Rsantos112

Whats the best performing front strut bar and rear sway bar available on the market? I can afford to get the TRD ones but are they the best performance wise?

Rsantos112

WTF man. no one has any thoughts on their strut/sway bar?

Chrisb319

iTrader: (1)

Allot of people will say that a front strut has no performance value to it and to just get what looks best to you.

as for sways, Hotchkis makes a front and rear combo which are very popular along with the progress and TRD rear sway bars.

tcCALI

the TRD one should do you just fine for DD. if you are gonna bve racing on a track then i would suggest PROGRESS FTW.

draxcaliber

hey, remember when you joined this forum...there was a rule about how you'd search before you post a question? no, alright,

but yeah, strut bar on the tC equals looks only, doesn't do anything handling wise.

i had the trd sway bar, and now the hotchkis set, hotckis is much better.

kungpaosamuraiii

The front struts are practically attached to the fire wall and are supported by the A pillars which have to be super strong for roll-over protection. When you turn very hard, the force that would cause the struts to distort relative to one another is braced by the entire firewall. On cars that aren't FWD, or large-engined FWD cars (like most V6 FWD cars), the front struts are often placed a little more forward to make room for the engine or for better stability but the result is that they aren't structurally tied together by a firewall. On such cars, turning really hard can distort the struts' positions making for "sloppy" handling.

A simple strut brace here would alleviate that, but the more professional solution is to triangulate the bracing by connecting each strut to each other as well as to the firewall. Our cars already have the benefit of the "race solution" by design.

What most people here are fixing by adding a STB is the apparently poor visible metal:plastic/rubber ratio.

Rsantos112

how much would it cost to have a professional install a hotchkis sport sway set?

TeeCizzle

Front Strut = Cosmetic

Rear Sway Bar = Awesome Mod

Also I suggest getting the Ingall's 4-Point Rear Strut Brace too!!!

RnB180

I used the greddy front strut and its not cosmetic.

there was more noticeable understeer introduced to the cars handling turning while accelerating at about 40 mph and up. after experiencing this first hand, I can't imagine how anyone that's used a solid front strut NOT notice a change in handling.

so I know for a fact that its not only cosmetic, while turning I also noticed the front end felt more level than usual during the turn too.

I used a freeway onramp that I have taken hundreds of times almost everyday I take that onramp.

when I got the front strut installed, understeer reared its ugly head, more so than what Im normally used to. But the plus was that the front end felt more like a block rather than it moving about and tilting prior to the front strut.

however taking turns slower or driving straight normally at around 25 mph.. no difference in handling whatsoever.

anyhow, the increase in understeer was unwelcomed enough for me to go and pick up the rear strut to balance it out, once I got the rear strut installed the increased understeer was no more, now the the car just doesn't lean and tilt as much as it used to and the steering feels more confident and tighter.


maybe the trd one allows more movement than the greddy one so its not noticeable? or maybe people aren't installing it right, because there definately is a change.

maybe the trd one is just too moderate of a change to make a difference so only front is needed, I also saw the tanabe one, which looked super skinny and cheap, so I don't think that one will make a difference either.

IMO if you go with the greddy, you should use both the front and the rear.

tcCALI

^ he is right. i noticed a change when i installed my DC strut bar, but only on the freeway. and i know for a fact it was different, because that was the first mod i did!

exzess

would a front strut and rear sway bar b a bad idea? havent learned much about this topic so i need to ask. i jst got tein springs and i dont want the car to tilt wen i turn much anymore...any1 could help?

zer0myst

i have hotchkis springs, trd struts, trd front strut bar, greddy rear strut bar and the trd rear sway bar - the car feels great.

definately not a bad idea to combine front strut/rear strut/rear sway

heck - there's even a c-pillar bar that you can get (trunk area, goes above rear passengers heads, lol) - i dunno if i wanna go that far though - the car feels good as it is now.

RnB180

if you get the greddy front strut, get the rear strut, even if you have a rear sway, IMO makes a difference, and looks really good too.



trickiest part is cutting the panel to line up with the brackets.

sciontc_mich

i remember that the people with the strut bars back in 05 and 06 were not complaining about the sunroof rattling as much as those without front strut bars. So yeah there is something to it.