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1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Having read the posts here, I have installed the rear swaybar in my '94 NG900. I got the thinner 19mm model. Have had it for 3 days now.
The installation was not quite smooth. Took me several hours. The bolts holding the old bar broke, and had to be drilled and extracted -- dental style -- with a dremmel. The 10mm bolts that I carefully procured for it, for some reason did not fit into the wholes. (Could have been defective. The brand was Dorman, Grade 10.9. The label said the socket needed will be 17mm, so I bought one. Turns out, the label was wrong, too. The head was 15mm -- very confusing.) The SAE 3/8, on the other hand, went through just perfectly. The 1 1/2 length turned out to be too long -- it started to press against the brake lines in two places, so I had to use a shorte one.
With flanged head and flanged nut (no washers) that's not a problem.
Now the main part.
Contrary to the many opinions here of how wonderful the new swaybar feels, I must say that it is not. The effects are indeed very pronounced. I am just not sure I like them.
One good thing is that the body roll (the leaning) in high-speed cornering has definitely been completely eliminated. That's definitely a plus.
But, the price for that (apart from $150) is a huge degradation of ride comform and overall feel of the car.
The roads feel so much bumpier now. It's surprising, because the alternation was at the rear wheels, yet the reverberations travel all they way to the front wheel. The car feels much lighter. You can also describe it as "more responsive", I guess. I'd call it jittery.
The most regretful loss was that of stability at high speeds. This is this special feeling of steadiness and calmness at high speeds that only SAAB has, and one of the major reasons I love this car. Well, it's now gone.
The car now races in the lane like a cheap Ford Sparrow I once rented.
I a word, I am quite unimpressed with the bumpy jittery ride, and the overall stiff, light-weight and "cheap" feel of the car that the new swaybar brought in. And those corners with sharp body lean -- that was fun. And mine was only 19mm. I bet the symptoms are even more pronounced with the 22mm.
I understand now that the SAAB engineers probably had a good reason to go with a thin anti-roll bar, and to make it flexible at the corners to that.
I will be putting mine back on, once I have it painted. It's all rusty and disgusting right now.
I thought people who are comtemplating an anti-roll bar should know about this...
-- Nick
posted by 68.228.14...
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