Cascade Crew

pathology knight · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:38 am Post subject: wonder bar

hey guys!
i thought you guy would know the answer to this (probably) easy question:
what's a wonder bar? Confused

is that a bar that attaches to the top of the struts and goes across the engine? if so, do they make one for a TPI?
anyone got any pics to help me understand?
thanks guys and gals! Cool

blue89 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:43 am Post subject:

This is an easy one. It attaches to the sway bar brackets! Thats it. When you have one in your hand, your thinking, "this is it?".

I made one out of 1" angle iron. Just get under the car and look for the sway bar in the front. measure and cut a piece of angle iron so that you can drill holes on either end that will line up with the aft sway bar bracket bolts. Attach. I'll try to get pics of what I did, but its in the car already.

83Z28BlackBetty · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:28 am Post subject:

right, it goes under the car. What you are thinking of is a strut tower brace. the wonderbar is like a strut tower brace for the underside of your car.

~JAKE

pathology knight · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:35 am Post subject:

oh, i see. Embarassed

any preference on which is better?
i've been hearing a lot about them and would like to find one but i didn't think one would fit over or around the TPI system.
having one on the underside wouldn't be to bad.
thanks guys! Wink

Demon · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:40 am Post subject:

aaron_sK · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:40 am Post subject:

TPI is one of the lowest intakes on an F-body. It's the HSR and aftermarket intakes that get you into trouble with the strut bar.

BTW, for pics, check this TGO topic:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/auto-detailing-appearance/373447-strut-tower-brace.html

Also, in this pic, the red bar is the sway bar and the black one is the wonder bar. You can kinda see how they bolt up, and how it keeps your steering aligned.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/attachments/suspension-chassis/105424d1130104127-what-will-do-what-36mm2.jpg

blue89 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:57 am Post subject:

I noticed a big difference in steering feel when I installed my wonder bar. I'd recommend it, especially for a V8 car.

pathology knight · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:32 am Post subject:

i couldn't get the first link to load but i was able to check out the second one. that looks simple enough.
are they easy to install? i noticed the red bar connects back around the wheel area. you don't have to take anything apart do you?
i think i'll try and find one.
where's a good place to check 'em out?
...anyone got one for sale? Wink

pathology knight · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:35 am Post subject:

oh, i forgot one thing.... Embarassed

so there's a sway bar, wonder bar, and a strut tower brace bar?

if you have a wonder bar (underneath) do you need a sway bar (also underneath)? what's the difference between those two?

Dewey316 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:41 am Post subject:

Yes you "want" both.

The sway bar is a torsen spring connected between the a-arms, it keeps the car from "rolling" in corners (I will spare you the physics, unless you want it). The wonderbar, braces the front frame rails, it does not do anything for your suspesions, it is a FRAME brace, it is there to just keep your steering box from pulling itself away from the frame.

To sum that up, sway bar = suspension and performance, wonderbar = preventative maintance.

Hope that helps.

blue89 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:42 am Post subject:

All the braces do is help stiffen the chassis. Wonder bar brace helps the bottom, Strut tower brace helps the top. As you corner, the strut towers get pushed around by the struts. Thats why the strut tower brace helps. The steering box connects to the front frame and pushes the tires. So a "wonder bar" brace helps keep frame around the steering box together.

If you've ever seen a fbody taken completely apart, you'd notice that the metal of the "chassis" is thin sheet metal bent in structural shapes. And since cars are supposed to be cheap and affordable, aftermarket braces help a lot.

pathology knight · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:43 am Post subject:

makes sense! Cool

anyone got a pic of a strut bar on a TPI?

how much do these cost?
are these made specifically for these cars?

Xophertony · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:46 am Post subject:

to answer one of your questions YES you will need to take a few things apart. do you see where the red sway bar meets the wonderbar? those are your sway bar mounts. you will have to unbolt them, and place the wonderbar there, and then bolt them back on. this is very easy and took me 5 minutes last time i did it. 2 of those five were me looking up the torque spec. if you don't have ground effects you will not even need to jack the car up.

since the sway bar is a suspension component, and it's mount goes around a bushing (rubber thing that allows the sway bar to move) it needs to be tightened to a certain amount. you will need a torque wrench to do this. a torque wrench can be had for 18-30$ at a swap meet or cheap tool store.

Nathan J · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject:

if you want to get one from spohn let me no im a dealer for them hehe yes that was a plug for my self. =] lol

pathology knight · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:58 am Post subject:

thanks nathan J! Very Happy

i would like to get them (sway + wonder) but how much are they?
i saw quite a few on ebay yesterday.
i'm not to picky about it being new or used, just as long as it works!
plus, it'll be underneath the car so it doesn't even have to be pretty.

send me an email or something if you'd like.

aaron_sK · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:59 am Post subject:

Pontiac guys, correct me if I'm wrong, but wont his '89 GTA already have a 36mm front sway bar and wonder bar? Or was that just an IROC thing? I just noticed what it said in his sig.

BigDaddyVu · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:29 am Post subject:

wonderbras are nice to get a better feel on the road.

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:40 am Post subject:

Wonder bars never came on the pontiacs from the factory Shrug

.

WS6 meant a lot of different things through the years but an 89 GTA should have had the 36mm front/24mm rear sway bars from the factory.

Notice that I said from the factory on both counts - after 16 years or so who knows what strange things previous owners may have done.

-Schultzy

pathology knight · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:47 am Post subject:

i'm finally going to get my car back from my parents shop (new tpi system) so when i'm there i'll check to see if anything is under there.
if i remember correctly, there isn't. i had to crawl under there to drain the radiator and don't remember seeing any "bars"....but i'll double check to be sure.

83Z28BlackBetty · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:29 am Post subject: