[rivercitysaab]

There are a lot of threads on this forum regarding various suspension mods and add-ons. The one thing I really want to know is which one is the best to buy first, then 2nd, 3rd, etc. I have a 2001 9-3 SE convertible with 21K miles, 5 spd, HOT. I want to buy the 6 pt. subframe brace, steering rack kit, strut brace, poly bushings but can't decide which one to get first.

The steering rack kit from Genuine Saab contains a rack brace, rear bar 15 mm, and bushings. What is the rear bar for? Are the bushings included for the control arms, inner, or outer? The site isn't very detailed on this description. I'm thinking I might get the kit and the subframe brace to start but not sure if I need the rear bar and the bushings.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[earthworm]

Good choices, but actually the first thing is the tires.
People do recommend the rears anti-sway bar as no. one...
Good luck on this one..

 

[jrbrangi]

get the 22mm rear sway bar. Night and day difference

 

[Castro_9]

I leased a 2002 Viggen convertible for three years.

When the lease was up and I had to get rid of it I picked up a '99 HOT Vert.

The 99 handles considerably better than the Viggen with the following:
Steering Rack Brace
Poly Bushings
Rear Sway Bar
Sub Frame Brace

All reasonably cheap, unfortunately they all went in at the same time so I couldn't tell you the order of which to get them.

I guess it comes down to what specifically you are look for?
Torque Steer: Steering Rack Brace
Hard Cornering: Rear Sway Bar
etc, etc ...

For me: I think by far the Steering rack brace offers the most improvement because I don't feel like I am riding a bull anymore under acceleration. Then second would be a rear sway bar because it tightens it up on the corners.

I agree with Earthworm on the tires though because I finally got my new rims and tires and was surprised that it performs even better when handling now.

Oh yeah: I am completely new to this forum and mod'ing a saab so don't put to much stock in this

 

[rivercitysaab]

The tires are almost brand new (Goodyear) and I just had the wheels balanced and aligned. I think I'm good to go in that area.

Castro_9 - Did you have all the bushings replaced or just the ones in the control arms?

And what is the 15 mm rear bar for that comes with the steering rack kit from genuinesaab.com? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

 

[ragtopcav]

If you don't mind, I'll move this to the tuning and mods section for our cars.

Also, to add, I've not done the 22mm rear bar, I went the cheapo route instead and obtained a second one and did the double stack. This change to the rear beam though useful did not have the startling difference changing the front inner bushes to polyurethane items [these babies from powerflex ] I'm still amazed at how much better the car turns in [better than a 9000 ]

 

[Castro_9]

Err tough to remember because there was a big ordering debacle but when I take a quick look at genuinesaab.com this is pretty much what I found the most effective.

http://www.genuinesaab.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=56_28&products_id=36
If I remember all of what I got it was something like MP 2pt subframe brace, inner and outer bushings, rear sway and steering rack clamp and brace. (also got a 3" downpipe but that's not relevant to this thread )

FYI: The ordering debacle wasn't at genuinesaab.com so order with confidence from Taliafero.

 

[texasjohn]

rear sway bar upgrade for sure!

 

[Tweek's Turbos]

River city, the rear bar that comes in the kit replaces the stock rear bar. In my opinion make sure you get the 25mm unit with whatever kit you get. I think there is an option to increase bar size.

Since your car is a 9-3 SE your front bar is 24mm. I have upgraded to your cars suspension specs and have recently replaced my upgraded rear 22mm bar to a 25.5 bar from Genuine. I must say I prefir this balance.

Oh, and River, the 15 isn't the size, its the estimated install time.

 

[rivercitysaab]

Thanks for the great information. Would you replace only the inner bushings or the inner, outer and front tie bar rear bushings. Don't want to replace anything right now that isn't going to make a big difference.

 

[Tweek's Turbos]

I overhauled the front of my car, a 95 all at once. 94 and 95 cars had substandard designs. I can't say what one thing vs the other did.

 

[ragtopcav]

I overhauled the front of my car, a 95 all at once. 94 and 95 cars had substandard designs. I can't say what one thing vs the other did.

You could be very wrong on this for sure substandard is not a good choice of description, I found out something rather interesting earlier this year.

All the parts of the front suspension are from the Vauxhall Cavalier, simple things like bushes etc, there's a big difference though, the Vauxhall suspension arm [or lower wishbone] is a fabricated steel unit but all fixings are the same as the 900; there's big problems with wishbones on Vauxhalls, they snap if ever subjected to jacking loads [at back street tyre shops and inept owners for example] it was then thought, but never really proven, never the less, they do suffer from fatigue failure; so toward the end of the production run the assembly is redesigned to eliminate a stress raiser in the steel design, this was in 1994, Saab had to change there suspension arms to suit the new assembly bin item even though fatigue [get this in aluminium fatigue is always a worry] is not an issue for Saabs aluminium components.

Any supplier selling these later parts as an upgrade is stretching things, they're certainly a modernisation conversion put upgrade? doubt it, Vauxhall/Opel got the upgrade, Saab had to make do.

Now, a further point, the early suspension is difficult to upgrade [I'm thinking bushes] because the bulk of 900's are of the later style, so I understand the obvious hit is to change everything to the newer style and benefit accordingly from a greater aftermarket choice.

I have one of the oldest 900's amongst us, I'm tempted to try cavalier Poly' bushes to see if they fit, I mean why shouldn't they?