Rear Sway Bar: GT350 vs GT350R

[moarhorsepower]

Do you know what you want the car to do better? I always caution jumping on the throw-everything-popular-at-it bandwagon, particularly with parts that have more than one effect. Happy to help, send me a pm if you want .

Feel more planted in the corners, bit less body roll, bit less bouncy feeling. Current mods are in signature.

I do want to do the front lateral links as well, upgrade the shocks to the Steeda Fixed Action non adjustable, and get the rear shock mounts. That's the current plans.

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[BmacIL]

Feel more planted in the corners, bit less body roll, bit less bouncy feeling. Current mods are in signature.

I do want to do the front lateral links as well, upgrade the shocks to the Steeda Fixed Action non adjustable, and get the rear shock mounts. That's the current plans.

I think you'll get all of what you're looking for with shocks and struts. They'll limit the perception of roll because the car rolls slower and much more controlled. I'd do that before bars.

 

[Bull Run]

Do you know what you want the car to do better? I always caution jumping on the throw-everything-popular-at-it bandwagon.

I agree with this 100%. Installing everything at once will save time but since I'm fairly new to handling mods, I performed one mod at a time to see what effect it had and what I needed to do next. My goal is to have a DD that handles relatively well, remains conformable, and be able to clear speed dips and bumps with confidence.

1. What I did: Installed better tires and lightweight wheels.
What it did: Make the car much nimbler, provided extra traction while accelerating and turning, and better throttle and brake response.
What was next: My next pain point was the rear end wiggle when hitting bumps, especially when hitting bridge expansion joints at highway speeds.

2. What I did: Installed BMR cradle bushing lockout kit and vertical links.
What it did: Firmed up the rear, no more wiggles.
What was next: Once the rear end was firmed up, I was starting to notice some wiggle up front when hitting bumps (wasn't as bad as the stock rear).

3. What I did: Installed Steeda STB and K-member brace.
What it did: Firmed up the front, no more wiggles.
What was next: Once the front end was firmed up, next thing I noticed was some bounciness after hitting above-mentioned bridge expansion joints at speed.

4. What I did: Installed Steeda Pro Action fixed dampers and rear mounts.
What it did: Quicker recovery after hitting the expansion joints.
What was next: The next thing that bothered me was the body roll during turns. I wanted to reduce the roll without going with extra stiff springs and dampers. I saw this thread about GT350R bars and decided to give them a shot considering their cheapness.

5. What I did: Installed GT350R front and rear sway bars.
What it did: Greatly reduced rolls during turns. Did not notice any increased harshness but I mainly drive on smooth roads.
What's next: The handling is about where I want it to be. I'll give it a month or two first before deciding on the next move.

 

[moarhorsepower]

I agree with this 100%. Installing everything at once will save time but since I'm fairly new to handling mods, I performed one mod at a time to see what effect it had and what I needed to do next. My goal is to have a DD that handles relatively well, remains conformable, and be able to clear speed dips and bumps with confidence.

1. What I did: Installed better tires and lightweight wheels.
What it did: Make the car much nimbler, provided extra traction while accelerating and turning, and better throttle and brake response.
What was next: My next pain point was the rear end wiggle when hitting bumps, especially when hitting bridge expansion joints at highway speeds.

2. What I did: Installed BMR cradle bushing lockout kit and vertical links.
What it did: Firmed up the rear, no more wiggles.
What was next: Once the rear end was firmed up, I was starting to notice some wiggle up front when hitting bumps (wasn't as bad as the stock rear).

3. What I did: Installed Steeda STB and K-member brace.
What it did: Firmed up the front, no more wiggles.
What was next: Once the front end was firmed up, next thing I noticed was some bounciness after hitting above-mentioned bridge expansion joints at speed.

4. What I did: Installed Steeda Pro Action fixed dampers and rear mounts.
What it did: Quicker recovery after hitting the expansion joints.
What was next: The next thing that bothered me was the body roll during turns. I wanted to reduce the roll without going with extra stiff springs and dampers. I saw this thread about GT350R bars and decided to give them a shot considering their cheapness.

5. What I did: Installed GT350R front and rear sway bars.
What it did: Greatly reduced rolls during turns. Did not notice any increased harshness but I mainly drive on smooth roads.
What's next: The handling is about where I want it to be. I'll give it a month or two first before deciding on the next move.

Basically I'm at step 4. 1-3 are already done (without the vertical links which i'm 50/50 on). No matter what I'm going to do the dampers and rear mounts. That's already planned. I'm just planning ahead to step 5 and figuring out if there's a more cost effective way of doing it.

 

[Darkhelmet22]

Ordered the R bars today. Figured for the price I'll give them a try.


EDIT: I went back and did some reading but maybe I missed it. If you order the front sway bar brackets (I did) do you still need to separate the factory brackets to get the back part or does the new brackets not need the metal back...?

 

[k4show]

Ordered the R bars today. Figured for the priced I'll give them a try.


EDIT: I went back and did some reading but maybe I missed it. If you order the front sway bar brackets (I did) do you still need to separate the factory brackets to get the back part or does the new brackets not need the metal back...?

Metal backs are only present on the PP brackets, GT350R and any mustang besides PP (I think EB and GT PP) use the same one piece bracket.

 

[Darkhelmet22]

Well... Ford of White Bear Lake completely fucked up my order. Wrong bushings for the rear, only sent one front bracket and the rear brackets they sent me sway bar end links with a similar part #. sigh.

 

[Darkhelmet22]

White Bear Lake came through and 2nd day aired the correct parts to me. Looks like I'll be installing these tonight!

 

[Bluemustang]

White Bear Lake came through and 2nd day aired the correct parts to me. Looks like I'll be installing these tonight!

Nice dude. Be sure to update with your impressions post install.

I have the GT350 bars in my living room. Everyone seems to be keen on doing the R bars. I feel like the non-R bars are better for my build. My theory- since I have the BMR handling springs, they are a bit higher in rate than the GT350R springs. Particularly the rear springs. So therefore I feel like I need less rear bar to compensate.

I haven’t gotten a chance to install them yet because I had accident with my car and am waiting for it to be repair (sigh).

 

[Darkhelmet22]

Nice dude. Be sure to update with your impressions post install.

I have the GT350 bars in my living room. Everyone seems to be keen on doing the R bars. I feel like the non-R bars are better for my build. My theory- since I have the BMR handling springs, they are a bit higher in rate than the GT350R springs. Particularly the rear springs. So therefore I feel like I need less rear bar to compensate.

I haven’t gotten a chance to install them yet because I had accident with my car and am waiting for it to be repair (sigh).

Sucks about your car. Since I'm not on as an aggressive spring rate I think the R bars will be good for me. Guess we will find out!

 

[Norm Peterson]

Also give some thought to how the front vs rear BMR spring rates compare to the front vs rear R rates. If the BMR rates are biased differently, you may want to consider re-biasing the bar rates.


Norm

 

[BmacIL]

Also give some thought to how the front vs rear BMR spring rates compare to the front vs rear R rates. If the BMR rates are biased differently, you may want to consider re-biasing the bar rates.


Norm

The BMR are approx 4% and 10% stiffer wheel rates, front and rear vs. the R.

 

[Bluemustang]

Also give some thought to how the front vs rear BMR spring rates compare to the front vs rear R rates. If the BMR rates are biased differently, you may want to consider re-biasing the bar rates.


Norm

Right now I am running the BMR bars, the outer hole (full soft) on both. 35mm and 25mm diameters, respectively. The front spring rates are comparable to the GT350R, albeit only slightly stiffer (240 lb/in vs. 250 lb/in). The rear spring rates are a different story (914 lb/in on the GT350R and 980 lb/in on the BMR SP085R).

In my amateur opinion, I need softer bars on both ends, to enable slightly more independence of the suspension. This should aid in grip and allow me to not unload the inside tire as much. The rear much more so than the front though. The switch from Ford Racing M-5300Y springs to the BMR handling springs was dramatic, such that I noticed right off that I had too much rear bar.

Considering my rates are similar to the GT350R, with the exception of the rear being quite a bit stiffer, I think the non-R rear bar will be the ticket.

I'll be going from 35mm/25mm to 34mm/22mm. Drastic reduction in the rear bar stiffness compared to the BMR rear bar, in order to counteract the higher rear spring rate.

Honestly, I think even going to the PP bars would work out great (and potentially better even), as I don't need much roll control contribution from the stabilizer bars. However, I think the GT350 bars should be a good match.

 

[Bluemustang]

Sucks about your car. Since I'm not on as an aggressive spring rate I think the R bars will be good for me. Guess we will find out!

Thanks dude, I appreciate the kind words.

Just out of curiosity, what springs you running? :cheers:

 

[Darkhelmet22]

Thanks dude, I appreciate the kind words.

Just out of curiosity, what springs you running? :cheers:

BMR SP080

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