Okay, so I cant remember if I've asked this before, so I ask/again. So, Sway bar. IPD style, vs stock sway bar. Is this an 'upgrade' i would notice no difference on, or is there a definate benefit? or is it pretty much...a sway bar is a sway bar?

I'm just puttin together a list of things to do when I go up to cold lake come spring to make use of daddy's tools....I figure the endlinks'll go in there...is there anything else i should be putting in as well?

How hard do you drive your car? Will you notice it? I don't know what stock vs IPD is in terms of size but even a couple of mm makes a difference...

I dunno, I think I should notice it, I notice more body roll than I like I try to push her harder than I should (when I'm driving solo...when I have other people in the car I tend to mellow out a bit....unless that other person is a certain bad influance

If the bushings, shocks or steering rack are old tired junk, address those first.

By spending silly dough on sways for what might be your loose jalopy, you will still have a loose jalopy+sways, which almost makes it worse IMO.

I have IPD sways on my 940 T and upgraded heavier Volvo 240 Turbo (and maybe GT in the rear) sways on my 240 GL and IMHO they make a BIG difference. They reduce body roll, improve handling and increase stability quite a bit.

My current 940 has IPD sways, sport springs and Bilstein HDs so the sways contribution to the overall much improved handling is hard to quantify since all of those things are contributing. My first 940T, however, had the IPD sways with stock springs and shocks and I can tell you they made a very noticeable difference over the rather anemic stock sways.

IMO if you're going to beef up your suspension heavier sways are probably one of the first things to do. It's certainly one of the easiest and cost effective mods to make (vs upgrading shocks and springs).

You might be able to get a good deal on a set on eBay, expecially this time of year. The always have decent resale value so you'll eventually be able to get some of your money back if you have to buy them new.

Roj

well, I KNOW my bushings need doing, that's an obvious. anyone replaced these before? how much a PITA are they? Is it something I can pull off with my dad without killing him, or should i start baking more cookies?

Shocks I think are still okay....steering rack...okay, how do you tell when that is going? hit a bump and your steering goes to hell?

Specifically though, I'm just trying to figure out how much of a difference there would be between stock s70t5 sway and those funky ass IPD ones. And now I have Roj posting that he upgraded to heavier volvo 240 turbo sways....so, does volvo have heavier sways on the turbo models?

Not necessarily...Roj was referring to 240 series cars.

BTW who's the dude in the picture whacking the cowbell ?

its essentially from a SNL skit...and i'm brainfarting on names right now...i suck i know

y'all love my cowbell dude. admit it I may get bored though and put back up the pic of miss viv...

Will Farrell.

and this is why you're the smart one matt, and i'm just the adorably cute one

I thought Matt was the adorable cute one

I'm smart, adorable, AND cute. Right? Right? Anyone?

c'mon matt, being adorable and cute is all i've got! let me have something!!!!!

but yes, yes you are.

and, uh, Ian, are you saying I'm not cute? ouch. you punched me in my feelings.

Changing a sway bar on your car is not a simple proposition like it is on a RWD car.

You pretty much need to drop the rear of the sub frame to get it in there. I would tackle it on my garage floor, but it will take a long time to do the job. It will not be fun.

Bushings on the front are not replaceable seperatly. You are buying new control arms and ball joints, with the bushings included. Are you sure about the bushings? They don't go very often, unless you had some serious brake pulse at some point.

Sway bar end links are a pain if they are rusted. I've got air, so that makes life easy, but there still have been situations where they have had to be cut off. You won't know until you get in there.

So in general, the bushing job, real easy, no cookies for dad.
Sway bar job, you awill have to bake him a years worth of cookies, and a cake to top it off.

Jordan