Do I need to upgrade my sway bars?

I have a standard GT (non PP), I have GT350r springs, Koni Sport shocks/struts, and BMR CB005 waiting to be installed. Do I need to upgrade my sway bars? Or would the money be better spent elsewhere?

What do you want from your car?
If you want it to sit flat through the turns, yes.
If you want to get rid of understeer, yes.
If you don't like a firmer ride, no.
There are other benefits and drawbacks, but these are the principle reasons someone may opt in or out of the sway bar game.
Some will argue that you may lose a little outright grip with the wrong sway bar combo, but for me, the improved predictability of the car was a massive bonus.
Also, the front end gained a heap of feel. I can now feel the castor effect loading the steering wheel as you turn sharper = awesome when using opposite lock.
Dos any of that hold appeal to you?
My review here:
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71554&highlight=BMR

Drive the car first with the suspension you haven't installed yet and decide if you want more roll control. The points above are valid, but you should find out how happy you are with it first.

BmacIL said:

Drive the car first with the suspension you haven't installed yet and decide if you want more roll control. The points above are valid, but you should find out how happy you are with it first.

Click to expand...

^^^^ This. Too many changes at once and you can't easily tell what part changed which handling dynamic.

You're upping your wheel rate from the springs by ~50% all around, which is big. Springs are about 75-80% of the total wheel rate for roll on most cars (and 100% of the pitch stiffness).

2015Etrac said:

I have a standard GT (non PP), I have GT350r springs, Koni Sport shocks/struts, and BMR CB005 waiting to be installed. Do I need to upgrade my sway bars? Or would the money be better spent elsewhere?

Click to expand...

Definitely install all these parts first before decision for sway bars or not. Sway bars have their own pros and cons, should be the very last thing you put to tune the handling response.

My speculation with your soon-to-be setup is that roll stiffness should be good but will tend to understeer (less than stock, but still). At that point, you'll have to decide between adding just a touch of stiffness via rear sway (there are a few slightly stiffer options) or go full aftermarket adjustables.

Thank's for the replies. I was worried if I installed the suspension first without bigger sway bars it would handle horribly until I added them. I also figured it would be easier to install them while installing the other suspension parts. However, my main concern with sway bars is that it will make the ride much too firm since this is my daily driver. Thank's for the replies. I'd rather not have to spend the extra $400 or so if I don't need to.

2015Etrac said:

Thank's for the replies. I was worried if I installed the suspension first without bigger sway bars it would handle horribly until I added them. I also figured it would be easier to install them while installing the other suspension parts. However, my main concern with sway bars is that it will make the ride much too firm since this is my daily driver. Thank's for the replies. I'd rather not have to spend the extra $400 or so if I don't need to.

Click to expand...

It will handle beautifully with the springs and shocks you've chosen. As [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION] said, you maybe want to upgrade the rear bar to the PP version or something slightly stiffer to improve the handling balance. The PP bar is ~7% stiffer than the non-PP, so not a big jump, but not insignificant either.

The problem with making it feel like a go-kart is that it'll also have the misgivings in ride comfort of a go-kart. It's subjective, but I think you'll find that you won't want the ride to firm up much/at all once you get everything put on. It'll feel far, far more on-rails than it did before.

BmacIL said:

It will handle beautifully with the springs and shocks you've chosen. As [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION] said, you maybe want to upgrade the rear bar to the PP version or something slightly stiffer to improve the handling balance. The PP bar is ~7% stiffer than the non-PP, so not a big jump, but not insignificant either.

The problem with making it feel like a go-kart is that it'll also have the misgivings in ride comfort of a go-kart. It's subjective, but I think you'll find that you won't want the ride to firm up much/at all once you get everything put on. It'll feel far, far more on-rails than it did before.

Click to expand...

Thank's. That's what I figured. I'd rather save the money and eventually use it towards brakes or something else anyway.

BmacIL said:

It will handle beautifully with the springs and shocks you've chosen. As @Rebellion said, you maybe want to upgrade the rear bar to the PP version or something slightly stiffer to improve the handling balance. The PP bar is ~7% stiffer than the non-PP, so not a big jump, but not insignificant either.

The problem with making it feel like a go-kart is that it'll also have the misgivings in ride comfort of a go-kart. It's subjective, but I think you'll find that you won't want the ride to firm up much/at all once you get everything put on. It'll feel far, far more on-rails than it did before.

Click to expand...

Im looking at upgrading my rear sway bar to the PP version. I to have a non-pp car. I am also going to get the BMR cradle lockout. I would like to install that first, THEN see if i want to change sway bars, whether both or just the rear. Any links to purchasing the PP sway bars (front/rear)

S550ilver said:

Im looking at upgrading my rear sway bar to the PP version. I to have a non-pp car. I am also going to get the BMR cradle lockout. I would like to install that first, THEN see if i want to change sway bars, whether both or just the rear. Any links to purchasing the PP sway bars (front/rear)

Click to expand...

They're not really additive in terms of what they provide to the car. The lockout gets rid of a lot of the floppy feeling of the rear & makes the front and rear feel connected together much, much better. The rear bar shifts the handling balance closer to neutral. The rear bar is also very easy to install. Do both!

Use one of the dealer superstore sites like Tasca Parts, Levittown Ford, Whitebear Lake, etc. to find the parts.
http://parts.autonationfordwhitebea...ension-cat/stabilizer-bar-and-components-scat

FR3Z-5493-C x2
FR3Z-5A772-C

2015Etrac said:

Thank's for the replies. I was worried if I installed the suspension first without bigger sway bars it would handle horribly until I added them. I also figured it would be easier to install them while installing the other suspension parts. However, my main concern with sway bars is that it will make the ride much too firm since this is my daily driver. Thank's for the replies. I'd rather not have to spend the extra $400 or so if I don't need to.

Click to expand...

I doubt it will handle "horribly", but you should try to pay attention to whether the car's handling feels "heavy but grippy" or has any tendency for "looseness" (which might only be a momentary twitch) under enthusiastic driving conditions. A little more rear bar stiffness will generally help the first situation, a little less for the second.

Unfortunately, I don't offhand know how well any of the settings on any of the adjustable aftermarket bars compare against the OE rear bar for stiffness, so you might have to go with the full set of bars and tune from there if either of the above situations bother you enough.


Norm

BmacIL said:

The rear bar is also very easy to install.

Click to expand...

im looking to get a set of pp sway bars from a member here. i have a non pp base gt. are any additional parts required to do the swap?

thanks

[email protected] said:

im looking to get a set of pp sway bars from a member here. i have a non pp base gt. are any additional parts required to do the swap?

thanks

Click to expand...

For the front it's a direct swap, as the brackets and bushings are fixed to the bar. For the rear you just need the bar and bushings. Brackets are the same.