mw1

Although of course the RX is no sports car, I have been looking in vain for a set of stiffer aftermarket sways to clean up the body roll and help the high(er)-speed handling of my RX.

Does anybody know if such animals exist, and if so, who makes them?

spinteews

i'm with you, i wanna know if any compnay out there makes for our ride.

Swing913

iTrader: (1)

There are none making for our ride and our car already has one already

LexRX

The RX already has a strut brace and sway bar, but I think what mw1 is talking about is a better (larger diameter) sway bar.

Strut Bar...

LexRX

sway bar

spinteews

Cool, i knew we had a strut, but did'nt know we had a sway... but ya, a much better one would be nice

mw1

Yes, LexRX is correct.

We need a thicker sway bar up front and another in the rear suspension. Apparently, nobody makes it for the RX, and there really is a need for one!

What is the RX based on? The Camry chassis, right? I wonder if anyone makes thicker aftermarket performance-type Camry sways? TRD? And if so, do you think they would bolt-up to the RX?

Does anyone know something that would be close enough so that a weekend garage mechanic such as myself could make fit in the RX??

LexRX

I've seen sway bars for the Camry Solara, but I doubt it will be the same for the RX.

The RX is based on the Camry. The chassis sharers include Camry, Solara, ES300 and Highlander.

mw1

News flash!

I was thumbing through a race magazine and found this place:

http://www.sanerperffab.com/prod01.htm

Seems they *may* be able to prototype a set of RX sways and mounting brackets. I emailed them already to see what they think and what exactly they need to make it happen.

I think for the first set we should specify maybe 75% stiffer front and rear. What do y'all think? Too stiff? Not enough?

Id be happy to order the first set and play around with the car on a skidpad to come up with proper adjustment settings (and any needed specification changes) to keep the car's handling at a mild understeer to keep it safe for the average driver.

Will let ya know what they say

-Marc

LexRX

mw1, try upgrading wheels/tires. You'll notice a good difference with wider tires and some 18 or 19's

mw1

For the RX in particular, wider tires will help handling in general, but not as much as a set of properly tuned stiffer sways. Going to larger diameter, lower profile tires, will give you a slightly rougher ride, and less warning of impending loss of adhesion. Those wheels look cool, but the excessive amount of body roll in turns is the primary issue holding back lateral roadholding on the RX300 IMO.

The aftermarket will generally push tires, wheels, and often springs as ways to improve handling, which as a general concept is not incorrect, but the main reasons they do this are:

1- easier to make these items
2- these items can be installed on many vehicles (are not vehicle specific)
3- most people really don't understand what really works and what does'nt, so they will buy the product and install it regardless (because they can, not because they should)

For example, most spring kits are designed to lower the car, not really improve the handling (although yes, a lower CG will result) but this is really not the main purpose. In fact, if you lower too much, you will screw up the handling on many cars, because the suspension geometry often was never made to work as such extreme angles. In addition, most people fail to get their car re-aligned after installing new springs, so what does that tell you about handling?

Speaking of spings, my next step is to talk to a tech at Eibach and find out how stiff their RX springs are compared to OEM.

If we do our homework, and design this system right, we can set up a really great handling RX300 for much less then the cost of a new set of wheels and tires!

LexRX

Alrighty, mw1, sounds like you know what you're ready to do to your RX. I just tought I'd mention new tires/wheels b/c it is a good route to go (maybe just more common?) for improved handling/cornering. The same amount of body roll is there, but the road holding abilities of the tire is improved.

Less body roll (meaning sways, etc) would certainly be the way to improve handling overall. But, for the RX, I don't feel that any drastic improvements in handling are necessary or practical as it is an SUV.

Keep us posted on your findings and changes

DoubleWhoosh

Some sway bars will be available in a short while for these vehicles, the price should be right around $500.

Not sure who else will actually purchase these, but I'll probably put some on our RX.

spinteews

wow, i been busy latly and all this talk about sways !! i want in also =)

i would love the better handling lol, i MIGHT have a better chance at chasing down my buddy in his celica gts this time around

haha o well, but ya, that'd be great, are you sure it will be coming out?

also, Your right on track and know what your doing MW1, keep it up and ya, we might be able to drift hehe, ok mabbie not drift but handle GOOD

btw, i have a silversport and my suspension is stiffer then usual... my handling is bit better so far from the loaners i have recieved...

mw1

Sweet! Who is making them, and do you have any specs on them? Id be interested in whether they are adjustable, and their front and rear bar diameters.

The reason I ask is because Saner performance is also interested in making RX bars, but will need to "borrow" my OEM sways because the design is too complicated to draw out for them on a piece of paper as there are some bends in the middle of the front bar to avoid the power settering unit. I can't have my wife going to the grocery store without any sways, so I don't think that these guys will be able to come up with anything anytime soon, so let me know some details on what you have come up with there.