Write-Up: Front/Rear (Addco) Stabilizer/Sway Bar Installation

Yes, If you can sketch the dimensions or make a small blueprint sort of, it would be helpful.
Then I can make up the spacers ahead of time, buy the greasable bushings and install new sway bar without much down time.
Thanks.

Rick, didn't I give you the extra ones I got from Addco? They had the plates in them, didn't they?

No, I'll have to make the plates.
No big deal. I've got some 1/8" stock here that I can cut and drill.

OBTW, what's the diameter of the rear STS bar, That will determine what mount bushings you need. I don't know if Energy Suspension has those bushings. I know they don't have the brackets, you have to use the stock ones for that bar.
If your getting a used bar it may have the OEM brackets and bushings still attached. Otherwise you can use the stock Riv. brackets and get larger diameter bushings for them. I think that's how others have dealt with the rear STS bars.

so are the part numbers for the addco bars 2018 and 2015? these supposedly fit the aurora and the caddy sts. my riv is a 96 and these bars are not listed for it. any help would be great.

thanks

Jerry

They don't list the bars for the riv, because they may not come with the proper bushings. Two years ago when I got mine they came with the right bushings, but I think they stopped doing that for some reason.

Do you happen to have the PN for the rear endlinks and bushings? I just ordered an STS rear bar.

just a quick question for those who know. i read somwhere that the front bar on the riv is hollow,is this true? i tapped on it and it did not feel hollow...are the later years different?

I believe it is a hollow bar. Most stock bars are hollow.

My OEM bar was much lighter than the Addco - it had to be hollow, imo.

If they are like the w-bodies then they are hollow. I snapped the Regal's a couple years ago just going over uneven pavement. What a joke. lol

ahh ok. i installed the rear bar mon and it makes a tremendous difference.

i have the rear bar installed and it works great. i was disapointed to find that the oem bar is hollow! i could not believe it. a small diameter bar and hollow? cheap s..t!. but the question i have for some of you who have the front and rear bars installed together,does the car steer neutral? or dos the car under or oversteer? the reason i ask is because the addco rear bar being a smaller diameter than the addco front bar,would not this cause understeer? reason being,on a front drive car it is preferable to stiffen up the rear.and with the addco front bar being bigger, in my mind this would lead to understeer. anyone with the two installed feel this way?

i have the sts front bar installed right now and the car has pretty bad under-steer in a hard corner. i plan on getting the rear bar when i have $150 to spend on it.
If i enter a corner really hard, the front 2 tires will be screaming and the back end just drags around slowing me down. its fine in normal driving and i noticed an improvement in the body roll and overall composure of the car.
I dont see any reason not to do the front one too. if you are really worried about the front being stiffer than the rear you could go with the caddy sts bar which is slightly smaller than the addco.

good advise MR.Riv. i would hate to upset the balance as it is with the rear addco installed. it oversteers ever so little with this set up. a addco front bar would have the opposite effect and just understeer flatter with bigger bars. whew!

I have front and rear addco bars. Understeer? Oversteer? I don't know but it holds a corner nicely and I think it's pretty even. It will eventually plow the front tires if I'm trying to turn hard enough (and it's pretty hard cornering at that point), but it never gets squirelly.

interesting deek. I'm going to find out if i can find an adjustable bar. they make em for older muscle cars and if they cost the same and maybe a few $ more ill get it. ill keep any interested posted.

robotennis61 wrote:

interesting deek. I'm going to find out if i can find an adjustable bar. they make em for older muscle cars and if they cost the same and maybe a few $ more ill get it. ill keep any interested posted.

An adjustable sway bar? I don't think you'll find anything like that for this car. The sway bar is a very odd shape and there's really not much room for options...

i see that now. ill look into custom. might not be that much over aftermarket

Does the addco bar not meet your needs? It's solid, thick and pretty darn good IMO. What are you looking to do that would require a custom bar?

i want a car that has a higher degree of oversteer. not much higher just more. i don't like neutral steering cars. the rear bar can be fabricated fairly easily. a 1 1/4" rear would be perfect. with a 1" or 7/8" for the front. imo this would be the perfect balance. oversteer is controllable. understeer is frustrating. im looking into it.

robotennis61 wrote:

i want a car that has a higher degree of oversteer. not much higher just more. i don't like neutral steering cars. the rear bar can be fabricated fairly easily. a 1 1/4" rear would be perfect. with a 1" or 7/8" for the front. imo this would be the perfect balance. oversteer is controllable. understeer is frustrating. im looking into it.

That sounds like it would be a quite radical change from stock. Why don't you just get an addco for the back with the stiffest stuff to hold available then go to like an FE2 bar up front with better shocks? That's really what I want to do but I don't yet have the means. Sounds like you could do it

i have the rear addco installed already and i like it. I'm looking into fabricating solid steel brackets instead of the rubber or poly available ,this would give the rear more stiffness. for the front whats a " FE2" as for the front the kybs are way soft. ill be looking into a bilstein cartridge set up real soon.

robotennis61 wrote:

i have the rear addco installed already and i like it. I'm looking into fabricating solid steel brackets instead of the rubber or poly available ,this would give the rear more stiffness. for the front whats a " FE2" as for the front the kybs are way soft. ill be looking into a bilstein cartridge set up real soon.

FE2 is 30mm on the front, stiffer than stock but not as much as Addcos.
It aught to flatten the front a bit but not create much understeer - compromise

I have a FE2 bar in the rear which is a 22mm bar and I noticed the difference - not what I'd call night and day but I'm happy with the change - I'd love to step the rear up to the Addco though.

where can i find an FE2? the addco rear is a 7/8 bar. thats 22mm. 30mm would be bigger. that might lead to the same scenario..

Sorry, are you talking about making a stiffer REAR bar?

that might be a better idea deek. it would be easier to match the front addco with a bigger rear bar. if the front addco is bigger,and the rear addco is smaller,this would lead to understeer. but if i can fab a rear bar from 1 1/4 1/4 wall tubing i would have,on paper at least, a nice handling car with just a nice acceptable amount of oversteer the way i like it. sticky tires and bilsteins for the front. and im done. besides replacing the rubber bushings for nylon...that would bring the riv into sport car handling territory without a doubt. the rear bar with it's simple 2 bends is dead easy to fabricate. the front bar ..i dont even want to think about it. i just found out the front bar is 1 1/4". the rear would have to be bigger. i dont know if a 1 1/2" or a 1 3/4" would fit in the rear? gotta check...