Stiffer Sway Bar

Jon M

Jon M

Active Member
Aug 29, 2021
60
179
33
Phoenix AZ
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  1. Talon X4
I want to send my 1000-X4 shocks to Weller for a respring and re-valve. Rock crawling (sand hollow, moab, etc.) accounts for 80% of my driving and is what really wets my whistle. The other 20% is service road cruising with grandma and grandpa. I'm not a speed demon and don't drive particularly fast since my kids or (older) parents are usually with me.

I've read all (I think) the threads on Talon suspension setup, springs and tuning and am pretty certain that I want the full soft package (5-20mph). Im willing to adjust (slow) my driving style on the hardpacked roads to accommodate the new shock setup.

To help with body roll on pavement and dirt roads, I'm looking for a sway bar that is significantly stiffer than stock. The only two I have found are an Eibach for a two-seater and Double E unit that may or may not (?) fit a talon.

Does anyone have experience with these? @Lil_Steve @Brazula4life @PaulF
Will they work with a X4?
Can anyone recommend a sway bar other than the two mentioned above?
 
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Smitty335

Smitty335

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Oct 3, 2016
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NWA Arkansas
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  1. 1000-3

  2. 1000-5
I want to send my 1000-X4 shocks to Weller for a respring and re-valve. Rock crawling (sand hollow, moab, etc.) accounts for 80% of my driving and is what really wets my whistle. The other 20% is service road cruising with grandma and grandpa. I'm not a speed demon and don't drive particularly fast since my kids or (older) parents are usually with me.

I've read all (I think) the threads on Talon suspension setup, springs and tuning and am pretty certain that I want the full soft package (5-20mph). Im willing to adjust (slow) my driving style on the hardpacked roads to accommodate the new shock setup.

To help with body roll on pavement and dirt FR roads, I'm looking for a sway bar that is significantly stiffer than stock. The only two I have found are an Eibach for a two-seater and Double E unit that may or may not (?) fit a talon.

Does anyone have experience with these? @Lil_Steve @Brazula4life @PaulF
Will they work with a X4?
Can anyone recommend a sway bar other than the two mentioned above?
When I bought my Elka Stage 5's they came with a book on shock adjustment. The Stage 5's have 3 adjustments, high and low speed compression adjustments, which have nothing to do with vehicle speed and rebound, the compression adjustments control the rate of compression at impact, rebound controls the speed of the shock returning to the original impact point before the impact. A stiffer sway bar will make your articulation pitiful on trails. You can have the best of two worlds, get rid of the sway bar and run the low speed compression on slow, it will take the body roll out for Grandma and Grandpa. But you will need shocks with these adjustments. You may need to get a book to understand what I'm talking about.
 
CID

CID

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  1. Talon R
I have quick disconnect sway bar links on my R2 and they're almost never hooked up. I can run some foolish speeds without a swaybar, not sure why you'd want a heavier one, especially since you're going to full soft with the Weller setup. Physics for the curious - a swaybar connects the left and right side shocks together, both valving and spring rate - connected, everything is stiffer.

Try removing a link and driving it around, it's a free experiment. For others wanting to try this - on an R, you have to remove both links and tie the SB up or the loose end will hit the upper trailing arm.

SB bungeed up on my R -
I 9P5S7w3 XL

Showing how close the SB is to the upper trailing arm if only one link is removed on the R -
I WjFL2hP XL

Quick disconnect link in its normal disconnected position -
I Rj9gxnr X2
 
Last edited:
Tramguage1

Tramguage1

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Jul 2, 2015
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  1. 1000-5

  2. Talon X
I have the Eibach sway bar and the Weller full shock package. I don't like the feel of no sway bar, but the larger sway bar does make the body roll more comfortable. I feel it was money well spent.
I have a set of quick disconnects on my list of future mods.
 
Lil_Steve

Lil_Steve

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May 22, 2019
544
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Gilbert, AZ
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  1. Talon R
I want to send my 1000-X4 shocks to Weller for a respring and re-valve. Rock crawling (sand hollow, moab, etc.) accounts for 80% of my driving and is what really wets my whistle. The other 20% is service road cruising with grandma and grandpa. I'm not a speed demon and don't drive particularly fast since my kids or (older) parents are usually with me.

I've read all (I think) the threads on Talon suspension setup, springs and tuning and am pretty certain that I want the full soft package (5-20mph). Im willing to adjust (slow) my driving style on the hardpacked roads to accommodate the new shock setup.

To help with body roll on pavement and dirt roads, I'm looking for a sway bar that is significantly stiffer than stock. The only two I have found are an Eibach for a two-seater and Double E unit that may or may not (?) fit a talon.

Does anyone have experience with these? @Lil_Steve @Brazula4life @PaulF
Will they work with a X4?
Can anyone recommend a sway bar other than the two mentioned above?

Hi John, I have the Eibach sway bar on my 1000R but I'm not sure whether or not it will fit the X4's. I Just looked up some online part #'s and the only thing I can determine is that the stock sway bar on the R's is 22mm in diameter while the stock sway bar on the X/X4 is 22.2mm in diameter. I still have the stock sway bar from my R, you're welcome to come pick it up to compare to your X4 sway bar to see if it will bolt up. If it bolts up no problem, I don't see why you cant run the Eibach.
I will give you a heads up about running a stiffer sway bar though, see my thread below about it. Although my frame is now reinforced, there is an aftermarket sway bar frame brace available to help prevent cracks. SWAY BAR FRAME BRACE — Raceco-usa

 
Last edited:
Jon M

Jon M

Active Member
Aug 29, 2021
60
179
33
Phoenix AZ
Ownership

  1. Talon X4
When I bought my Elka Stage 5's they came with a book on shock adjustment. The Stage 5's have 3 adjustments, high and low speed compression adjustments, which have nothing to do with vehicle speed and rebound, the compression adjustments control the rate of compression at impact, rebound controls the speed of the shock returning to the original impact point before the impact. A stiffer sway bar will make your articulation pitiful on trails. You can have the best of two worlds, get rid of the sway bar and run the low speed compression on slow, it will take the body roll out for Grandma and Grandpa. But you will need shocks with these adjustments. You may need to get a book to understand what I'm talking about.
Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that I usually disconnect the sway bar when running trails or crawling. I keep it attached for cruising and pavement.
 
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Jon M

Jon M

Active Member
Aug 29, 2021
60
179
33
Phoenix AZ
Ownership

  1. Talon X4
I have quick disconnect sway bar links on my R2 and they're almost never hooked up. I can run some foolish speeds without a swaybar, not sure why you'd want a heavier one, especially since you're going to full soft with the Weller setup. Physics for the curious - a swaybar connects the left and right side shocks together, both valving and spring rate - connected, everything is stiffer.

Try removing a link and driving it around, it's a free experiment. For others wanting to try this - on an R, you have to remove both links and tie the SB up or the loose end will hit the upper trailing arm.
Thanks for the reply.
I usually disconnect my sway bar on both sides and run full soft on the shocks for the trails and rocks.
For the street and dirt roads, I keep the sway bar connected and set the shocks to medium-hard depending on the type of road.
Since I am going full soft on the Weller shocks, I just want to minimize body roll on the pavement to keep wifey happy and grandma less scared... I'll disconnect the sway bar for the trails and rocks.
 
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Jon M

Jon M

Active Member
Aug 29, 2021
60
179
33
Phoenix AZ
Ownership

  1. Talon X4
Hi John, I have the Eibach sway bar on my 1000R but I'm not sure whether or not it will fit the X4's. I Just looked up some online part #'s and the only thing I can determine is that the stock sway bar on the R's is 22mm in diameter while the stock sway bar on the X/X4 is 22.2mm in diameter. I still have the stock sway bar from my R, you're welcome to come pick it up to compare to your X4 sway bar to see if it will bolt up. If it bolts up no problem, I don't see why you cant run the Eibach.
I will give you a heads up about running a stiffer sway bar though, see my thread below about it. Although my frame is now reinforced, there is an aftermarket sway bar frame brace available to help prevent cracks. SWAY BAR FRAME BRACE — Raceco-usa

Hmmm... Not sure if the sway bar for the lighter R is stiffer than the sway bar for the heavier X4. I'll look into this...
Looks like some sort of frame brace might be necessary if I keep the sway bar attached.
Thanks for the reply.
 
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Remington

Remington

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Jul 24, 2016
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  1. 1000-5

  2. Talon X
@Plumber32 I have these on our sway bars and they help tons. Still gives you the swaybar feel but with more articulation. Plumber can explain it better. Mine is an x2 his is an x4
 
SLOWPOKE693

SLOWPOKE693

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Mar 10, 2020
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  1. Talon R
The Double E bar is for racing and I wouldn't recommend it for your use because it doesn't like articulation and will snap in half. The Eibach bar is nice and I recommend that one for your X4. It's 3 position adjustable so dialing in your preferred amount of body roll should not be a problem.
 
Jon M

Jon M

Active Member
Aug 29, 2021
60
179
33
Phoenix AZ
Ownership

  1. Talon X4
The Double E bar is for racing and I wouldn't recommend it for your use because it doesn't like articulation and will snap in half. The Eibach bar is nice and I recommend that one for your X4. It's 3 position adjustable so dialing in your preferred amount of body roll should not be a problem.
Is the Double E bar significantly stiffer than the eibach? I would only be using it for street and service roads where articulation is not an issue. It would be disconnected for trail use.
 
SLOWPOKE693

SLOWPOKE693

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Mar 10, 2020
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  1. Talon R
Is the Double E bar significantly stiffer than the eibach? I would only be using it for street and service roads where articulation is not an issue. It would be disconnected for trail use.

You don't need the Double E sway bar it's not for your application, street or otherwise. It's specifically for RACING and is meant to be used with George's (Double E) shock valving and spring combination for best results.

I run Double E suspension on my Talon race car and use the Eibach sway bar. Save the extra money and put it towards a set of portals. 😁

474A0438
 
cshluver

cshluver

New Member
May 30, 2019
9
21
3
Loveland CO
Ownership

  1. Talon R
Have been running Double E racing sway bar for about 5k miles. LOVE it. I run everything from high-speed washes to Poison spider, behind the rocks, wipe out and all the other crazy stuff. I never disconnect the links and drive around most of the guys trying to pick a line.

HOWEVER, the frame is prone to breaking at the sway bar gussets. Get a Raceco sway bar frame brace, immediately, something I believe everybody should have.
After your frame breaks (mine broke in three spots) contact me and I'll hook you up with my custom gusset set. Yeah I know my welding skills need some work
.GussetFrame break
 
SLOWPOKE693

SLOWPOKE693

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Mar 10, 2020
1,587
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Somewhere in Texas
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  1. Talon R
Can anybody explain to me how the Raceco part keeps the frame from cracking? I'm not knocking Raceco at all, I run a bunch of Jamie's stuff, but I can't see how that cures the frame cracking. I can see how it prevents the sway bar mounts from cracking and breaking off though.....

In my non professional opinion, I think these frames crack in those spots because the rear half of the frame flexes up and down while riding because it basically has zero support. The two tiny tubes that crack run from the rear bulkhead up to the B pillar cross bar and are the only two tubes that support the entire rear of the chassis. The stock "rollcage" does zero to support the rear section of the chassis in that respect because it's only held on with (4) 6mm bolts off the back of the frame. Aftermarket cages that bolt on to that same spot with no other rear supports are just as useless in regards to frame flex and cracking. Had Honda mounted the tubes to the top of the rear section of frame in the bed it would have helped with chassis flex a ton. I noticed this potential problem immediately after taking the plastics and bed off my Talon when I went to start my short course build. My solution to the problem was to cut all the tubes under the bed off, replace those with DOM tube of various thickness and size, and then tie the rear down bars of my cage directly into the frame. I raced the entire 2021 season of the Texas Outlaw short course Series and had no frame cracking issues to speak of.

20200907 214437


20200907 214417
 
DRZRon1

DRZRon1

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May 11, 2019
839
2,678
93
PA
Ownership

  1. Talon X
@Remington - do you think those shock absorbers act like the $375 Walker Evans sway bar links- kinda keeps the sway bar disconnected for a bit and then at some point in the travel sway bar is connected when shock collapses - you run them on both sides?
 
Remington

Remington

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  1. 1000-5

  2. Talon X
@Remington - do you think those shock absorbers act like the $375 Walker Evans sway bar links- kinda keeps the sway bar disconnected for a bit and then at some point in the travel sway bar is connected when shock collapses - you run them on both sides?
I would say yes, kinda the same feel . I like them, @Plumber32 swears by them
 

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