# adco Rear Sway Bar



## alexnds (Oct 1, 2005)

Hi Fellas,

I have a question and I hope you can add some info. I in the past had a front and rear sway bar replacement performed on my previous 1992 Nissan max and had poly bushings installed instead of the rubber ones. The front and rear sway bars were thicker than stock and I had Borbett 16" rims installed with very good VR rated rubber. I didn't like the way the car drove. It felt like a truck. I cornered really well, but I didn't enjoy it in everyday driving.

Currently, my current 1993 car has front and rear strut bars across the shock towers and the 16" inch rims from a 2001 Maxima with Michelin MXV 215/55R16 rubber. The ride is basically stock and the handling just a touch crisper, but nothing to write home about. (the 16" inch factory style rims I think are lighter than the Borbett rims I had, so there's less unsprung weight.)

My questions are: 
a) Can I simply install an ADCO rear sway bar and not change the front sway bar and reap any handling benefits?

b) Is there any benefit in installing stiffer front and rear sway bars, but with rubber bushings, and not polyeurethane bushings?

c) Is there a benefit in installing the parallel links with higher end parts, and will this give a good compromise between firmness and handling?

d) Will installing different struts, tokico's, help, yet not hurt overall ride quality?

What overall combination of parts do you feel can make the car ride stiffer, crisper, but not ride like a truck? In other words, I'm looking for that ellusive "German feel", good handling, but not overall harshness: a good compromise in other words.

Any ideas, highly appreciated.


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## nismosleeper (Jan 16, 2005)

On the strut bit, you can get what you want, i.e. if you want a soft comfy ride(I would do this if I had a GXE), u can find something soft, but if you want performance, the ride will be rougher and more aggressive. I think that you can get adjustable struts, but they cost too much to put on such an old car IMO.


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## alexnds (Oct 1, 2005)

*Performance vs Handling*



nismosleeper said:


> On the strut bit, you can get what you want, i.e. if you want a soft comfy ride(I would do this if I had a GXE), u can find something soft, but if you want performance, the ride will be rougher and more aggressive. I think that you can get adjustable struts, but they cost too much to put on such an old car IMO.


I define handling as 3 basic catagories:
a) BASE, which is somewhat soft and luxurious, but competent
b) Touring, which is a touch above base, more agressive, but not too firm
c) Sport, which is all out, where performance matters more than anything else.

I'm looking for something that will take the car from "A" to "B" but not to "C".
In other words, I'm not going to go to the track with the car, but I do drive aggressively somewhat, and I want something that can handle better than stock, yet not be uncomfortable.

I don't know what combination will give that to me. I realize chassis bracing starts it off, as a foundation, but I likewise realize my suspension rubber bushings are old and so forth. My struts are in good condition, as told to me by a repair shop. I can probably put SE struts in the GXE, to stiffen things up a bit, but I am not sure how much further that will give me in the overall handling equation.

I saw many ways to go. Would you go for lower springs? Would you leave it alone but simply change the rear parallel links, as seen on Matt's site? (this would also give me new bushings in effect). 

In other words, I need some advice, but not sure what the right approach is.


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## brianw (Feb 25, 2004)

a) Yes. Significant benefits in understeer reduction. However, as the front sway bar is rather soft stock, you will still plow a bit through tight corners even with the Addco rear bar. (the Addco rear bar is bigger than the Suspension Techniques rear bar if memory serves, but it's still complimented by the Suspension Techniques front bar-- I think the Addco rear/Suspension Techniques front combo is better than Suspension Techniques all around actually...)

b) The Addco bar comes with poly bushings, I think. I would highly suggest going to urethane bushings all around on the sway bars because the ride penalty is TINY and the response improvement is a nice compliment.

Also pick up the rear sway bar links for the 3rd gen from http://www.mattblehm.com/suspension.htm ... the stock links are very fragile, but if you've done this before then I'm sure you know the problem. 

c) The rear parallel links with heim joints all around are very nice for handling, but they may be a *touch* firmer than you'd like. Going to the stock rear parallel links with urethane bushings installed may be ideal.

d) Well, the "German" feel you seek is traditionally simplified as stiff struts with softer springs, so an upgrade to Koni adjustables all around will definitely make the ride firmer. Whether or not this will be acceptable to you, I don't know. I don't know how sensitive your back and butt are to ride changes. 

Honestly, I would do subframe connectors and new bushings and go from there. The chassis stiffness increase from SFC's is an amazing improvement in handling. Next step is sway bars and parallel links, either the bushing upgrade in the parallel links or the more aggressive heim jointed links.

I would do lowering springs LAST along with struts as they have the most significant effect on ride quality but not the greatest payoff in handling improvement (vs. comfort sacrifice).


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## alexnds (Oct 1, 2005)

*handling improvements*



brianw said:


> a) Yes. Significant benefits in understeer reduction. However, as the front sway bar is rather soft stock, you will still plow a bit through tight corners even with the Addco rear bar. (the Addco rear bar is bigger than the Suspension Techniques rear bar if memory serves, but it's still complimented by the Suspension Techniques front bar-- I think the Addco rear/Suspension Techniques front combo is better than Suspension Techniques all around actually...)
> 
> b) The Addco bar comes with poly bushings, I think. I would highly suggest going to urethane bushings all around on the sway bars because the ride penalty is TINY and the response improvement is a nice compliment.
> 
> ...



Hi Brian,

Thanks for the detailed response. Earlier today, I finally got the rear stut bar installed on my Max. Here's the picture:

http://www.mattblehm.com/rstb_pics.htm

I already have a Stillen Front Strut bar brace. My tires are Michelin MXV, VR rated, 6.5 inch, with 215/55 R-16 wheels. 

I wanted to give a very positive endorsement to all readers of this forumn on this product. It is a very, very good addition to the 3rd Gen Maxima and I wish to compliment Matt for being one of the few people out there that even produces a rear-strut bar for the third Gen. Very excellent product.

My impression overall, is that the car is more responsive and more "tight" all around. There's still some understeer in the corners if taken at higher than "normal" cornering speed. It plows less, but the handling is similar to stock, just a greater sense of confidence in cornering because the chassis feels "more of a single piece" than before. Hard to quantify what I'm saying, but I know what I feel. I had a rear drive Q45 that seemed to handle better. Different chassis dynamics between FWD and RWD I guess. 

Now, as to my question:
This bar and front bar do make a difference. There is a very significant 
improvement "in feel", but not cornering "attitude" and mid-turn correction. My question is, as my next handling improvement, I want to add an Adco rear-sway bar, but keep my stock front bar and stock rubber front bushings. Is this ok to do that? In other words, can I mix and match? (stock front+rubber bushings, and Adco rear+poly bushings)? 

Here's my previous experience:

I had front and rear sway bars previously with poly bushings and they squeeled too much. Went back to the shop that installed them, they lubricated them better, and the squeeling went away, but I didn't enjoy how the car drove. It because too stiff for an everyday driver. It cornered much better, but was not pleasant to drive. 

If I understood your response correctly, you think it's ok to only change out the rear-sway bar for an ADCO, and keep the front stock. Any advice on my next step highly appreciated. 

Again, I wish to compliment Matt on an excellent product.


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