strut sway and .. ?? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

lilkevie · 09-29-2002, 10:53 PM

can someone accurately explain what a strut bar does a rear sway bar and a front sway bar or something to that nature does .. i know it has to do with bodyrolls but like where do each of there things go and if your car is on stock height does it even matter?

***Eye8Pussies*** · 09-30-2002, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilkevie

can someone accurately explain what a strut bar does a rear sway bar and a front sway bar or something to that nature does .. i know it has to do with bodyrolls but like where do each of there things go and if your car is on stock height does it even matter?

well...I'm no expert, and somebody will elaborate on this later....

basically, all the bars that tie your car together will basically help make your frame more rigid, and cause less flex when you're turning. This will result in better traction on turns by distributing weight to all the tires or something like that....

and if you're running on pure stock suspension right now....best thing to do is to do your springs and struts first.....otherwise, your car will dive into turns and have shitloads of body roll no matter what else (suspension-wise)you do to it.....only thing that may help anyway would be a strut bar...

I just put my strut bar on like, a week and a half ago, and I have to agree with everbody...it's the best bang for the buck....

raycarlo · 09-30-2002, 11:22 AM

Right now i'm running my 99 solara on stock springs and struts, and i'll have to dissagree, the first thing i got was the strut bar, and although i noticed a difference, i would have to say that the sway bars would be the best bang for the buck. I am running with the trd strut bar, and whiteline front and rear sway bars. I noticed a big difference when i installed the sway bars, way less body roll, and i feel more in control when i'm driving around curves. Just to let you know some people don't agree with putting an aftermarket front sway bar because of their belief that it may cause understeering, but i have no problem with mine, but to be safe i guess just getting the rear sway bar would be best but the strut bar is cheaper.

Just sharing my opinions
Ray

SKYravefever · 09-30-2002, 05:10 PM

Solara's came with stock strut tower bar, while the Camry's didn't get it. That may be why some may feel the large difference and some may not.

lilkevie · 09-30-2002, 06:16 PM

ya but where are the struts and the sways .. which one is the one that goes inside your engine bay cuz it seems like more people have those then anything else ..

SKYravefever · 09-30-2002, 06:21 PM

That's what the bar in the engine bay is called. Most people have it for aesthetics more than anything else.

CRAMRY · 10-01-2002, 11:45 AM

..

Quote:

ya but where are the struts and the sways .. which one is the one that goes inside your engine bay cuz it seems like more people have those then anything else

The "Strut" bar is the on that you're talking about here. It connects the tops of your front struts. The sway bars are located under your car and connect to linkages attached to the struts.

***Phi*** · 10-01-2002, 12:15 PM

Rear Sway bar:

Strut Tower Brace (bar)
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UV=205217174602_65515560603&U S=0&collid=76656560603 (pic #18 )

The simplest analogy that I can think of is...think of your car as a shoe box without a lid. It's really flimsy and "twists" out of shape easily. Think of the various bars as the lid. When you put the lid on, it firms up the entire structure and adds rigidity, thus improving handling by keeping you car planted on the road.