Front stabilizer bar

[Todd Jason Rice]

In 2 years I haven't heard of this being mentioned.

Through some investigative work on gmpartdirect.com, I have figured out that the soft ride suspension on the 2000 bonneville, (SE) is the same bar we have on the Aurora front.

The good news is that the SSEI bar then should be able to also bolt up.

I have never heard anyone doing this before so I thought it would be a cool thing to try.

BTW the next gen aurora already uses the heavier bar. I remember all the reviews talking about the firmer handling on the new aurora.

This is also the front bar in the seville sts for 98-00

[JimW]

Hrm, interesting. Its true the 2000+ Bonneville is a G-body. Any idea on how much it costs? Or if the strut tower distance is the same...

I'll ask on BonnevilleClub as well.

In my investigative work not long ago, I found the STS doesnt have an STB.

[Todd Jason Rice]

Bar alone from gmparts direct is only $84 probably need the mounts though.

STB mean no stabilizer bar? You may want to check gmpartsdirect.com and put in the info for the 98 STS.

[Todd Jason Rice]

I just thought of something, I'll bet that if you had the active ride suspension on your seville you didn't have the stablizer bar. You wouldn't need it because the shocks were made to instantaneously adjust to the needs of the car.

They are also $350 a PIECE

[Aurora40]

There are folks on Edmunds who swapped a STS anti-roll bar onto their classic. It can be done.

Jim, he means the anti-roll bar (also called a sway bar or stabilizer bar), not a strut tower brace.

The STS still had an anti-roll bar even with the adjustable shock damping. Damping will firm the ride but won't prevent roll unless there's some positive pressure in the shock like with hydraulic ones. A shock affects how quickly (how much force it takes) the individual wheel can compress. An antiroll bar connects to two wheels and tries to prevent one wheel from being more compressed than the other, though allows both to compress at the same time. Thus it affects roll but not shock absorbsion. Too much anti-roll bar can adversely affect one-wheel bumps, though, as this has the same wheel motion as roll does.

[Aurora40]

In 2000, there were features added to the STS's CVRSS for transient roll (as the car begins to roll) and steady-state roll:

For 2000, Seville benefits from the following upgrades to CVRSS:

* Transient roll control: This enhancement calculates the steering wheel velocity by using the steering angle sensor. Transient roll is improved by stiffening the outside dampers in compression and stiffening the inside dampers in rebound.

* Lateral support: This feature uses the lateral acceleration signal to improve vehicle lateral support by stiffening the outside dampers in compression and the inside dampers in rebound, effectively "wedging" the car, or decreasing lateral load transfer in the turn. This means that as the vehicle reaches steady state, the damper settings become optimized for road-holding to improve tire-to-road contact.

That year the STS had a 30mm front and 22mm rear anti-roll bar. I believe they were both solid. The SLS had 28mm front and 18mm rear anti-roll bars.

The 2001+ Aurora has 30mm front and 20mm rear anti-roll bars on both 3.5 and 4.0s. This is the same as the specs for the 2001 SSEi and SLE. The SE has a 29mm front and no rear anti-roll bar.

What are the specs on the classic?

[Todd Jason Rice]

Yes that makes more sense that it would still have a stabilizer bar, even with the CVR.

I'd really like to have a little better control when cornering.

[Todd Jason Rice]

the front stabilizer bar is the same as the soft ride for the bonneville

the rear stabilizer bar is the same as the buick lesabre (firm) ride and the park avenue soft ride, (boo hiss) I hate grandpa buicks and the ride they give.

I think I need a change.

[Letitroll98]

rodtice, if I might suggest here, you'd get a more neutral handle adjustment by upgrading the rear bar's diameter before messing with the front bar. The primary handling trait in the Aurora is understeer, massive understeer. This would be fixed by addressing the rear suspension, not the front. If you do increase the size of the front bar, which might not be a bad thing, increase the rear even more.

For a firmer steering feel, upgrade the bushings to a harder formula, you're in there anyway. I would also adjust the spring rates and dampers as well if the time and money budget will allow. I don't know what the rates are, but go slow here. Like if stock is 275/200, try a move to 325/250 max.

What you want to do here is act like a car designer or a race car driver, treat the suspension as a system. IMHO judicious small upgrades with recommendations from people who have done it is the best way to go rather than just bolt on a bar from the Bonny.