Rear Sway Bar

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by wayside, Sep 14, 2008.

  1. 69shovlhed

    69shovlhed Surly tree hugger

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    if you can't understand whats being talked about, just bury them with piles of misleading and contradictory posts. lord...
    one post from mr. harvey states:

    when driving into a left hand corner where does all of the grip from weight transfer want to go. towards the left front tire.​


    in reality, when driving into a left turn, the weight is transferred to the right front tire.

    as far as spring rates go, yes, for the track you want to pick some fairly stiff springs. for the street, assuming you will be driving in a relatively responsible manner, you don't want extremely stiff springs. for my tastes, the stock springs are fine. the sway bars, on the other hand, are not up to the task. these cars have-- in my opinion-- excessive and annoying body roll. re-read your own post where it in fact states:

    "A sway bar (or anti-roll bar) is a spring connected between the left and right side of the car, whose role (as suggested by its name) is to resist rolling of the suspension. The sway bar must move freely with the suspension in pitch - the road springs alone support the weight of the car, and the sway bar provides additional roll stiffness when required"


    now, i would expect that most swaybar and suspension manufacturers do test their products so as to not get sued for selling unsafe products, and that these rear swaybars which fit our cars are designed to work with stock front corolla or matrix swaybars, not designed to work with puny stock prius swaybars. also, the stock corolla bar is not an extremely stiff bar. it is moderately stiffer than the prius bar though, and when combined with a rear bar that is designed to go with it, the car handles in a very well-balanced manner. i have no way of measuring or providing data on this, all i can say is that to me, the car handles very neutral, it doesn't want to over or under steer or do anything which feels dangerous, unpredictable, or scary. even on wet roads (and it rains here way too @©ҝĮŋפ much) the car is easy and even fun to drive (except the complete lack of decent horsepower...). with just the aftermarket rear bar, it felt like it wanted to spin out if i cornered too hard.
     
  2. Steven Harvey

    Steven Harvey Junior Member

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    Ya I may have crossed my i's and dotted my t's there. It would be the other way around transferring weight to the out side wheel causing less load on the rear left tire.

    If you could provide data as to the lb/in of your stabilizer bars and springs it would be interesting to compare to other people that change springs and stab. bars in there Prius's just to create a reference thread.
     
  3. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    Glad i live in Sunny San Diego. :) - My family just let me know of another +12" of snow in the mid-west. blech.
     
  4. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    Spend the $100 and buy the Progress rear sway bar, take the 5 minutes and install it, drive away happy!

    Quit wasting everyone’s time trying to scientifically explain why those who have bought it can't really notice a difference... I have first hand knowledge on what replacing the rear sway bar can do, you do not.
     
  5. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    *Comment removed by moderator
     
  6. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    Just paid $117 shipped for the rear 24mm 62.2150 Progress bar from thmotorsports.com with a coupon (2offstore1 | 2% off anything in the store. Great for large purchases)- WootWoot!

    Oddly enough tab came out to $381 ... hmmm ;) Got another 5% off with coupon (dcsports | 5% Off All DC Sports Headers, Intakes, and Accessories)
     
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  7. maestro8

    maestro8 Nouveau Member

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    You have 121 million miles on your Prius? What, did you drive to Mars and back?
     
  8. Steven Harvey

    Steven Harvey Junior Member

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    ahahahaha good one.
     
  9. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    Pay for my transportation and ship my car to the west coast and I'd be happy to show you first hand. or Fly over here and I'd let you ride in my car while I safely wisk you through rush hour traffic with no body roll and controlled stops all because of the suspension mods that you don't believe in...
     
  10. 69shovlhed

    69shovlhed Surly tree hugger

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    you can contact THMotorsports for rear bar data; that's where most of us got the rear. you'll have to contact toyota for specs on the stock corolla bar. neither of these bars is extremely stiff. they are designed for a corolla, which ain't much heavier than a prius if at all.
    no i'm not pulling crazy g's; it's a commuter car. but the sway bars just make a more pleasurable commute. it feels much tighter when manuvering around fat b!+&#@s in their suv's.
     
  11. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    Quit wasting your time with

    *comment removed by moderators*

    just do it!
     
  12. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    Yes thats exactly how many miles I have on my prius...
    If you mod yours like I've modded mine, you could get your Prius to the moon too!
    ;)

    Maestro8, what aftermarket rear swaybar do you have on your prius? Or what aftermarket rear sway bar do you recommend?
     
  13. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    JustDidIt :)
     
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  14. Steven Harvey

    Steven Harvey Junior Member

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    do you have a front aftermarket stabilizer bar installed too?
     
  15. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    If your referring to me, 24mm front is sitting at home waiting on the header to come in - doing it all at once since it requires undoing the header from cat bolts. 24mm rear is in the mail.
     
  16. 69shovlhed

    69shovlhed Surly tree hugger

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    the only one else besides me-- as far as i know-- who did the front corolla bar is toyotech, and he don't post much any more (if at all...)
    start spraying those bolts down w/ oil now if your gonna change that stuff next week.

    dave, tell us about the improved seat tilt. what'ja do?
     
  17. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    Did you happen to measure the rear Corolla bar... difference over OEM?
     
  18. 69shovlhed

    69shovlhed Surly tree hugger

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    never saw the rear corolla bar; bought the front bar from ebay. anyway it don't matter. the progress rear bar is the only way to fly.
     
  19. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    So for anyone looking to upgrade in the future...

    As long as you pick up part numbers 48811-AB010 or the newer 48811-AB011 from Toyota...or save money and snag a 2002-2008 Matrix or 2002-2010 Corolla front sway bar from a junkyard...All 24mm front sway bars that will work with the 2004-2009 USDM Prius.

    Rear sway bar upgrade, best options are the cheaper 24mm Rear Progress bar 62.2150 (THMotorsports.com has great pricing) or the more expensive TRD 24mm Corolla/Matrix part # PTR11-02060 (mytoyotawarehouse.com has good pricing)
     
  20. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    it's not my original idea, a year or so ago, I read a post how to improve the uncomfortable seats. Two or three washers under the front mounting bolts. It doesn't sound like much, but makes a huge difference.