New ADDCO sway bars. Oh, Yeah!

For those that are interested in the set up that Mike had done, he did a set for me too and they are very nice, high quality, nice welds, good hardware, etc.... I think start to finish it took about three weeks and I had them.

On top of it Mike is a great guy!

 

Please more info Mike

 

Pretty much you are correct. My front bar had to be modified to fit which then lost any adjustability. That said the car handles amazing as it is with the modified bar and I don't think I would change anything even if I could.


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Some pics, hope this helps. Not having stock shocks on hand I can't say how it would fit. EDIT: cant figure how to upload from tablet....... busy at the moment

 

Many thanks. I'll be glad to see your pics when you have time to upload them. It would be nice to ship this one back to addco and have an immediate alternative that fit.

Admittedly, I'd like to find a set of bars that didn't require or preclude other modifications, but I'm beginning to wonder if those two aren't mutually exclusive.

--Woody

 

Just came back from Las Vegas where Scott showed me all that's being done on my car.

I'm actually feeling better about the bars than I did before. With Scott's upgraded hardware (washers, bolts, etc.), the layout actually appears rather nice.

The attached rear bar shot shows that it's a clean install. The front photo's lighting turned out too poorly to be helpful (wait for Scott's photo for this one).

The rear is fully adjustable, but the front has to be set on the inner-most holes in order to avoid the coil-over shocks in place.

I'm thinking that I'm going to be quite happy with the bars, but will wait for my first drives in January before concluding that.

But yes, I don't have stock shocks, so I can't vouch for whether they're compatible with that setup.
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I am curious if the maximum width (at the tips of the turned out flanges) of your front bar is 46", as I suggested to Ernie.

I have my bar set to the inner holes in front,and outside holes in the rear. I can always tighten up the rear if i experience an understeer condition.

Doug

 

don't have a measurement, here's the pics of the front.
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Thanks SMG2, these are very good pics. I can see where fitment with the stock shocks would be a problem, but the design looks so close to being able to work with either. I think someone else had previously suggested that fitment would be better if the flat at the end were aligned with the outside diameter (or front) of the bar, rather than the inside (or rear). It would also eliminate the need for the spacer between the end link and bar. This still appears to be the case here, and if thats true, I'd hope it would be an easy change for to make.

Have you already sent these to John Wright at Addco?

--Woody

 

I agree a bit more angle or increase the width by at least 1.5".

No I haven't sent anything on to Addco, Matts car was sent out to a secret desert "area proving grounds" for setup and engine break-in priority sits on a couple other things at the moment. The sway bar design and development did not fall under my scope so I can't really comment on the process other then the hardware was wrong. the spherical rods ends are fine, I personally would go with a turnbuckle design to ease adjustment, but that's purely a personal thing.

 

Woody,

Scott's right - the sway bar is outside his scope of work. What's required now is somebody who a) wants sway bars, b) has stock suspension setup, and c) has mechanical/engineering background to send the next round of adjustments to ADDCO. I think the bar that I have in there now will work for my purposes, but will confirm next month once we finish road testing.

Matt

 

Would addco pay for the labor charge for the time involved?

 

It looks like all they did was bend the flange out, it doesn't look like they widened the bar to 46", from 42.5" as I suggested.

Doug

 

your probably very right about that, the bar I pulled off to install this one was the same width, just the ends were angled out a bit more. more width would improve the clearance and help with the dog link geometry.

 

I wasn't trying to task Scott or add to or anyone else's work, I was simply going to forward these to John Wright if someone had not already done so. Having spoken with John, I'm fairly certain he thinks all is good unless someone tells him otherwise (and why shouldn't he?)

No, I'm merely trying to push this (project) rope uphill. This project is a bus without a driver. No one owns it, so no one is coordinating the necessary communications to see it through to a quality conclusion. I expect that neither John nor Addco expected this to be a dozen separate development efforts, all with separate customers having their own requirements.

I think I'm done. I will contact John at Addco for an RMA number and return the half set of sway bars I have received. My hat is off to the skeptics that decided to sit this one out.

--Woody

 

Well, we have jobs, and are not making profit of any kind off of this.

For free bars, I would put more work into it, but I did not get free bars, nor am i getting a cut and/or buying and reselling these bars at a profit.

Why don't you get a front bar, and fit it to your car, and tell them it needs to be ~3" wider?

I have already faxed a marked up drawing some weeks ago to Ernie suggesting the bars be 46" wide, the ones sent out do not seem to reflect this suggestion. What should I do, fire Ernie?

Or do you expect someone else to do all the work for you, for free?

Doug

 

Doug, I'm sorry you appear to be taking this personally. I do not expect everyone to do the work for me, free or otherwise. In fact I have volunteered to trial fit, photograph, test, and/or communicate with John/Addco to help see this through to a favorable outcome, and I sincerely appreciate the time people have put into those tasks. Quite simply, if the pictures and feedback from everyone's efforts do not make it back to Addco, then that effort is wasted.

Now if, as you say, Addco's product doesn't fit and doesn't reflect the feedback you have provided, maybe you SHOULD fire Ernie (by way of canceling your order). My personal opinion is that John, Ernie, and Addco make good products; I've bought and used Addco sway bars at least 2-3 times over the years.

As I see it, the impediments to the project are that Addco does not have (1) a car on which to prototype, or (2) a single point of contact for the coordination of information (in both directions). I've called John and asked for a front bar, I've requested updates on the forum, and I've volunteered to help, all to no avail. I'm an optimist, but nothing in this case encourages me to believe that this is going to conclude anytime soon.

--Woody

 

Woody,

Interesting take on history you have there. And yes, returning the bar is probably a good option for you.

Matt

 

All,

I spoke with John today and provided him with feedback (as Doug and I have done throughout this process).

He's going to talk with his engineers about the modification and respond to me with an estimated turn around time.

If he's able to turn things around within a couple of weeks (which would be THE Christmas Miracle, given Addco's track record in turn around times with our project), then my car will still be on the lift and I'll be able to install it and provide feedback/photos.

If not, then we'll need somebody with a stock coil setup to be the guinea pig.

I'll keep you posted.

Matt

 

That could be my car but I don't when Wade will be ready to put my suspension back together.

 

?

 

I just received the updated front bar from Addco yesterday. It measures 46" from outer tip to outer tip, as Doug recommended. So I'm optimistic.

I'll be bringing this updated bar to Scott, who will be finishing my car sometime later this month. I'll report then as to the fit and performance.

Matt

 

Good to hear.

 

So is this a dead subject now?

 

Hi All,

I'm sad to pass on as a final report that the ADDCO sway bay is a no-go.

Scott was working on my car last week and tried to install the latest version of the front bar. It was way off.

So, I currently have in place the previous version of the bar that, while not a perfect fit, was made to work.

It's beyond me why ADDCO couldn't simply copy an OEM front bar at a larger diameter, but that seems to be the case. Many kudos to Doug for making a valiant effort to guide ADDCO to correct the bar's design, but unfortunately it didn't pay off.

So please, don't order this bar, and if you have, feel free to call ADDCO and request a refund. The design simply doesn't work.

Matt