front and rear suspension mods?

[Mavrik]

I'm looking for some information on what I could do to tighten up my suspension and get rid of some body roll. I'm dropped on TEIN s-tech with 17" rims on low profile tires and a TRD front strut brace. I still got some body roll in the corners on autocross and am looking to see what I can do for the rear suspension and perhaps some more on the front without a sacrifice in handling.So what are some mods and some manufactures I can look into?I was thinking along the lines of a rear strut brace and perhaps some sway bar mods?

[BlueCrush]

Sounds like you need front and rear sway bars. Iv'e heard good things about the Hotchkis Sway bars.$275 for the front and rear set at Neverenuf: http://www.neverenuf.com/index...id=74

[Shadow-Vibe]

The sway bar kit is a great investment. I've had mine on for about 2 years now, and I love trying to see how fast I can take some turns. I also have the Tein-s springs on and it seem to be a good combo. If you purchase these they will definitely get rid of that body roll for you.

[northvibe]

yup i 3rd the anti sway bars for front and back.

[Mavrik]

I'll have to check it out. Anything that will help my car go through the corners better without to much of this...

[northvibe]

DANG you's be rollin bro.you need a couple things, drop it like its hot on some tein coilovers and be like 2 inches off the ground. THEN you should chop the top and make that puppy a convertable so the roof isnt making the car top heavy hahhaha jk. yea sway bars would work or help a lot at least. hey i think your cars hot btw.

[Mavrik]

Yeah thats some serious body roll happening there and I was even getting the rear of the car to drift out a bit. Some of my best times at the SCCA event. But I do need to get that suspension a little stiffer without spending to much money doing so.Oh and thanks for the compliment. I have to agree

[ZubenElGenubi]

Quick...get a Progress rear anti-sway bar. You can install it in less than an hour and will notice the difference immediately.The front bar is a b&(%h to install and isn't as noticeable.

[AKLGT]

already said this... but what do i know?? sway bars! both mine and yours... and i need some race tires to handle the abuse! close up:

[AKLGT]

this is my fave pic of Phil in the vibe- doesn't he look sexy?? he he he (of course i have a biased opinion) But we definitely need some sway bars. We'll have to hunt some down for cheap, they're pretty light weight, easy to install and i think they can be shipped USPS (snail mail).close up of that body roll:

[xssiv1]

That is some serious roll. Also fill the tires to maximum pressure before racing. Looks to be they are flexing a lot! Dont want to loose a tire out there. Might help a little on the corners.

[TRDman]

I'm not sure where you'd get this, but TRD makes a Matrix front/rear sway-bar kit as well. That notwithstanding, I'd go with ZubenElGenubi's idea and install the Progress rear bar. You might also want to put on some 225/_R15's or 16's (the Vibes are 205 stock, right?) so you'll get better rotation through the corners.

[AKLGT]

ok, does the front sway bar do much or is it mostly the rear one? from all the forums, both subie and vibe/trix, seems that the rear bar will be more beneficial (to keep costs down).

[Mavrik]

Actually I'm already rollin on low pro 17" tires which according to the tire wear I'm seeing, are holding up very well on the corners. I'm not rolling the sidewall like Hope is with her tires.

[AKLGT]

yes, Phil's tires are doing well. he's got some Kumho Ecsta's unlike my all season tires. lol. I'm working with Brad at NeverEnoughStuff.com on some sways. He's been great working with him in the past!

[Mavrik]

Anyone know the torque spec for the bolts that hold the rear sway bar in place?

[Mrizzle05]

you could message ballrub when hes on and see if he knows... i know hes got the sways on. or you can message hotchkis and see what they recommend for there sways... just an idea.

[Mavrik]

well the instructions for the progress one which I got thanks to the wife's connections lol... says torque the bolts at the factory specs. I guess I could always call pontiac service and find out lol...

[Mrizzle05]

oh! well sheesh they cant just give you a number!!! well good luck... and we need some more vids!!!*how does the vibe handle around the corners... i was just wondering about if there is any damage by doing the autox or courses you do... so like if i tried that somewheres... would it mess the car up or would i need to mod a lil more?im pretty much up there with you minus the headgear and the unichip.TIA

[Mavrik]

the Vibe handles very well on the corners even with the little body roll I have. The only "damage" I'm seeing is on my sidewalls which are showing a little sign of wear from autocross but they will do fine. I'll just rotate those to the back for next year. But other then that no issues. I bet however if I was to go harder around the course using the brake more and such I'd be looking at some pads eventually but I do this for fun. I highly recommend it and you won't destroy your car. I doubt you would mess up your car. All I have is the 17" rims, the springs, front strut brace, CAI and exhaust... oh and now the rear swaybar. But you don't need those to prevent damage.

[AKLGT]

yep, not too bad if you have decent tires. however, i will not recommend ALL SEASON tires to do autox. mine look very bad so we'll see if they last the thrashing through the end of this season. better tires will be on the list for next year! it'll be interesting to see/feel the difference for both cars when we install the RSB's. the vibe does very well in those corners, much better than mine (of course that has a lot to do with the driver ).

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by Mrizzle05 »oh! well sheesh they cant just give you a number!!! well good luck... and we need some more vids!!!OK, here you go:June 11 PCA Solo II12 vids totalQuote »*how does the vibe handle around the corners... i was just wondering about if there is any damage by doing the autox or courses you do... so like if i tried that somewheres... would it mess the car up or would i need to mod a lil more?im pretty much up there with you minus the headgear and the unichip.TIAno unichip yet. still sitting in a box on the counter as it has for the last 16 months... and looks like it will remain there. at this rate, it may NEVER get retuned or installed and if it is still there in August, without moving, I will be selling it again to recoop some of the money.. of course, by then, the season will be pretty much over and then it will go back in it's box and in the closet for the next year in which it will most likely do the same. so no real reason to keep it much longer if it never will be used. may as well go to someone who actually will use it and appreciate it for what it is (engine management that will increase your low end tq and hp all the way up the power band).

[Mavrik]

Well thanks to tnpartsguy I found out the torque is 143.8lbs for the rear bolts if anyone else is curious. I can only hope my air gun can loosen them off the first time lol.

[AKLGT]

hopefully i can get mine installed before this weekend. which reminds me... i need to borrow your car on Friday while you're at work. mine will be getting the clear bra put on finally.... i've got enough rock chips already and renting a car is not an option. they want $110/day for a freaking HYUNDAI ACCENT!

[Mavrik]

ok I installed my rear sway bar... I'm not sure how different the car handles. I went for a drive but did not notice anything different. But then again I wasn't zipping around cones. The install was so quick I didn't even get half way through my beer. Gotta love air tools. Pics to follow.

[AKLGT]

glad it was easy. now i'll do mine tomorrow. everyone says it's so freaking easy...

[Mavrik]

Yeah yours was not easy.Well I think I can tell a little difference when I took the on/off ramps yesterday at some pretty good speed. I'll see how it really feels on july 8th for the scca school.