**The Ultimate Car Mod: Sway Bars**
When it comes to modifying your car, few upgrades can have as big of an impact on performance and handling as sway bars. In this article, we'll delve into the world of sway bars and explore how they can take your driving experience to the next level.
As Zach, a seasoned car enthusiast, explains, "Are we gonna put it in the stiff position or the soft position? The hole closest to the bar is the stiffer setting." This refers to the adjustable end links that allow you to customize the stiffness of the sway bars. The farther the mounting point is from the actual bar itself, the softer the bar will act. With this knowledge, Zach decides to go with a soft setup for his front and middle positions on the rear, adjusting the end links accordingly.
**The Importance of Adjustable End Links**
To ensure that the sway bars are installed correctly, it's crucial to understand how they work and what affects their performance. The adjustable end links serve as a critical component in this process. "These are adjustable end links, so the jam nuts you jam them so that they are no longer adjustable," Zach explains. This means that if you don't tighten these up really good before driving, they can loosen up and cause problems down the line.
Zach takes it a step further by advising viewers to make sure they tighten their jam nuts "real nice and tight." He emphasizes the importance of not loading the sway bar in either direction, which requires having the car at ride height with the suspension loaded and everything settled. By following these guidelines, Zach is able to install his sway bars about 75% of the way, leaving one end link fully installed and another dangling on the sway bar waiting to go into its bracket.
**The Test Drive**
With the new sway bars in place, it's time to put them to the test. Zach takes the car for a spin, feeling an immediate difference in responsiveness and handling. "Right away, first off, first thing you notice is how much more responsive the front end is," he says. The slalom test is conducted, and Zach feels like he could have completed it twice as fast with the new sway bars.
The weight transfer is noticeably improved, with the car diving into turns and maintaining a flatter profile. This keeps the weight centered over the car, reducing the amount of weight transferred to the outside wheels. As soon as you turn the steering wheel, the sway bar loads up on the outside, transferring its force to the inside suspension.
**The Verdict**
Sway bars are an incredible upgrade for any car, offering a range of benefits that can enhance performance and handling. By installing adjustable end links and choosing the right stiffness, you can tailor your sway bars to suit your driving style and needs. For Zach, this experience was well worth the investment, both in terms of money and time.
**Conclusion**
In conclusion, sway bars are a must-have upgrade for any car enthusiast looking to take their driving experience to the next level. With adjustable end links and proper installation, you can unlock a world of performance and handling that was previously unavailable. Whether you're cruising down the street or tackling twisty roads, sway bars will make all the difference.
**Additional Resources**
If you want to learn more about car modifications and improvements, be sure to subscribe to our channel for regular updates. Donut Media also offers a range of other resources and content, including articles, videos, and social media posts. To stay up-to-date on the latest automotive news and reviews, follow us across all platforms.
**Acknowledgments**
A huge thank you to Zach Jobe for sharing his expertise and experience with sway bars. Special thanks to Donut Media for their continued support and collaboration. We're grateful to have such a wonderful community of car enthusiasts who share our passion for automotive excellence.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- I've been wanting to put these sway barson the Miata for ages now,but my co-workers had other ideas.(engine revs)(Zach laughs)So it's finally my turn to pick a mod,and I wanted to make the car handle betterwith one of the most often overlooked,easy-to-install,bang-for-your buck upgrades out there.I'm talking about sway bars.But, am I just being a sway bar hype man,or do they make a big enough differenceto really be worth their cost?Today we're gonna talk about sway barswhile we install a set on the Miatato figure out for ourselves whetheror not they're actually worth it.I'm Zach. This is Money Pit.Let's sway, baby.(thunder sounds)(upbeat music)All right, so it's no secretthat I wanna make this Miata handleas good as possible.And if you've been following along,you know that we've already done a setof coilovers on the car,which did huge things for the waythis thing handles.But, there's still a lotof body roll in the Miata,and coilovers alone just can't dothat much against body roll.So today we're gonna combat body rollby installing a set ofsway bars on the Miata.Now before we just go installin'a set all nimbly-bimbly and sayin'that it feels better,we're gonna do some science.We set up a little slalom course herein my neighborhood,and I'm gonna go through it real quickwith the stock sway bars on.And we'll see just how much body rollwe have currently,(camera lens clicks)and then we'll install our new beefy,chunky sway bars,and we'll see how much body rollwe have afterwards.And, you know, I'm notreally a bettin' man,but if I were I would betthat we're gonna significantly reducethe body roll that this car haswith the sway bars we install today.(phone rings)Hello?- (Woman) We've beentrying to reach you --- (beep) Off!All right so before I can explainhow sway bars work,what they're even doing in there,and why they're such a good upgrade,we gotta take the stock bars out,so you can really seewhat we're talking about.I'm a huge proponent,obviously, of sway bars,but I can admit that it might not bethe right way to spend your moneyfor every car, right?For the Miata I thinkthis is gonna be a great upgrade.This is a small, little roadster.It's a car built for handling.This is never gonna be really fastin a straight line,or anything like that.So, handling upgradesthe Miata takes really well.But if this were an SUVor a big old muscle car,maybe sway bars wouldn't be the thing.Maybe that wouldn't bethe best bang for your buck.Maybe you'd do better with an exhaustor some subwoofers or something like that.But for the Miata,handling upgrades is what we're doing.(impact wrench hammers)We can see our front sway bar in here.The first thing we're gonna need to doin terms of getting it outof the car is removing both end links.(bell dings)The end link is what connectsthe sway bar to the control arm,which is what makes the sway bar work.Without these, you're screwed.These can also get worn out and clunky.So if you hear a clunkingwhen you're going over bumps,it might be your end links.Once you have the end links out,then you just need to get the bars out,which is as easy as removingthe hardware from the sway bar brackets.That usually attachessomewhere to the chassis.In this case we've gotsome sway bar mounts.The hardware is really easy to get to.Pull those off,and then the sway bar should come free.Easy as that.Okay, so we got the sway bars off.Now let's talk about whata sway bar even actually is.It's basically a big spring,and what it does is connects your leftand right suspension across an axle.So your left and rightsuspension on the front,and your left and right suspensionon the rear are connected by a sway bar.Your sway bar most of thetime when you're ridingdown the street isn't doing much.If your wheels are doing basicallythe same thing,it doesn't really have much inputover driving characteristics.But, when you take a corner,the outside suspensionof your car is gonna compress,while the inside suspensionis gonna stand up.The sway bar is connectedto the left and the right control arm,which are doing opposite things.So then this big springhas opposing forceson either end,which twist that spring.Depending on how heavy-dutythis spring is will determinehow much it opposes that twist,which, in turn,keeps the car flat orlets body roll happen.So what are you looking forwhen you upgrade your sway bars?Well in most cases we're gonna be lookingfor a thicker sway bar.That means that it's a thicker spring,which means it'll resistthose twisting forces more.Another thing that we're lookingfor is adjustability.On our new sway barswe've got multiple holesat the ends where we canconnect our end links.So now, we'll be able to tune our balance,our handling characteristicsfront and rear,based on these holes.I think you guys gotthe gist of sway bars.Now let's put these beautiful,blue bars into that carand see how it feels.First I'm gonna put some greaseinside these bushings.You don't need to much of it.Just get it in there.Give it a nice coating.And then back on.The front bar is identical if it'sthis way or this way.So the front bar is okay.The rear bar there is on upside-down.(jazzy music)(boom thunders)- Ow!Oh my God, (beep).(Zach moans)(beep)(Zach sighs)- (Man) What'd you do?- I (beep) hit the (beep) with my knee.My (beep) knee.All the hardware is started.Now we're just gonnatighten it up about halfway,and then we can put our braces in place.This is the brace.It's very simple.Basically the ends ofthe sway bar hardware gointo these two little holes,and then it pushes upagainst the frame hornto try to solidify thismount a little bit.It's really simple,but it should do a good job.(wrench cranks)Okay, so unlike the front sway bar,which you can't really install wrong,this you can.You see how this is angled?That means there is a way to putthis in upside down,and to be honest I wasn'treally paying that muchattention when I took the stock one out,which is something you should try to do.Pay attention.I kind of just stuck an end link into see how it wants to sit,and it clearly wants to meet upwith the sway bar at that angle.(jazzy music)Time to install the end links,and these are adjustable,so we're gonna have topay attention to that.Currently we have all of them adjustedto be approximately the same lengthas the stock end links.The reason we do thatis because the lengthof the end link determines wherethe sway bar is gonna ride.Where the sway bar rides determineswhat kind of stuff it could run into.And we know that itdoesn't run into anythingat the stock position.So, that's where we're startin'.(jazzy music)Now we've gotta make a choice.Are we gonna put it in the stiff positionor the soft position?The hole closest to the bar isthe stiffest setting.The further the mounting pointaway from the actual bar itself,the further this arm is,the softer the bar will act.Because the longer this arm is,the more leverage the control arm hasto twist the sway bar itself.And I think I'm gonna gowith soft to start out.I'm gonna go soft up front and probablyin the middle position on the rear.These are adjustable end links,so the jam nuts you jam them sothat they are no longer adjustable.It locks 'em in place.So if you don't tightenthese up really goodbefore you go drive,they can loosen up,and then they'll basicallyjust rattle themselves to death.Then you'll need new ones.So, make sure you tighten your jam nutsreal nice and tight.You wanna make sure,when you tighten up your end links,that they're not loading your sway barin either direction.To know that you have to have the carat ride height with the suspension loadedand everything settled.So, we're gonna get everything installedabout 75 percent of the way.By that I mean one endlink fully installed,and one end link danglingon the sway bar waitingto go into the bracket.All right, so we've gotthe car on the ground.Now we're gonna roll it back and forthto make sure the suspension is all settledand in its home location,wherever it wants to sit.You can also put your body weightin the driver's seatso your simulating whatthe car is actually gonna be loaded likewith your body in it.So, I'm gonna get oneof the other roommatesto come out and sit in the driver's seatwhile I do this.I'm gonna reach deep into the Miataand adjust this end link untilI can get it to just kinda fallinto line with the hole in the sway bar.All right, now let's goget the rear in place,and then we can letRusso get back to work.Then we'll tighten everything up.(bleep)(Zach grunts)(bleep)Oh my God.My head's stuck.(Zach laughs)(dramatic music)Let's see if it was worth it.So half a day's work,a little bit of frustration,and about 500 bucks later,and we got some sway bars on the Miata.Now it's time to go test drive it,and see if these things were worth it.(percussive horn music)Right away, first off,first thing you notice ishow much more responsive the front end is.When we just did that slalom test,I felt like I could've done that twiceas fast as I did it withthe stock sway bars on.Honestly one of my biggest complaintswith the Miata in thehandling department isthat the front end has felt a little slow,a little bit lazy, you know?Now with these sway bars,oh my God,the weight transfers immediatelyas you turn the wheel.And the front end just dives inwherever you want to go.And we haven't even really driven yet.I can already feel how responsive it is.It's incredible.Since the sway bars are gonna keepthe car a lot flatter,that keeps the weightof the car a lot morecentered over the car.So we don't have as much weight transferto the outside.So we're gonna have a lot better grip.As soon as you turn the steering wheel,it loads up the sway bar on the outside,and just immediately transfersto the inside suspension.And you just feel,you feel a directnessthat was not there before.This is how the Miata should've feltfrom the factory.Sway bars are sweet becausethey don't affect your driving other thanwhen you're in a performancehandling situation,which is cool when you think about it.You can put gigantic sway bars on a car,and just cruisingstraight down the street,you wouldn't know the difference.Well, I'd say we got our answer.For this car,for the amount of money that it costs.Now granted we got alittle bit nicer stuffthan you have to get,but you can do what we did todayfor about 250 bucks.So, for the cost,the time it takes to install 'em,and how big of an impact it has,sway bars are definitely worth it.Make sure you subscribe to the channel,and hit the notification bellso you know when videos come out,like every Wednesday morning.You get a notification and boom.You pop over to Money Pit,and then bam,who do you find?Me, in the comments,every Wednesday morning for an hour.You can also find me on Instagram@zachjobe, and you can follow Donut Media@donutmedia across all social media.Thank you guys again.We'll see you next week.
