to replace the sway bar(s). Any ideas on what the stock 260 (74) front bar would be? If i go to an overly thick bar would this adversly affect the handling if the car is too rigid in cornering? If I replace the front sway bar do I need to match a thicker rear bar to it??

[2ManyZs]

Not sure what size the 74 had, but it's probably about 7/8 inch or whatever that is in MM.....

If you go to a too large bar in the front it will not only affect handling but also the ride as well.

It's usually best to change both the front and rear when upgrading, but, if you change one and not the other you can sometimes improve the handling characteristics of the car which tends to push the front end (understeer) so the best thing to do would be to see what sizes are available first, then decide on how you want it to handle.

If you go to large on either or both ends, it will affect the handling considerably, as well as the ride comfort. Usually it's best to take the "middle of the road" when choosing a bar size unless you plan on taking the car to the track quite a bit.

[Bambikiller240]

On the Z that I used as a daily driver and weekend autocross car back in the 82 to 86 years (a 1971 240Z) I had a 1-1/8" Front Sway bar and a 7/8" rear bar. I loved the way it handled. Cornered FLAT and had only the very slightest touch of understeer. I ran about 2 to 3 lbs less air in the rear tires than I did in the fronts tires. Also, I had the front sway bar mounts bolted all the way through the frame rails (top to bottom) for extra strength.

[beandip]

2manyZs I wint out and miked the rear sway bar that is form a early 260 and it is .800 " I have no Idea what that is in mm . Gary:classic:

[SoCalZ]

Bean, That works out to 20mm = .78740 or 21mm = .82677

and 7/8 = 22mm .8906, overall .800 = 20mm or 13/16 :classic:

[toecutter]

Cool thanx guys. I also have a 260 2+2 that I have used for parts. Is the rear bar on the 2+2 thicker and would it fit my 2 seater?

[sjcurtis]

When setting up the sway bars,

The logic is maintain the balance, the front bar on the Zed should always be heavier than the rear. I think you will have no problems with a matched set of heavier rate bars. By the sound of the suspension you have fitted the body roll should be right down anyway. With the Strut Tower Braces they are now very common and not always correctly designed, so I would suggest looking at other Zeds in your area to get a good idea of what works.

Good luck

Cheers

Steve:classic:

[toecutter]

Yes I am eager to see what effect the new bushes and steering coupler will have. But as for the question on the 2+2 rear bar, it was concerning the diameter between the rear of a 2 seater and 2+2 bar. Is it the same bar. From what I read 1" 1/8 front and 7/8 rear is a good combo. My body roll is not all that bad but the new set up would be the finishing touch to a set up that I am generally happy with.