sway bars !!!!!

I'm interested. Keep me posted via pm.

 

I think you should at least keep a thinner (stock diameter) sway bar on the front. With no sway bar on the front, you may find the car a little tail happy.

Yeah, and a popular front sway bar (which fits well and doesn't make the ride stiff) is a stock VW sedan sway bar, mounted upside down (because our cars are lower and it has to clear the b]front bumper mounts) with aftermarket urethane mounting bushings and clamps (CIP1 or CB Perf.)

It's amazing how much front and rear sway bars can affect a car's handling.

On my track Miata both front and rear bars had three settings.  During a day at the track I could dial in more understeer or oversteer just by switching the settings (holes at the end of the bar).

I wonder how your car will handle with no rear bar?  Even with just a stock front bar it might be a handful.

I ran my IRS pan with just a front 19mm (3/4") sway bar (Sway-Away) for several years.  It handled pretty well with (I thought) minimal body lean in hard cornering.  Back then, I had 205X16 tires front and 225X16 in the rear with 1-1/4" wheel spacers on a flared car. 

 

Then I added a 19mm sway-away bar to the rear.  After that, it REALLY handled flat and felt much more "positive" in really hard cornering and I have never gotten the rear to break loose - believe me, I've tried, but I ran out of cojones before those big rear tires would ever let go (this was on the track, not the street).  Watching from behind with Chris driving, it sits very flat all through the corner and might be fun if I knew how to make it "drift" (!!)

 

On the downside, both bars make everything pretty stiff and you feel every crack in the pavement.  Not so bad with just the front one for street vibrations, but if I wanted an ice cream/weekend cruiser, I would opt for just a front and something smaller, like 3/8" - 1/2", just to soften the ride a bit.

With thicker sway bars and a rear 'kafer' bar my IM's ride is on the stiff side, but I like it that way.  It gives the car a real 'solid' feel. 

My IM feels as stiff as my street/track Miata, which had a number of chassis re-enforcements, Koni 'race' shocks, and seriously thick springs, along with some very thick sway bars.

If I was aiming for a 'cruiser' type of ride I go with Koni shocks (fronts set to soft and rears set to 1/2 hard), a stock sway bar, and skinny 65 or 70 series tires.

A set of cheap, oil-filled shocks (not gas) would also work and be considerably cheaper.

I agree about a smaller "stock" bar on the front.  My car IS really just a cruiser, smile and wave, kind of ride. I confess at having a 911 too, that has aggressive suspension and ride height, when I get 'the need for speed'...

The current setup is, as stated, very stiff and a bit noisy over bumps and such. I'm sure it would be the Bee's Knees for another's car….just not for me.

Bill…when I have it off, I will let you know.

As per usual, you all rock……..

I have a stock link pin bar that I re-bent to not hit my frame tubes. It is 13mm and uses stock clamps. It is adequate, but I'd really like a 5/8" bar, I fear a 19mm/3/4" might be too much. They used to make them when Beetles were in their heyday.

The trouble with 99% of the sway bars for our cars is they're not adjustable.  If you bolt on a thicker sway bar and it gives you too much oversteer or understeer you're stuck with the results, unless you go back to stock, or start changing front or rear tire widths.

Yeah, they should be adjustable.

There used to be some really nice front and rear adjustable bars from Whiteline (never heard of them until I saw these) and sold by Aircooled.net; they were out of stock the last time I looked, so don't know if they're even available any more. 

 

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/W...ble-OTT-p/bwf8xz.htm

 

There's no longer a listing for a type 1 rear bar.

I should have bought a set of Whiteline bars when I had the chance.

I think they're made in Australia.