I have a 85 se with 4 cylinder engine, I just purchased the rear sway bar from the fiero store. I have already installed the front one from the fiero store. I have questions what is the easiest way to install the rear sway bar and how will my car ride differently. My second question is about the brake combo valve my threads are bad in the old one. I searched and searched could not find a used one for my year of car. I went on eBay and found a brand new one for an 1988 gt, are the same if I install it on my car will it work the same as the one I had?
For the combination valve, one for an 88 GT will interchange just fine with your car. It has a slightly different proportioning setting. It supplies 75% of the front brakes pressure to the rear calipers over a certain PSI. Older Fiero's run a 67% of front pressue to the rear over a certain PSI. So it will add just a smidge more rear bias. But thats desirable in an 84 - 87, as they already have more front bias than the 88's to begin with. It's such a small difference you probably won't notice. 84-87's tend to lock the fronts prematurely compared to the 88's normally.
The sway bar, I'm not going to be much help with. Someone who has installed one will pop in.
I just purchased the rear sway bar from the fiero store. I have questions what is the easiest way to install the rear sway bar...
Define "easiest"? Does the Fiero Store not supply installation instructions with their sway bars? Several years ago I installed a front factory sway bar on the back of my '84, but I don't know if my procedure would work with the Fiero Store bar (as I have no idea what it looks like).
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Originally posted by Wittendorf1986:
...and how will my car ride differently.?
This is the question usually asked before a rear sway bar is purchased. I really liked the difference it made with my '84. The car would actually go in the direction I wanted it to on the autocross track, as opposed to wanting to plow straight ahead.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-14-2015).]
That's very helpful on the brake valve I searched and searched found nothing on differences on years. The one I bought comes from the Netherlands and was very expensive. The instructions for the fiero store sway bar are very vague the pictures aren't helpful. I have heard and read many different things about the rear sway bar. I don't know what is opinion and what is fact. My car is basically stock I have replaced the front sway bar with the fiero store one and it was difficult cause the bolt holes did not line up well to the frame
I would like to know if there is only one way the rear sway installs in? I saw where it faces front of car and where it installs facing the rear of the car. Is there any clearance issues? What does this improve on the cars ride and handling? Is there any downfall on having this add on I read some posts on here before saying makes traction and handling worse. I wanna know facts on what this will do to my car
Read over both pages of my suspension thread HERE. I daily-drove and autocrossed that Fiero for four years. It handles fantastic. I'm still trying to get my '88 Formula to handle as well. That says a lot!
My 86SE had the front sway bar on the rear, pointing forward. It did seem to improve the cornering. It also had a larger aftermarket bar on the front. I rode in another 86SE that had the same setup but the sway bar was pointing rearward. There was no comparison. Mine didn't corner near as well as the other man's car.
My 86SE had the front sway bar on the rear, pointing forward. It did seem to improve the cornering. It also had a larger aftermarket bar on the front. I rode in another 86SE that had the same setup but the sway bar was pointing rearward. There was no comparison. Mine didn't corner near as well as the other man's car.
The end where there's nothing else beyond...where the end links attach. I have also read that when moving the front sway bar to the rear that the left side should remain to the left and the right to the right. I don't know how that could be determined if you were installing an aftermarket swaybar, unless they are marked left and right.
[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 05-15-2015).]
I once installed a Herb Adams rear sway bar on my 86 GT and it was a real hassle. I made swiss cheese out of the cradle trying to get it to fit and eventually notched the back of the cradle to get it in and even then it was way to low but I could not find a place any higher. I finally made two pieces of 2 inch O.D. by .125 inch tubing and cut an opening in them to allow access to the cradle bolts and then welded them to the cradle bolt convoluted washers. They were to bolt up to the cradle bolts and use the aluminum in place of the rubber spacers. The tubing was about 4 inches long, give or take a fraction. On the bottom of the tubing I welded pads that I cut from .250 inch thick and matched the bolt pattern from the clamps that retained the swaybar bushings. This would allow the sway bar to mount higher and it cleared as well as being very rigid. Unfortunately I sold the car before the installation was complete as I was waiting on the aluminum spacers when the opportunity came up to sell. It had the Koni shocks and was lowered 2 inches with Eibach springs and also had the Herb Adams front sway bar. The person that has the Fiero is in Atlanta and is a master craftsman and plans to finish it. If you are interested in drawings for the modification that I made I would be happy to send them to you, just let me know. I was concerned about the cradle bolt but they are grade 8 and the force applied to them would not be in shear.
I can assist you with installing the rear sway bar. I made an install video for installing the Fiero Store rear sway bar. It's not very hard to install. I can get one installed in about 45 minutes. My two biggest suggestions are get a 7/16 cobalt drill bit because they seem to cut the cradle much easier than any other style bit I've used. My other suggestion is if you can get a friend to help it would make it a little easier. That way you have someone holding the sway bar so you can mark your holes and hold it while you assemble it. I did it by myself but a friend makes it a little easier. Hope it helps answering some of your questions. I can try and answer any other questions you might have.
------------------ 87 Fiero GT 3.4 Pushrod with 7730 ECM & DIS 88 MERA #8013 85 Fiero SE with 3.1 pushrod 86 Fiero SE 2.8 stock http://www.youtube.com/LostNotForgotton
It wasn't horrible I got it installed today. The 4 holes I had to drill were pain, because they were so close I the control arms hardly any room at all. Had to jack car up under control arms to get the sway bar in. But I say it should of been designed better to have the bolts not so close to the control arm bolt you had to be 100 percent precise where you had to drill that hole and even then it was hard to line up
I really liked the difference it made with my '84. The car would actually go in the direction I wanted it to on the autocross track, as opposed to wanting to plow straight ahead.
