sway bars

[White ls400]

im looking at getting sway bars for my 90 ls400 but im mainly looking at the back one first as most of the roll is coming from the rear and also with the extra weight of the lpg tank it has pretty bad understeer would only fitting the rear sort this out or unbalance the rear too much

 

[White ls400]

no one done sway bars on an ls?

 

[Lexus_Silly_Car]

Sometimes a bad or squishy feeling in the rear end could be worn bushes in the rear. I had my bushes checked by Pedders and they said they looked fine. Later when we replaced them anyway the car improved out of sight. Mid corner bumps were no longer a problem and a much more direct steering. Even if you put a sway bar on it and the bushes are buggered it won't fix your vauge feeling.......

Hope that helps a bit.......

 

[JamesN]

Addco make rear sway bar for the Ls400. Here is the parts number for it. Addco 2027. You can find it on summitracing.com.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=ACO-2027&N=700+115&autoview=sku

 

[spf_lexus]

I'm rocking that exact same Addco 7/8'' bar... makes HUGE difference for early LS. I think I paid around $120 or so, ends up pretty cost effective for what it does.

Anyone know if a front bar exists? Or some strong end links?

 

[JamesN]

Been looking for the front myself. But haven't found any yet. Maybe, have to refab a set.

 

[spf_lexus]

I contacted Addco, they said if i mailed them a stock bar (LS400 or SC400) they could make a thicker than stock bar. If anyone has one to donate we might get a new bar available. I plan on doing this over summer.

Also, has anyone messed with the puney endlinks? The metal material attaching the small ball-joints is as thick as a pencil and mine has actually bent from my super stiff setup.


I saw a BLOX endlink for a civic that looked liek ti could work, Heim linked that is threaded for height. I think it can be used for our sways.

 

[JamesN]

I'll try to find a front stock bar and I'll let you know. I really want a bigger bar for the front too.
As for the end links let me know what works. The stock one look pathetic. thanks

 

[spf_lexus]

James

I am leaving for my local Ace Hardware for my endlinks. I googled a few DIY endlinks, it's pretty straightforward. I plan for (4) 1/4'' heims(spherical bearings if you will) with either a threaded center shaft (steel) or if i'm lucky one threaded joint with a threaded body-heim for the connection... if your ride is lowered at all then the height will have to be shorter anyway. Once i make some purchases and take some pics i'll start a new thread.

 

[JamesN]

Good luck... take some pics and let me know how it goes.

 

[spf_lexus]

Well I don't have a camera right now but I made 2 sets of spherical endlinks. The rear links only needed to be 5'' long so I picked up (2)male (2) female Aurora 5/8'' Spherical bearings and simply threaded them into each other with a nylon locking nut. The entire piece is 10x more rigid than my OEM plastic ones. I noticed my car's rear end corners flat as my 7/8'' bar now feels like 1.25''. I chose a quick route and used an allen bolt with nut instead of clevis ends and bolt so I have a slight bind under total suspension trravel but it's mild. The fronts were a little harder as the shop I was using had no more female ends.. so I had (4) male aurora bearings also in 5/8'' and needed a 7'' length so I welded each rod end inside 5/8'' steel tubing and painted black. I made the mistake of not using 1/2'' rod ends as the front bar has a larger bore but so far they have held up my 1500mile colorado/california trip w/ no issues :dunno: cost around $25 for rears and $30 for front





I will post some pics tomorrow.

 

[JamesN]

Good write up. So you can get these Aurora bearing at any hardware store? Hmm... I wonder if the Home Depot near my house have it? Anyways, looks good man. I'm still waiting for the pics.:biggrin:

 

[spf_lexus]

Hypronet... YOU ARE THE MAN. Been saying I was going to buy a second oner and drop it off for sizing but it never happened. I have an addco rear... still stock fronts. So can I call whteline and order? or is it an AU only part? Last one I ordered was off a website and it was fairly easy.

 

[och]

Are they able to get these to the US? I'm defenately interested in a set if the price is reasonable.

 

[och]

Since they are so close to you, would you be able to ask them if they could perhaps set up a group buy for US customers on this board as well as clublexus/lexus owners club? Usually sway bars are the most cost effective handling improvement, and they should be able to sell a lot of them in the US.

Hi Och

Info from whitelines site
International - door to door courier.
This is the fastest service. It has the advantage of issuing a tracking number that you can use to monitor the progress of your parcel using the carriers web site. We use a variety of carriers depending on destination and weight but they include DPE, DHL and Airborne Express. Transit times vary between 3-5 business days depending on distance and subject to stock availability. Again, the higher the zone number for your destination, the longer it will take. We only use our nominated carrier for each destination to ensure the lowest possible price overall. We can however discuss alternatives if your order exceeds A$1000.

Whiteline do have dealer outlets around the world, by following this link http://www.whiteline.com.au/dealer_LOCALE.php?locale=NA&description=North America&country= you will be able to find the dealer near you.

Hope this helps you out
____________________________________
[FONT=&quot]:sgrin:There is No substitute for cubic inch, except for BOOST !!!![/FONT]:sgrin::burnout:
"91 LS400" Argo rods, CP pistons 9:1, Custom Tighte Cams, Whipple supercharger 20psi, Torsen Lsd,
Dual TB's, Whiteline swapbars, 97 RZ Supra brakes, Aftermarket Airbag & controller

 

[JamesN]

I'm soo down for a group buy. I want new sways so bad.

 

[och]

Ok, i will pop in there tomorrow to see if we can work something out with them.
I will need to know what size front/rear bars and for what make of lexus, you are after and how many is required.
I will check on prices for 5 sets to be set to the US, but i will need to know where to send them too?

Well, the first generation 90-94 LS400 is the most popular model. If someone donors the factory sway bars for them to make beefier ones, they can expect more than 5 sets to be ordered. I'd say if they setup a group buy here and on clublexus, and the price is reasonable, they can expect a lot of orders.

 

[spf_lexus]

so are you saying they have the part # on their site ready for order? Or is group buy the only way? I never see group buys go all the way through.

 

[och]

These are great prices! Guys, lets get a group buy going so we can save on shipping!

 

[raminduction]

LS400 Front Sway Bar

As far as I know, nobody makes a "competition" front bar for the early LS400. The ADDCO rear bar does make a big improvement, but to take advantage of the ADDCO rear bar, the front bar rate still needs to be stiffer. If you don't mind a bit of common-sense grunt work, you can get the car up in the air and see for yourself that the front bar is already pretty thick, and you will also note that it can be moved towards the rear of the car about 1/2". If you move the bar back that 1/2", you will then be able to make the front bar "adjustable" by fabricating new end links and move them FORWARD on the bar 1/2". This will effectively raise the front roll rate of the bar (shorter arm length = higher roll rate). If you also note, the lower link mounting on the LCA is towards the inner end of the LCA. When you fab the new end links, you can also make new mounting points on the LCA closer to the outer end of the LCA, effectively lowering the motion ratio of the arm, hence increasing the effective rate of the bar. This is an old as the hills road racing practice that allows racers to adjust their suspension to any particular track by adjusting the the roll rate of the anti-sway bar without having to tear the entire front end off to change a static rate anti-sway bar. I'm sure you will also note when you are under the cat, that removing the front bar on an early LS is going to take days tearing the front end apart so it will slide out of its "prison".