VF Wagon sway bars

[vc commodore]

I do wonder if it's just me? Coming from a live axle ute that was smaller and lighter and designed to carry, to a VE that handles a fair bit different could well be most of it. I rarely have to carry loads in this ute, as I just don't need too anymore. Whereas the old ute I was carrying heavy loads almost weekly to the house I was building at the time, so knew what to expect and how it felt.

I need to get an experts opinion before I start dropping more money on it. I'd give the sway bar a go but I have got paranoid after reading what could go wrong if it's too stiff.

I do think you're stressing too much over it all....

Having the experience driving the ute from Tassie to S.A twice now, with the 2nd time with the new diametre sway bar fitted, I'm sure you would know whether you felt uncomfortable or not

By all means if you feel the necessity to speak to others, feel free, however the way I see it, you have had plenty of seat time with it and would know if it felt uncomfortable or not with the changes you have already made....

And yes, the VE is definately a more comfortable car to drive, compared to the VR..

 

[losh1971]

Not fitted the 18mm bar yet as I got concerned after reading stuff on the net saying what could happen if something goes wrong. I do suspect it will probably be ok. But worry wart me is now all paranoid and not keen to try it until I'm confident I won't lose control.

 

[losh1971]

Having said that, the only other car I have seen with a less substantial rear sway bar than a VE SS ute was my LX. It had no sway bars, not even on the front and it handled really well.

 

[RevNev]

Hmmm, I wouldn't mind finding a place that can tell me, honestly if I have what I suspect and fairly soft/comfort coils. Only place I can think of that still exists locally is Pedders. My concern is they may feed me some BS and say "yeah mate, we need to fit our Pedders sway bar at $600 and the one you bought, nah mate that will be no good". I do feel like I have some excess body roll for a lowered vehicle. But then again I'm no expert and might be wrong. I think the front feels ok but the back could be a bit stiffer, but then again I don't want to sacrifice the comfort I have now.

Also don't want to cause an accident by having the wrong SB on the rear. Hard to know for an untrained person what will work decent with my current coil and shock combo.

I'd be inclined to go with the 24mm front sway bar, and I think the 26mm is probably over-barred for a lowered car. Rear bar size is dependent on what end beaks away when turning into a corner hard, does the car understeer, loose front-end grip or oversteer, snap sideways. If it understeers, you increase the rear sway bar size and if it oversteers, reduce the rear bar size so the car 4 wheel drifts when the tyres reach their traction limit.

Are Eibach's a good spring?

Yes, they're an excellent quality spring manufacturer. The problem with the Commodore, is they only offer one ride height and at one stage, the front was too high in a VF with the Eibach kit.

 

[RevNev]

Coming from a live axle ute that was smaller and lighter and designed to carry

Holden's last load carrying Ute was a VS. I had a VS Maloo for a long time, towing race cars and loading the back up with gear, what a great Ute! I then had a VY SS Ute, nice car but useless for towing and loading with IRS and sold it within 6 months and bought a BA Falcon XR6 Turbo Ute. Holden lost a lot of tradie sales to Ford with the decision to fit IRS in a Ute and ruin the load carrying capacity.

 

[losh1971]

I'd be inclined to go with the 24mm front sway bar, and I think the 26mm is probably over-barred for a lowered car. Rear bar size is dependent on what end beaks away when turning into a corner hard, does the car understeer, loose front-end grip or oversteer, snap sideways. If it understeers, you increase the rear sway bar size and if it oversteers, reduce the rear bar size so the car 4 wheel drifts when the tyres reach their traction limit.

Ok thanks for the advice. I have never pushed the ute to its limits and have never come close to the tyres limits, even in the wet and probably never will. So I don't know the answer to either question. TBH I was just looking to reduce the feeling of sway in the rear whether it's real or in my head.

 

[RevNev]

Ok thanks for the advice. I have never pushed the ute to its limits and have never come close to the tyres limits, even in the wet and probably never will. So I don't know the answer to either question. TBH I was just looking to reduce the feeling of sway in the rear whether it's real or in my head.

I mentioned earlier I think that HSV did a pretty good job at sway bar selection with a bit stiffer spring and shock rates than FE2. In VF, HSV retained the 24mm stock FE2 SS/SV6 front sway bar using a stiffer rear sway bar in most cases. Ute's were increased from the FE2 12mm bar to 16mm on the Maloo's. Other than reducing understeer at the limit of traction, the larger rear sway bar provides sharper steering response and makes sense!

 

[losh1971]

I mentioned earlier I think that HSV did a pretty good job at sway bar selection with a bit stiffer spring and shock rates than FE2. In VF, HSV retained the 24mm stock FE2 SS/SV6 front sway bar using a stiffer rear sway bar in most cases. Ute's were increased from the FE2 12mm bar to 16mm on the Maloo's. Other than reducing understeer at the limit of traction, the larger rear sway bar provides sharper steering response and makes sense!

Might be ok then. I can look at a 24mm VE front bar at some point. They are pretty tricky to remove and fit with everything all intact. It was annoying pulling what I thought was a 24mm at the wreckers with decent access, only to figure out it was a 23mm after I got it off.

Mine might be ok with the stock 23mm for a bit with the 18mm rear since I don't push my ute around corners. I'll have a search on eBay for a 24mm off a Maloo, then price up one from Holden if I can find a part number, which is quite often cheaper than eBay.

 

[panhead]

It was annoying pulling what I thought was a 24mm at the wreckers with decent access, only to figure out it was a 23mm after I got it off.

There are some cheap digital Vernier Calipers available from Bunnings and eBay these days, they are a good addition to the toolbox.





.

 

[losh1971]

There are some cheap digital Vernier Calipers available from Bunnings and eBay these days, they are a good addition to the toolbox.





.

Yeah, my verniers were half way across the country when I needed them. I used a shifter as a measuring tool as that's what I had. It wasn't until I got it off that I realised it too was a 23mm. I took it tk the counter and went and got my preset shifter. Damn, depending on where I took the measurement it was the same size as the one on the ute. I had to measure in a tight spot the one on the ute. I measured the one on the wreck with a shifter and tape, then when double checking I realised I made an error thinking it was 24mm.