STS rear sway bar upgrade

[95mushroom]

Got my bar in yesterday, installed it today. The bar was from a 2000 STS, from Highway 54 Auto Salvage in Trenton TN. Great place, was quote $25 for shipping, was charged actual shipping costs (a rarity nowadays). Was $30+19.01 shipping. Was in "A" condition (under 60k miles). I ordered new stabilizer bushings (2 @ 5 ea.) and links (2 @ $10 ea.) from gmpartsdirect.com. Luckily I checked the car first, you need 2 bushings.

Just for clarification, the part place is car-part.com

You can noticed the difference between the old link and the beefy new link. The new link is ABS plastic vs. the rolled steel.



Here you can really noticed the difference between the original 17mm sway bar vs. the new 22mm bar. I painted the bar silver, a theme I'm kinda running with. The new springs and rear shock brace will be silver too.


Can't really see much here, besides the sparkles






The new bar came with the bushings/brackets still on them (presumably it took to much work it get off). I used their brackets with my new bushings.







Decent complete, shot of the bar installed.



Definitely can tell a difference right off the bat. Did a few quick slaloms, its not quite dead-flat, improved, but just a slight pitch through each, sorta like the car 'sets'. With my new springs, it should be dead flat. The biggest improvement seems to turn-in, much sharper. Took it on a quick spin through the town to check the ride quality, with my Mom and brother riding along. Went to go hit some one-wheel speed bumps, I think my Mom said it best "Is there supposed to be a difference?" Easily worth the $90, I found the bar through car-part.com. It was the cheapest one on there that specific FE3 supension. There's a few on there for $40-$50 bux.

[unirok]

Nice...def a worthwhile upgrade.

[Aurora40]

Nice work, great documentation of it. From the few people I've heard of that did that, it was a very worthwhile and inexpensive improvement.

[95mushroom]

Part #s;
Bar - 25666234
Links - 25684759
Bushings - 25666235

Write up;

Removal
1) Jack up and remove both rear wheels and set the car on jack stands.
2) Unbolt each link, 13mm socket for the top bolt, 1 1/4" wrench for the bottom.
3) Unbolt the bushing brackets, 1/2" socket (I believe). They are rather long bolts.
4) Your gonna have to remove one of the bushings on either side to get the bar to fit out (stupid gas tank's in the way). A lot of WD-40 makes this easier. Once its off, rotate the bar so its long ways with the car and slide out, watching up you don't destroy the brake lines.
5) Remove the old bushings from the brackets and insert the new ones. Not much help besides, they're easier off the bar, and to use a lot of brute force . If you can't get the old ones out, you could always cut them out, and use a rubberized mallet to get the new ones in ;D

Install
Reverse the steps for the install. Remember to grease up all the components. When you install the bushing, while you try to get bushing up the bar, grease the bar about a thumb space after the bend because you'll loose most of the grease you already applied. The grease should also provide enough lube to help make getting the one on while the bar's on the car. Also double check first that the brackets/bushings are on correctly (bolt hole down, with the flat side of the bracket facing away from the link mounts).



Thanks guys. After some more wheel time, I almost get the sense that car is smoother as well. The rear used to sound like it 'crashed' a bit over rough patches, but everything feels more solid now.

[Mr. Javi]

Nice work there.

[luvmybravada]

Looks like a How To sticky to me! Awesome job. The only thing I don't like is it makes me want to go do it now!!! Grrr, darn you Shroom!

BTW, do you have KYB's on the front? I've heard they are supposed to be the best next to the F350 shocks upgrade.

[scottydl]

Very nice! I added this to the Suspension How-To's in the performance maintenance sticky up top.

[95mushroom]

Thanks guys. It's always cool to have another sticky .

luvmybravada said:

Looks like a How To sticky to me! Awesome job. The only thing I don't like is it makes me want to go do it now!!! Grrr, darn you Shroom!

BTW, do you have KYB's on the front? I've heard they are supposed to be the best next to the F350 shocks upgrade.

Yep, I have KYBs on the front. Definitely a worthwhile performance upgrade.

The Rancho upgrade maybe be well suited to the Riv's that have them already. I feel the main point of them is the is to add acceleration grip, something every Aurora I've seen doesn't really need and the sacrifice in ride would be too much of a trade-off.


If someone really wanted to, a similar upgrade (for 95's and 96's) would be to upgrade to the 97+ Aurora's 29mm front bar from our 27mm. That's only a 7% difference in thickness vs. the 33% from 17mm to 22mm on this upgrade. I dunno if anyone could actually tell the difference between the two fronts.

[A-boy95]

95, i know this may sound off topic, thanks for that pic of the ELC sensor. know mi know what my new one will look like.

[95mushroom]

Sure bud, glad to help

[eva]

Hi 95mushroom-

Nice pictures of your job there, very detailed.

I have a couple of questions for you:

Do you know if the anti-roll bar from the 2000 STS will fit the 2nd generation Aurora?

Regarding the end-link kit: I'm confused about where you got it - the GM Parts Direct Store, or the car-part.com place? I did visit the gmpartsplace, but can not figure out how to find the item.
Do you happen to have a stock number?

Thanks!

[Aurora40]

eva said:

Do you know if the anti-roll bar from the 2000 STS will fit the 2nd generation Aurora?

The STS rear sway bar is 22mm. The 2nd gen Aurora bar is 20mm. Both cars have a 30mm front bar. I don't think there is much benefit to swapping in the STS bar on the 2nd gen Aurora.

[oldsjake]

Jul 17, 2006 22:30:12 GMT -6 luvmybravada said:

Looks like a How To sticky to me! Awesome job. The only thing I don't like is it makes me want to go do it now!!! Grrr, darn you Shroom!

BTW, do you have KYB's on the front? I've heard they are supposed to be the best next to the F350 shocks upgrade.

Question- F-350 upgrade? As in Ford shocks. Never heard of this but, I've had my 1st Aurora about 4 days! Thanks.

[diablo]

Ford shocks?

I've had my RA for 9 months

[lanceslambos]

awesome mushroom, you need to get the caddy strut bar brace now

[95mushroom]

Nov 13, 2008 18:25:25 GMT -6 oldsjake said:

Question- F-350 upgrade? As in Ford shocks. Never heard of this but, I've had my 1st Aurora about 4 days! Thanks.

It was a fairly popular mod, more so for the G-body cars with the S/C 3800 (Bonneville, Riviera) to help gain front tire traction (less rear squat). The down side was that it increased the ride stiffness. Here's a link to a how-to-do-it, if you're interested.

rivfaq.bravehost.com/Rancho_shocks.htm

Nov 27, 2008 11:21:56 GMT -6 lanceslambos said:

awesome mushroom, you need to get the caddy strut bar brace now

Thanks, but the only reason there's any mention of the Caddy strut bar in this forum, is because of this guy . I had ordered the bar in 2004. It wasn't a direct fit, so I just left it in the garage. Then away back, not where if you're familiar with v2, but it refers to the period when ACNA decided to move to it's own forum. Dan, Custom88, did the Bonneville strut brace to his 2nd Gen, and then I remember I still had my Caddy brace. I was able to get it to fit by just slightly opening the bolt holes. Not soon after v2 crashed and ACNA moved back here to the proboards forum. A bit after everyone moved back, member Letitroll98 started his later to be 10page+ strut brace thread after readingg my thread. His thread popularized the bar, and everyone started ordering theirs after that point.

Here's a post of mine back from 2004 when I ordered it.

townhall.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef04296/1051

[sall]

Dec 2, 2008 14:23:18 GMT -6 95mushroom said:

Thanks, but the only reason there's any mention of the Caddy strut bar in this forum, is because of this guy .

And thank you for that and this thread, even if it's 4 years old. Swapped the rear bar and added poly bushings and modified the fluid reservoir for the STB. Nice ride change... for the better! And I thought it was good with new susp and poly around before.

[Randy T.]

1998-2004- Rear Sway Bar - 25666234 - CADILLAC - SEVILLE, SEVILLE STS, SEVILLE SLS

#9 in the picture. Diagram is from an '04 Cadillac.




Does anyone know if this is an upgrade for stock '97 and up Auroras? I am thinking about trying to find one of these rear bars, which should be pretty easy.

[Randy T.]

Yes, it is an upgrade for '97-'03 Auroras.

[XJSman89]

Have you taken on multiple personalities, or did you find the answer to your own question? ;D

[sall]

Looks like he is answering his own question.

You will like it! Keep in mind only FE3 equipped Cadillac models have this part number.

All Classics have 17mm hollow rear sway bar. All 2gs have 20mm rear sway bar. The FE3 Cadillac rear sway bar is 22mm and seemed to be solid. So if a 2G bar is readily available to you it would be an improvement from the Classic 17 but not worth it for a 2G to jump to Cadillac 22mm. Nice little improvement mine has been in installed about 8 months w/ poly sway and endlink bushings.

All I know is I love my suspension setup ;D

[Randy T.]

Thanks! A 2G is available and plenty of Cadillacs are also available. I am wanting to do the front sway bar, too, but I will post a different thread about that. I have been looking at my rear frame and mounts lately, I would also like to find a newer one of those one of these days.

Mar 25, 2013 8:28:13 GMT -6 XJSman89 said:

Have you taken on multiple personalities, or did you find the answer to your own question? ;D

Just trying to get my post count up!

[Randy T.]

I agree!

[sall]

Mar 25, 2013 18:17:36 GMT -6 Randy T. said:

Thanks! A 2G is available and plenty of Cadillacs are also available. I am wanting to do the front sway bar, too, but I will post a different thread about that.

No problem! Been there done that(research for front too) haha.

Front Sway Bar:

95-96: 27mm(1.06")
97-99: 29mm(1.14")
01-03: 30mm(1.18") ---- Same for Seville STS et al.

No gains really to be made in the front swap IMO. I decided against it ultimately. Just throw some poly sway and end link bushings on.

[Randy T.]

Thanks! At least I didn't waste money on 2 sway bars that were wrong anyways in the hopes of gaining 1mm, lol. Ha ha! Yeah, I did.

[sall]

.

[Randy T.]

Got a 25650388 rear sway bar, brackets, and bushings, off of a '98 Buick Ultra today, same number as the 2G rear sway bar. I got the rear springs off of the Ultra, too, but figured out one was broken at the top when I got it home. I also bought the rear calipers off of the Ultra, thinking they might be bigger, but they look like the same size. I forgot the rear brake upgrade for Aurora is from newer Ultras, (BUICK PARK AVENUE ULTRA (2003 - 2005)) I can't believe the supercharger is still on that Ultra, it's been there for 6 months.

Well, at least I got the rear bar, that was worth what I paid for everything.

[shelbyracing]

I will be looking forward to this in the future What about that F350 shock there are talking about? link is broken, was that front or rear?

[sall]

Rear. Rancho shocks. Here is the write-up from Riviera forum.

rivperformance.editboard.com/t1030-write-up-installing-rancho-f-250-shocks-on-the-riviera#10848

Apparently those Rancho are not available anymore, but I didn;t look TBH.

or there is these:

www.strutmasters.com/Oldsmobile-Aurora-Air-Suspension-Rear-Conversion-p/-cad-r5ns-oa.htm

[shelbyracing]

I see, I kinda figured they wouldn't have a strut shock but ya never know what someone will put together haha, I have Nissan air shocks on my atv and welded a pipes perpendicular to make a bracket to switch it from vertical post mount to horizontal. (I didn't use other air shocks cause those had the best travel for my dimensions).
Anyway I already have air bags and air shocks T'd in to one line and the level rod bent, every so slightly, and it gives me great traction. Ride is fine too.