Factory rear sway bar upgrade options

Power6 · Jan 18, 2021

I've figured out some of the rear sway bars used on the SPA chassis. I was looking for a possible OEM part upgrade and I found one. This what I know:

All the S/V60 from T5 to Polestar appear to have the same 22mm rear sway bar.
The V60 CC has a 19mm or 22mm rear sway bar (maybe updated for 2021)

There are some general upgrades like the 24mm KCDesigns sway bar. I may have picked one up but the price is high, yellow color isn't very stealth under warranty, and need to modify the brackets to fit. I did discover why the need to harvest the brackets from the stock bar. The sway bar design on this car the bushings are bonded to the bar, it comes with the brackets on it. It's like a suspension bushing, I've never seen this design on a sway before. I can see why they might do that, probably for NVH control there will be no noise with the bonded bushing that twists with the bar. That also means a tiny bit of spring is added to the suspension with the OEM design sway bar that you would lose with a traditional design aftermarket bar.

Anyways the V90 R-Design with the standard sport chassis has a 23mm rear bar. It's reasonably priced and of the same design. I ordered one up and swapped it in this morning. It was not too bad, unbolting is easy and as typical with a sway bar it's like one of those brain teaser puzzles to figure out how to fish it out. I only had to drop the muffler down a bit to solve the puzzle.

If you are interested here are the part numbers:

23mm rear bar - 31360909 (upgrade for S/V60)
22mm rear bar - 31429274 (OEM for most but upgrade if you have 19mm)

Also to give you an idea of the increase in stiffness, you can estimate assuming same bar shape the stiffness increase by thickness, I use Whitline's guide for this. You can see the 23mm bar is a very mild upgrade over the 22mm. It's not uncommon to double stiffness with a sway bar upgrade so I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of an upgrade that much, though at the extreme end putting the KCDesign bar on a V60CC may be a bit much:

Volvo OEM upgrades:

22 to 23mm - 20% stiffer
19 to 22mm - 80% stiffer
19 to 23mm - 115% stiffer

KCDesign 24mm bar

24mm - 42% stiffer
19 to 24mm - 155% stiffer

The upgrade is not earth shattering, I can't tell too much having swapped in the 23 for the 22. But a little more roll stiffness in the rear is typically a good thing.

sundstmp · Jan 19, 2021

PM'd, thanks for doing this research! iPd hasn't released an upgrade yet, though I did send them a "Product Request"

sundstmp · Jan 19, 2021

sundstmp said:
iPd hasn't released an upgrade yet

They got back to me quickly, but still in design phase. He estimates 6 months to having it in stock.
I'm glad Power6 came through with the hand-me-down!

MDicnMan · Jan 19, 2021

sundstmp said:
They got back to my quickly, but still in design phase. He estimates 6 months to having it in stock.
I'm glad Power6 came through with the hand-me-down!

Anxious to hear how the 22mm works out for you. Hopefully Power6 will like his enough that more hand-me-downs will appear.

CSVT6 · Jan 19, 2021

MDicnMan said:
Anxious to hear how the 22mm works out for you. Hopefully Power6 will like his enough that more hand-me-downs will appear.

Please keep us posted, I am looking into installing an upgrade soon.

Power6 · Jan 22, 2021

I've got some drive time in with the new bar now. It's all subjective of course I got the good feelings from having done an upgrade. I like it though. Front heavy AWD can always use a little more roll stiffness in the rear. I was reminded what a hidden gem the sport chassis is ripping around yesterday!

I did some reading about bonded sway bar bushings, this design can make the action of the bar more efficient, %20-50 stiffer than a traditional sliding bushing. Something to keep in mind with aftermarket upgrades that may not use this design.

Anyways I'm happy with the upgrade! Let me know when you are coming to get the bar for your CC sundstmp ;-)

MDicnMan · Feb 19, 2021

@sundstmp Have you installed the 22mm bar on your CC yet?

sundstmp · Feb 21, 2021

MDicnMan said:
@sundstmp Have you installed the 22mm bar on your CC yet?

I haven't had a chance to swing down to Mass to pick it up yet. Snow has been too good up here, too busy skiing! Likely won't happen until March..

AJS1KR · Mar 10, 2021

Power6 said:
I've got some drive time in with the new bar now. It's all subjective of course I got the good feelings from having done an upgrade. I like it though. Front heavy AWD can always use a little more roll stiffness in the rear. I was reminded what a hidden gem the sport chassis is ripping around yesterday!

Great find!!

I have one on order.

Any install tips? Did you use ramps, or jack stands? Some aftermarket sway bars call for loaded suspension during installation, but I wasn't sure if that also applied to an OEM rear bar. Thanks!

Ron G · Mar 10, 2021

MDicnMan said:
@sundstmp Have you installed the 22mm bar on your CC yet?

Looking to buy a 2021 V60cc, does it float down the road on a highway or is it pretty flat ?

sundstmp · Mar 11, 2021

Ron G said:
Looking to buy a 2021 V60cc, does it float down the road on a highway or is it pretty flat ?

All depends on your point of reference. I had an 05 s60r before this, which was tighter. But compared to my 06/07 xc70 it feels much more planted through corners.

Ron G · Mar 11, 2021

Thanks, I have a2015.5 s80 T6, solid car and not a floater but my 2011 S80 was a floater but I increased the sway bar and it got better, my 2019 s60 t has 4 nice great ride, sound like you like the v60 cc for the drive ability ?

Power6 · Mar 14, 2021

My take on it, not a Volvo guy I just have my sport chassis S60 and have driven dynamic S60 and had V60CC loaner. Volvo doesn't seem to make floaty cars, they are all pretty taut. While the V60CC has more roll, and does ride more plush as expected, it's still well controlled, European style not soft cloudy Lexus or Cadillac.

t75rjg2 · Mar 15, 2021

Power6 said:
I've figured out some of the rear sway bars used on the SPA chassis. I was looking for a possible OEM part upgrade and I found one. This what I know:

All the S/V60 from T5 to Polestar appear to have the same 22mm rear sway bar.

The V60 CC has a 19mm rear sway bar

There are some general upgrades like the 24mm KCDesigns sway bar. I may have picked one up but the price is high, yellow color isn't very stealth under warranty, and need to modify the brackets to fit. I did discover why the need to harvest the brackets from the stock bar. The sway bar design on this car the bushings are bonded to the bar, it comes with the brackets on it. It's like a suspension bushing, I've never seen this design on a sway before. I can see why they might do that, probably for NVH control there will be no noise with the bonded bushing that twists with the bar. That also means a tiny bit of spring is added to the suspension with the OEM design sway bar that you would lose with a traditional design aftermarket bar.

View attachment 116545

Anyways the V90 R-Design with the standard sport chassis has a 23mm rear bar. It's reasonably priced and of the same design obviously. I ordered one up and swapped it in this morning. It was not too bad, unbolting is easy and as typical with a sway bar it's like one of those brain teaser puzzles to figure out how to fish it out. I only had to drop the muffler down a bit to solve the puzzle.

If you are interested here are the part numbers:

23mm rear bar - 31360909 (upgrade for S/V60)

22mm rear bar - 31429274 (OEM S/V60 but upgrade for V60CC)

Also to give you an idea of the increase in stiffness, you can estimate assuming same bar shape the stiffness increase by thickness, I use Whitline's guide for this. You can see the 23mm bar is a very mild upgrade over the 22mm. It's not uncommon to double stiffness with a sway bar upgrade so I wouldn't neccessarily be afraid of an upgrade that much, though at the extreme end putting the KCDesign bar on a V60CC may be a bit much:

Volvo OEM upgrades:

S60 22 to 23mm - 20% stiffer

V60 CC 19 to 22mm - 80% stiffer

V60 CC 19 to 23mm - 115% stiffer

KCDesign 24mm bar

S60 22 to 24mm - 42% stiffer

V60 CC 19 to 24mm - 155% stiffer

I'll need some driving time to evaluate the 23mm upgrade on my S60. If anyone wants a nice upgrade for a CC let me know I have a 22mm bar...

t75rjg2 · Mar 15, 2021

Hi,
Have you installed the thicker swaybar on your v60 cc and did it take out the slight float on the higway, from the 19mm to to the 22mm bar part number 31429274. Like the 2021 v60 cc but that little float on the highway bothers me.

Power6 · Mar 17, 2021

Just waiting for sunstmp to come get it, snow is gone and I been polishing it up real nice for you ;-)

MDicnMan · May 23, 2021

Any updates on the 20 V60CC and "upgraded" sway bar? Also, I am trying to figure out which OEM bar to order. All of the rear bars list all SPA models in the "What this fits", how do you determine which one is 19 vs 22?

Power6 · May 27, 2021

The only way I figured it out is putting VINs into VIDA, then when you view parts, it will show you which one is the exact match. I don't know that the online parts databases filter to that level. The part numbers I gave, are confirmed with VIDA as well as the sticker on the original 22mm I took off the car, and the 23mm I put on, match those same part numbers. So you can trust those part numbers I think.

CSVT6 · May 31, 2021

Power6 said:
I've figured out some of the rear sway bars used on the SPA chassis. I was looking for a possible OEM part upgrade and I found one. This what I know:

All the S/V60 from T5 to Polestar appear to have the same 22mm rear sway bar.

The V60 CC has a 19mm rear sway bar

There are some general upgrades like the 24mm KCDesigns sway bar. I may have picked one up but the price is high, yellow color isn't very stealth under warranty, and need to modify the brackets to fit. I did discover why the need to harvest the brackets from the stock bar. The sway bar design on this car the bushings are bonded to the bar, it comes with the brackets on it. It's like a suspension bushing, I've never seen this design on a sway before. I can see why they might do that, probably for NVH control there will be no noise with the bonded bushing that twists with the bar. That also means a tiny bit of spring is added to the suspension with the OEM design sway bar that you would lose with a traditional design aftermarket bar.

View attachment 116545

Anyways the V90 R-Design with the standard sport chassis has a 23mm rear bar. It's reasonably priced and of the same design obviously. I ordered one up and swapped it in this morning. It was not too bad, unbolting is easy and as typical with a sway bar it's like one of those brain teaser puzzles to figure out how to fish it out. I only had to drop the muffler down a bit to solve the puzzle.

If you are interested here are the part numbers:

23mm rear bar - 31360909 (upgrade for S/V60)

22mm rear bar - 31429274 (OEM S/V60 but upgrade for V60CC)

Also to give you an idea of the increase in stiffness, you can estimate assuming same bar shape the stiffness increase by thickness, I use Whitline's guide for this. You can see the 23mm bar is a very mild upgrade over the 22mm. It's not uncommon to double stiffness with a sway bar upgrade so I wouldn't neccessarily be afraid of an upgrade that much, though at the extreme end putting the KCDesign bar on a V60CC may be a bit much:

Volvo OEM upgrades:

S60 22 to 23mm - 20% stiffer

V60 CC 19 to 22mm - 80% stiffer

V60 CC 19 to 23mm - 115% stiffer

KCDesign 24mm bar

S60 22 to 24mm - 42% stiffer

V60 CC 19 to 24mm - 155% stiffer

I'll need some driving time to evaluate the 23mm upgrade on my S60. If anyone wants a nice upgrade for a CC let me know I have a 22mm bar...

Our 2021 V60 CC has a 22mm rear sway installed from the factory.

Power6 · Jun 4, 2021

Hey thanks for chiming in that is helpful! Maybe a running change... I'll update the first post. Could you possibly PM me your VIN, and if you did look under your car...could you look again and grab the part number off the sticker on the bar? I'll try to keep the info up to date with what we know.

Factory rear sway bar upgrade options

Power6

sundstmp

sundstmp

MDicnMan

CSVT6

Power6

MDicnMan

sundstmp

AJS1KR

Ron G

sundstmp

Ron G

Power6

t75rjg2

t75rjg2

Power6

MDicnMan

Power6

CSVT6

Power6

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