Rear Sway Bar for VW-based TDr

[HappyJack]

I was just poking around and came across some pretty good prices on ADDCO 853 3/4″ front and ADDCO 909 3/4″ rear sway bars.  (ADDCO just happens to be located in Western North Carolina)

Has anyone used these or any other after market sway bar?  What size? Front only? 

… especially interested to find out if anyone has had experience with adding a rear sway bar to our kits along with the front bar?

Happy Jack

[edward ericson]

Jack, I put the larger front bar on Bridget without adding the rear and I don’t recommend it. Got waaay too much understeer. The VW ppl also don’t recommend going with just the rear aftermarket bar and stock front. That combo should oversteer. At least in a Bug. In our cars, maybe not–but it’s a question that would need to be carefully tested on a skid pad. I need to mess with my car to get a rear bar to fit. Will probably end up with both installed at some point. The Speedster guys swear by them, for what that’s worth.
edsnova2015-09-12 18:31:31

[Royal]

Jack asked me about this about a week ago.  I sent him the following link and my opinion that if he really wanted to beat the Chevrolet C10 panel van that beat him in the Carlisle autocross :-), he could probably spend his time and money better in other directions.

http://www.aircooled.net/vw-handling-suspension-tuning/

This is a pretty exhaustive test of sway bars and tuning of the suspension, albeit not on a TDr. 

Royal2015-09-12 19:16:26

[HappyJack]

Hmm —

I guess I’ll stick with the stock bar for now and get in some  seat time with my newly-repaired, firmed-up-bottomed Emma…

…I just got the car back from the welder last Tuesday — he had to put in a patch on a rusted out portion of the tunnel as well as replacing the frame head bottom panel.  He also installed two bolts between the frame head bottom and the body that were never installed when the kit was built — 

Hey Roy, can I use that rusty bottom as an excuse for why that C10 panel truck beat me in the Autocross, causing me to come in 47th out of 47 entrants?

—  Happy Jack is even happier now that Emma has mended her wandering ways…!!!

[Royal]

There’s an old sailors expression that I am fully qualified to use:

….”any port in a storm”.

[Author]

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