Does it make sense to put a strut bar before getting sway bars? I have a 1998 toyota corolla. My car doesn't have rear sway bars. But a strut bar looks tempting.
by twinky64, July 21, 2006
Does it make sense to put a strut bar before getting sway bars? I have a 1998 toyota corolla. My car doesn't have rear sway bars. But a strut bar looks tempting.
Depends on what type of handling you want from the car? - more neutral handling, more understeer, more oversteer.
Usually a good idea to get the rear sway first before you do the strut tower bars. Strut tower bars that go on the rear can have "undesirable" effects for some people. If you put on a front strut bar before you put on a decent rear sway - your steering would be sharper, but the rear end will not follow the fronts as expected - tendancy to push "hard". Basically makes any suspension upgrade work on the car worthless.
Depends on what type of handling you want from the car? - more neutral handling, more understeer, more oversteer.Usually a good idea to get the rear sway first before you do the strut tower bars. Strut tower bars that go on the rear can have "undesirable" effects for some people. If you put on a front strut bar before you put on a decent rear sway - your steering would be sharper, but the rear end will not follow the fronts as expected - tendancy to push "hard". Basically makes any suspension upgrade work on the car worthless.
I have to agree with fish. The reason Consumer Reports got on Toyota to put a rear sway bar on the Corolla in the trims below the LE was because they felt the handling was really, really lacking in the other trims compared to the LE. They felt this to be the case to such an extent that they called the Corolla without a rear sway bar potentially unsafe in emergency manuevers. It seems to be a waste of money to add a strut tower bar when the rear end suspension is already below par. Bring it up to par and then upgrade it.
Another thing I think you should think about is: Every proplem has appropriate solutions and inappropriate ones. You need to set a goal and then do what it takes to achieve it. You'll need to do different things depending on what you want. Making the car look meaner requires a differnet type of work than making it ride softer, making it corner faster, or making it dive and lift less when braking and accelerating. Just stabbing in the dark to try and improve something will dissappoint you, guaranteed.
Thanks contour and fish,
That's why I'm on this forum, to question my planning for that reason, to avoid undesired results. Does anybody know where I can get a rear sway bar for a decent price? Will the 98 corolla ce have the parts on the chassis to even install a rear sway bar? If I put a rear sway bar, do I have to change the front sway bar?
Thanks contour and fish,That's why I'm on this forum, to question my planning for that reason, to avoid undesired results. Does anybody know where I can get a rear sway bar for a decent price? Will the 98 corolla ce have the parts on the chassis to even install a rear sway bar? If I put a rear sway bar, do I have to change the front sway bar?
If you are upgrading, make sure the hardware is there, or the hardware can be added, then put in a nice sway bar set front and rear. By hardware I mean link, bushing, and associated fasteners.
Does anybody know if the 98 corolla chasis has hardware to mount a sway bar at the rear?
Does anybody know if the 98 corolla chasis has hardware to mount a sway bar at the rear?
I would assume it does because the LE does and Toyota wouldn't not include that ability to mount one on the CE since it would cost them more money to make two versions of the car. I also know that Toyota made a retrofit kit available to add the sway bar to the Corolla CE and VE for certain model years. I assume that the retrofit kit was simply a swaybar and the hardware that are wear items like bushings. If the suspension wasn't set up to take the sway bar, the retrofit kit would have been too hard for dealers to install and they wouldn't have issued it.
Bikeman982
Does your basic DX have provisions for a sway bar installation??
The 99 CE has the sway bar, right?
I believe in 1999 - all Corolla were equipped with the rear stabilizer bar, but to be sure, I would visually confirm it.
Easy way to tell - stick your head under the reear of the car and see if you see a bar that runs from one wheel to the other, about the thickness of your finger.
Bikeman982
Is there a place to buy aftermarket sway bars?
Is there a place to buy aftermarket sway bars?Hotchkis performance is widely received - bug player in domestic circles that spread into the imports and done pretty well. http://www.hotchkis.net
Bikeman982
Are there any others?Hotchkis performance is widely received - bug player in domestic circles that spread into the imports and done pretty well. http://www.hotchkis.netIs there a place to buy aftermarket sway bars?
Alutec for some models.
http://www.motorexonline.com/strutbars.html
Good selection here. Vendor is known to deliver.
C-ONE.
These guys can order various C-ONE parts. Have organized a few group buys.
Also TRD Japan has some parts, and then usual suspects like Meagan (sic) and DC sports (has a strut tower for the 9thgen).
Bikeman982
Alutec for some models.Thanks for the additional sources. Looks like some good performance part suppliers.http://www.motorexonline.com/strutbars.html
Good selection here. Vendor is known to deliver.
C-ONE.
These guys can order various C-ONE parts. Have organized a few group buys.
Also TRD Japan has some parts, and then usual suspects like Meagan (sic) and DC sports (has a strut tower for the 9thgen).
Since we're on this subject, I've been pondering installing the oem strut bar off an xrs model, but I can't seem to locate them anywhere.....the strut bar on the 06 xrs looks pretty stout and it may be cheaper than some of the aftermarket ones out there. Toyota wouldn't put it in the car unless they knew it would help and would last a long time. Anyone know where I could order one online?
Be really tough to find - might have a better chance on getting someone's old XRS one on EBay. Since the car is relatively new - even if they had them at the dealership - would cost some serious amount of coin for the OEM piece. Plus it was keyed on the 2ZZ-GE resonance - much less headache in finding a good aftermarket or TRD part.
I have a 98 corolla CE (ie, the only corolla with no rear sway bar). If I add a strut bar, will that throw off my handling or improve it? Stupid question, but I don't know if its going to cause a huge offset in handling due to the lack of a sway bar at the rear. Does the chassis for the 98 CE have the "parts" already to mount a rear sway bar? I ask this because I am thinking about going to a junk yard and finding a 98 LE or VE with a rear sway bar and see if it fits on my car without any mods. To add a strut bar, you have to mount it on top of the struts via unscrewing the 3 screws correct? If i do that, will that throw off my alignment?
A front strut bar will help with turn-in feel (steering response), but you might risk having the back end come around on you (potential for oversteer). I would wait until you get the rear antiroll bar before you start other suspension mods - would make any bolt on suspension mod work that much better if you did.
Parts you will need off the donor car, I've colored in red:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v620/fis...nti-rollbar.jpg
Basically you need the anti-roll bar itself, two bushing, to bushing mounts, two endlinks, all the bolts and nuts. I would double check that the strut has the mounting ear for the rear anti-roll bar - otherwise you will have to replace those struts as well. The donor car can be any 8th gen Corolla.
Correct on the strut bar - pretty straight forward install. Some people like to jack up the front end, some do not (I would just leave it on the ground, install it, drive around and then double check the torque on the bolts). Will not shift the alignment at all unless you did something screwy - should be no play at the top mount, so alignment problems is not an issue.
Bikeman982
I have a 98 corolla CE (ie, the only corolla with no rear sway bar). If I add a strut bar, will that throw off my handling or improve it? Stupid question, but I don't know if its going to cause a huge offset in handling due to the lack of a sway bar at the rear. Does the chassis for the 98 CE have the "parts" already to mount a rear sway bar? I ask this because I am thinking about going to a junk yard and finding a 98 LE or VE with a rear sway bar and see if it fits on my car without any mods. To add a strut bar, you have to mount it on top of the struts via unscrewing the 3 screws correct? If i do that, will that throw off my alignment?
If you ever find a junkyard that has 98's or even 93-97's let me know. Most places have only up to the 92's, with some rare exceptions.
damnit!!!!!!!!I have a 98 corolla CE (ie, the only corolla with no rear sway bar). If I add a strut bar, will that throw off my handling or improve it? Stupid question, but I don't know if its going to cause a huge offset in handling due to the lack of a sway bar at the rear. Does the chassis for the 98 CE have the "parts" already to mount a rear sway bar? I ask this because I am thinking about going to a junk yard and finding a 98 LE or VE with a rear sway bar and see if it fits on my car without any mods. To add a strut bar, you have to mount it on top of the struts via unscrewing the 3 screws correct? If i do that, will that throw off my alignment?If you ever find a junkyard that has 98's or even 93-97's let me know. Most places have only up to the 92's, with some rare exceptions.
Bikeman982
There may be some kind of salvage place that could have it.damnit!!!!!!!!I have a 98 corolla CE (ie, the only corolla with no rear sway bar). If I add a strut bar, will that throw off my handling or improve it? Stupid question, but I don't know if its going to cause a huge offset in handling due to the lack of a sway bar at the rear. Does the chassis for the 98 CE have the "parts" already to mount a rear sway bar? I ask this because I am thinking about going to a junk yard and finding a 98 LE or VE with a rear sway bar and see if it fits on my car without any mods. To add a strut bar, you have to mount it on top of the struts via unscrewing the 3 screws correct? If i do that, will that throw off my alignment?If you ever find a junkyard that has 98's or even 93-97's let me know. Most places have only up to the 92's, with some rare exceptions.
You can also do a search for an online site that sells them.
I have a 98 Corolla VE base model manufactured in 6/98 and I have both front and rear swaybars.
My front swaybar:
https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m209/mui25/DSC00848.jpg
https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m209/mui25/DSC00850.jpg
My rear swaybar:
https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m209/mui25/back00859.jpg
https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m209/mui25/back00860.jpg
Since we're on the topic;
Whiteline Automotive, a performance suspension company out of Australia, makes rear sway bars for most any vintage Corolla. They have different sizes (thickness) and adjustable bars too. They also have a lot of informative stuff about the effects of different suspension components on handling on their tech page.
Personally, I put a set of Hotchkis bars on my 2000 Prizm and I love them. Adding a good set of sway bars to a Corolla/Prizm is the most effective/important suspension upgrade you can get, IMHO. As a bonus, it's also one of the cheapest and easiest to install (with the possible exception of better tires). Plus, the thick, bright red powder-coated bars look totally boss.
BTW,if you decide to install a rear bar yourself, it is NOT necessary to disconnect the centerpipe from the muffler like the Hotchkis install instructions claim (at least on a 2000 Prizm).
I broke off both of the flange bolts and had to drill the damn things out and replace them with some bolts I had my dad go get at the local TrueValue while I was working on the car. He meant well, but I send him to the store with a drill bit the size I used to drill the holes and instructions to bring back a pair of bolts and nuts to fit, and he came back with the bolts and a couple of nylon insert locknuts. It made me want to cry.
Not as much as when he decided to "help" me bondo a motorcycle fuel tank by applying a bunch of filler without any harderner, but it was still kind of sad.
So the moral of the story is: never let your well-meaning relatives help you with your projects unsupervised.
And get some damn swaybars already!
edit - Damn it! I always do that. Somebody adds a reply to a 7 month old topic and I just jump right on in too, blabbing on about stuff that nobody cares about anymore. Well screw it, it's still good advice and a funny anecdote. History will vindicate me.
