KINETICS

Hey guys, I'm planning to further upgrade my suspension. I already upgraded to coils and thinking about a Sway bar or Strut bar.

Can someone chime in on what is the major difference between the two in terms of how the car would behave with either one? And would be the next ideal step between the two? The car will be primarily a DD with maybe 2 to 3 times a year of local autoX and occasional spirited driving.

Thank you in advance for all your input!

2GSKaizen

iTrader: (1)

Sway bar is going to give you a more noticeable difference. That will reduce body roll, and greatly improve your turn-in. Strut bar will just tighten things up a bit, but it depends on if it's an adjustable strut bar, or the fixed type like the JZS147 Aristo. Fixed will be much tighter. If it were me, I'd get poly sway bar bushings first. They are around $20, easy to install, and will make a noticeable difference. If you still feel there is to much body roll, then think about the sway bar itself. I'd do the strut bar last, if you do it at all. It's not going to be a night and day difference like the sway bar will be.

sm1ke

iTrader: (5)

^^^ Exactly this. The strut bar ends up becoming more of a tower brace/engine dress up piece.

quick123

iTrader: (2)

In the sake of being technically sound...our vehicles are not equiped with struts, so the bar you see in the engine compartment is called a tower brace. It is basically for dress up purposes, as you will not be able to feel any difference installing one...

The sway bars offer a more enhanced driving feel by reducing body roll...the most significant is the rear, but I am not 100% on that as I installed both the front and rear on mine at the same time...loved the decreased body roll and highly suggest them to everyone.

UniSlayEX

^^^ what he said. lol

I had this long drawn out thing (good I refreshed) but you can read about experiences RE the sway bars below.

Tower bar is cosmetic and some big names are Tom's, Cusco, and GT Spec.

Official F-sport Sway Bar Thread!
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...ar-thread.html

KINETICS

How did it affect ride quality?

KINETICS

and to everyone that have chimed in so far...very much appreciated thank you!

quick123

iTrader: (2)

Sway bars do not affect the up and down characteristics of the suspension...so by ride quality I assume you mean does it ride stiffer or does it get bouncy, and the answer is no it does not.

The sways reduce body roll when cornering, so instead of feeling like the car is going to roll over in a sharp turn (exhaggerating) it corners flat.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^Sway bars do, in fact, effect ride quality. I'm in an F, the the ride was pretty stiff to begin with. When I replaced my rear bar with the thicker F-Sport, it stiffened up the ride, but not by much. However, as mentioned in my earlier posts, I'm very happy I made this change. With my wider tires - 245/285 and the rear bar, handling was much improved.

Lou

lopaka07

+1 for sway bars. Will improve handling characteristics of the car without sacrificing any ride quality. Definitely worth the investment imo. I do not have a tower brace so I can't give any advice about that but going with the sway bars is a win.

topspeed55

So if the shock and spring combination on all four corners are not struts then what are they?

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^Coil-over style shock absorber and spring assembly. And technically the name for the upper bar is STB or Shock Tower Brace.

Lou

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

I have all the bars on the car( F Sport sways, F Sport chassis brace, GT Spec lower 4 point brace, GT Spec upper brace, Tanabe lower 2 point brace, Jun TW center tunnel brace, Megan rear camber arms, Tuned Parts rigid bars) and I'd say that the sway bars will be the MOST significant thing you'll feel for stiffening up the overall suspension. The body roll will be more limited an you'll be able to hug those corners of freeway onramps and off ramps as well as auto X.

KINETICS

^^^^ Very nice!!!

Noob question...
What are the OEM size (mm) of the sway bars in the RWD 08' IS250?

and might as well for the one who knows
IS350-
AWD-
IS-F-

Thanks!

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^It's extremely difficult to get this information from official sources, and I have no idea why. But, about 3 years ago I talked to Lexus Corp, local Lexus Parts people and I crawled under a number of cars on dealer lots with a caliper. When completed, I compiled the attached chart. I don't think anything's changed.

Lou