question about strut bars....

[ecko614]

i have a 1995 pontiac GAGT coupe and im bout to invest some money into my suspension. My question is.....is eibach the only company making lowering springs for this car? prolly gonna go with some KYB shocks and what not. Anything else i should replace while im doin these two things? also, where can i find a front and a rear upper strut bar? jus tryin to lower it a bit and tighten it up at the same time. any feedback would be greatly appriciated

[d.o.h.c]

There are PLENTY of parts available for that car. I am pretty sure the J-body parts will work. I make a bunch of parts for them.

[IsaacHayes]

Eibachs are really good. Recommend them. Go for new strut mounts too, monroe brand is good for those. KYB's are good for struts/shocks.

Strut tower should be like L bodies which means strut tower brace from a 2nd Gen J body will work.

Bigger sway bars will help. You want to make sure though to have a big rear one too or you'll understeer. I have 28mm front, and a 1" addco in the rear with poly bushings on them both. The addco comes with poly, the front I have poly endlinks and centers (energy suspension makes factory replacements) Measure first the bar diameter. The endlinks I have actually are moog heavy duty with the blue thermoplastic hard bushings.

previously for sway bars I had 22mm front 21mm rear and it was pretty good neutral handling. But I went with bigger front and the wheels don't spin as much when turned now, but I had to go to a bigger rear bar to get it to not understeer after the front bar changed.

[ecko614]

the J-bodys are cavaliers and sunfires right? so i can use the upper front and rear stut tower bars off those?? any specific year i should look at?? also, i did a little research and found that a company called ADDCO makes a front sway bar(1 1/8") and a rear sway bar (1") for roughly about $175 for each one. Do those sound like they'd help at all? they dont sound very big, so are they just factory replacments or what? thanks alot guys

[Azrael]

Eibach springs are very hard. I'd avoid them if your streets are in rough shape. Other brands for springs are : Intrax, Sprint, and Canuck Motorsports.

Strut bars are a good investment but I don't think anyone makes a rear one although it's been awhile since I actually looked.

The Addco swaybars are bigger than the stock ones and it will make a difference. Since you have a 95 you won't have a rear swaybar to begin with. You can still use the addco rear bar from 92-94 grand ams with a bit of drilling. Here's a how-to: http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/sh...threadid=46957

KYB is a good brand for struts. Avoid the "gas-a-just" ones if ride comfort is a concern. They're a lot stiffer than the GR-2's. I'd replace the strut and shock mounts at the same time if they're still the originals.

[ecko614]

awesome link my man. Now, the one in the link said its for a 97 sway bar, would it pretty much be the same exact procedure if i order the bar for the 92-94? again man...thanx

[d.o.h.c]

I am currently desiging a rear STB for the J-body's. Should be around $80 or so. Here is the link.

http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=3&i=139180&t=139180

[ecko614]

d.o.h.c......i checked it out and it sounds pretty good. i am really intrested in picking up one of those. are you pretty positive that it'll fit on my car? i dont know a damn thing about j-bodys but if you say it'll work, ima deff take your word on it cuz you seem like you got it goin on. Fabbin up parts like that...your a beast man. Where you located at?

[d.o.h.c]

I just looked up your rear strut mount to see if it was the same part#, its not. So that bar will not work on your car. What I can do though is make one for you if you like, thats not a problem, shoot me an e-mail and I will see what I can do. We are located in Central Florida, Orlando area.

[Azrael]

The swaybar used in that link was from a 92-94 grand am being used on a 97, so it still applies to you.

[IsaacHayes]

Eibachs are progressive spring. They actually feel better than the GM FE3 springs did, and those had 200k on them.

Intrax and some of the others either lower too much or are too stiff from what I've heard. _shrug_

Rear shocks/springs aren't going to match up to the J stuff. The front strut tower brace *should* fit.

A stock front sway bar can be had in different sizes form a junk yard. IIRC they are 22m up to 31mm. I went from 22 to 28.

[bszopi]

Remember when looking up J-body stuff, you need to be looking at pre-95 components, as the body style changed in 95 and no longer fits the other cars.

[d.o.h.c]

Here you go guys. I will have more pics up later tonight. There are two bar designs right now, one square and one round. Both weigh around 2.2LBS

[HayesPerformance]

j-body?

[d.o.h.c]

Yep.