New ADDCO sway bars. Oh, Yeah!

I finally got home and had a chance to try and install the new bars. I don't understand why the rear bar is on the outside of the heim joints they could have gone on the inside without any problem.
The front bar does not fit at all. Sure, I could make it fit by cutting it and bending it and using some "all thread"...
I called John at Addco and he said only three people have contacted him once and he never heard from anyone since. So out of all of you that bought bars are you happy with what you have?
I sent John some pictures of how the bar looks in place and he will have a look at it. I all so asked if he could just copy the original bar with threaded ends and without the adjustment holes and make it a 22mm bar instead of 25mm. He said he could if he can find the original bar that he had.
If your not happy with what you have then Call John: 855-522-5378.

 

My car's finally in the shop for a number of things, one of which is the swaybars install.

The bars that I have do not fit at all. I called and spoke with john about it today and what I believe happened was that there was simply a miscommunication between Ernie (the engineer) and John (in sales). It appears that the green light was given to ship bars before Doug's recommended changes were implemented.

John was very apologetic and stated that he will do whatever it takes to make it right for me and the community. I'm working to arrange a conference call between myself, Doug, and Ernie for this upcoming Monday with the goal of letting Ernie know precisely what needs to be done to make the bars work and fully resolve this issue.

So, while discouraging given that we're not "there" yet, I still believe that this will have a happy ending - meaning an affordable, high performance, 100% drop in bar available to the community.

I'll post next week after Doug and I speak with Ernie.

Matt

 

Thank you!

 

Thank you, Matt. I have a pair of bars here but I guess I need to wait to install them until we get new bars? Please keep us in the loop. Thanks.

 

Matt,

Thanks Matt. I would have said that the false 'green light' was my fault, but I think you already had your bars prior to my conversation with John on 10/2/2013. In that conversation, John asked for my name so he could be sure my front bar got shipped, but I've still not received anything, nor has my card been charged. Subsequent attempts to email John on 10/5, 10/6, and 10/7 all bounced back as undeliverable.

I don't think anything at all came from my call to John on 10/2. If the 'current' design doesn't work, then I suppose I should probably be glad he didn't ship anything to those of us still waiting for a front bar.

I want the darn things, but am close to giving up. My hat is off to all those who decided to sit this one out. I still wonder what we are going to get, if it will fit a car with stock suspension, and if it will be adjustable as promised?

--Woody

 

Bummer this didn't go smoothly.

With the stock bar I had still had inteference between the drop link/tie rod nut at full droop with a lot of steering lock. Can someone confirm that this is absolutely not the case with the stock setup on their cars? If so I want to figure out what's different. I remember at one time someone mentioning to me that some of the Koni's had an internal part that limited droop .. but I still have inteference with the QA1's and stock bar even though they're a bit shorter. I have Verrel's paperweights so they're only about 1/2" shorter ... maybe the stock length QA1's don't let the suspension droop as much and prevent the inteference?

I'm going to dial in my second 308 with the stock swaybars for now. I've been learning about suspension setup and it's interesting how bigger swaybars prevent body roll at the expense of putting more load on the outer tire. I'm going to run identical tires and alignments on both cars and see how they compare at autocross. Maybe with the camber I'm running the body roll is a non issue ...

cheers

 

I am happy to report that after Paul modified the front by cutting off the ends I lost adjustability but the new bar installed this way is really nice. I will be curious to see if the tires now take more abuse.


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Thanks for the update. Can you tell us about your set up? Did he cut off one hole or two? Are the bars set in the middle hole on the front and rear or only the front? Would you want to set it up any differently?

 

I believe he had to cut off all but one hole. I will check tomorrow and report here if I am mistaken. In addition spacers had to be added to the rears as well. It is in my thread Crowndog's Adventure towards the end.


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I tried to find pics of the mod. So sounds like you are on the max stiff setting. I thought AZdoug noticed some twitchiness on uneven pavement with the bar at one of the softer settings. I really think this is contributing to the issue being discussed in your thread or I might be misunderstanding what ur feeling since I noticed you're describing it as a vibration, which is a lot different than twitchy/constant correction which is what I thought you were experiencing. There's nothing worse than a car that you have to concentrate just to keep in a straight line... toe out the front wheels and you can get this sensation with all the stock pieces . Since you've changed multiple parts, you should throw your stock bar back on there just to see, or easier yet, unhook the new bar on one side. I find it fun understanding the cause and effect of changing various parts, but having a lift makes it a bit easier . Should be a minor thing to workout in the scheme of things.

I'm still curious if there is inteference with the stock swaybar at full droop since trying to eliminate this is what created a lot of the issues for developing the bar, but I'll admit I've not read every post ... larger wheel sizes, shock differences, etc. I think were trying to be accomodated maybe?

cheers

 

Lucky -

Couldn't help but notice you mentioned that YOU have one of the elusive/legendary original Saner bar sets, AND multiple 308s. Would it be totally unthinkable that you might ever-so-temporarily uninstall the Saners and lend them to ADDCO as a model (or, for that matter any other competent manufacturer this board trusts that is decent at customer service) so that we can all get it right once and for all? Maybe someone like Nicks Forza or Superformance would even spring upfront for a decent size run, so they'd have them in stock as an optional mod? Anyone?

Or are these new ones intended to be different from the Saners?

 

I think guys were trying to solve the inteference issue at droop that I've referred to in a few posts.

When this first got started I made prints of the Saners with some mods and had a buddy quote making up a few sets. They were pretty expensive compared to what ADDCO quoted. The thing that really needed resolving with the Saner front bar was the heim joint angle if you wanted to go the stiffer positions. This could be resolved with a spacer and a longer bolt I think but I still have the inteference at droop. The solution could've been as simple as a shorter drop link but it would've been to short for the other positions, but maybe the drop link could've just been adjusted to pickup the other settings. It seemed ADDCO was willing to address all these issues and I thought guys had given them more than enough feedback to solve all these problems.

If someone wants to summarize the necessary mod's I'd be happy to make up some blueprints. I think between the mod's I planned for the Saner bar and what guys on here have done to make them work, we could come up with a product that works. On a side note I tried to have Saner make up some extra sets some years ago and he took my deposit and ran ... I heard he's dead now. Oh well.

Anyway if someone can summarize some dim's and angles of what ADDCO did I'll make prints ... let the cat herding begin .

cheers

 

Does anyone know where Addco stands on this project? It has been over a year since I committed to buy with Ernie and I only have a rear bar and no ETA on the matching front.

--Woody

 

Not sure if anyone cares, but I'll post it anyway. I received the message below in a email from John Wright at Addco this past Friday (12/6/2013).

--Woody


Bob, My engineer Ernie just updated the new print for the front bar, I hope to have a sample to Matt next week.

Thank you,
John Wright

 

Hey Woody,

I do still care. Thanks for getting in touch with ADDCO.

Sean

 

19 months... You are a patient man.

 

I have stock springs but my suspension is currently taken apart, so it could be some time before we could try fitment.

 

My car has otherwise stock suspension with repro 16" wheels, and I can trial fit the next bar and take pictures, if needed. The pictures won't be pretty, as my car's suspension is un-detailed and exhibits the surface rust and crud of a 30 year old driver.

--Woody

 

When you install the front bar, drive the car around and turn your wheels from lock to lock position just to make sure nothing is binding.

 

Yes.......... sure.....

 

I've got Matt's car at the moment, finishing the 4L install.I installed the front sway barr that he just received, it does fit but there are a few issue, doesn't look like it will work with stock shocks, cant use the outer position and the inner holes may require reeming or a rat file to fix the hole as it gets distorted when they flatten the ends.
The hardware is junk, you'll need hardened spacer washers and socket head cap bolts, which are allen bolts.

 

I've got Matt's car at the moment, finishing the 4L install.I installed the front sway barr that he just received, it does fit but there are a few issue, doesn't look like it will work with stock shocks, cant use the outer position and the inner holes may require reeming or a rat file to fix the hole as it gets distorted when they flatten the ends.
The hardware is junk, you'll need hardened spacer washers and socket head cap bolts, which are allen bolts.

 

Scott and I spoke last night and he filled me in on his impression of the bar, the install process, etc.

The bottom line is that the bar is going to work, and it's appropriate for existing customers to call and have their orders filled (given that you replace the bad quality washers, drop links, nuts/bolts, etc. that the set comes with). But I would not recommend this bar to new customers.

Instead, another Fchatter Mike Tuason worked with his local off-road shop here in Southern California to create a drop-ni, affordable, apparently good-quality bar. If I had to do it all over again, I would go that route.

I'll have my car back in January and will post performance impressions of the bar once I'm able to drive it.

Matt

 

Am I missing something? If SMG2's post is accurate, then this setup is a non-starter for those of us with otherwise stock suspension, stock shocks, whatever.

--Woody