Rear ant-sway bar question

[SOPHIA]

I'm looking at purchasing an Addco 390 Rear Anti-Sway Bar for my 1982 Fiat Spider 2000. Do any members recommend this, or have any "issues" with this Addco style of rear anti-sway bar?

Thanks!

[NJFIAT1981]

Had one on my 1980 spider. Liked it. Got it from Vandor. He may have some info. Good luck. George

[kmead]

I wouldn't.

The reason is it will stiffen the rear suspension from left to right, tending to keep the inside rear wheel more lightly loaded which will tend to cause it to spin more easily.

If you put the rear one on you need to upgrade the front one to the 1" bar to balance the stiffness around the car. If you don't the front will lean as it always has and the rear will be stiff and will lift the inside rear tire all the more.

Personally I would only go with the thicker front bar, it will help keep that inside rear wheel planted and putting power to the ground rather than spinning it. Alternatively you could look into higher rate springs to control roll and pitch.

[SOPHIA]

Thanks for the insights.

[narfire]

I went to the 1" front bar and Koni's and thought about the rear bar as well. Just love the way it is now without the rear bar.(i have IAP red springs as well though)

[vandor]

Since the Spiders understeer a lot from the factory, many owners install a rear swaybar, as that will lessen that tendency.
It is true that with a rear bar the car is more likely to spin a tire in a fast turn, but one rarely drives that hard on the street - it is mainly a problem for people who race these cars.

I prefer to have the larger front swaybar aswell as a rear swaybar. I have a friend who thinks the larger front bar is too much, and on both his Spider and Coupe he has the stock front and the Addco rear bar. So this has also to do about how people like their cars to feel.

I also had a '70 Spider that oversteered too much with a 5/8" rear bar. I went with a 1/2" bar and it was fine. My '71 Spider, which is nearly identical, does not oversteer at all with a 5/8" bar. So there could be car to car differences aswell.

The Addco rear bar works fine, it's endlink design is a bit more complicated then it needs to be, so installation requites drilling, but once it's on it does its job well.

[Tobi]

I did the Addco bar in the front and the rear at the same time together with lowering the car and putting on 185/60 13 tires and I really like the way the car handles. The car is almost neutral with a tendency to oversteer. Whenever I make the rear end brake loose it is very controllable. To bad the differential is not build strong enough for drifting.