rear sway bar

1

14point6at97MPH

Registered
I noticed while changing my brakes this past weekend that I've got a small rust hole in my rear sway bar. My car is a 1993 with 165,000 miles on it, and that is the original sway bar.

First off, what are options to fix this secondly is replacing the rear sway bar something I can do myself? The limits of what I have done myself on my car include brakes, rear shocks, and plugs and wires.......things I have not done include front struts and fuel pump.

Also, how long should I wait now that I have a hole in it?

I really don't need a "high perfomance" sway bar.

Ken
 
RE: rear sway bar

From what I understand, It is pretty simple to replace the sway bar. I would guess that if you were capable to doing what you have thus far, that you are capable of replaceing the bar. As a side note, I have been driving mine for over a year with the rear sway bar broken. I still carve corners very well. The only thing that I have noticed is an increase in vibration. Just what our car really needs.
 
RE: rear sway bar

From what i have been told in the past, ADDCO makes a larger, solid sway bar for the MK8 that works real well, and isn't too dificult to install.
 
RE: rear sway bar

I got the big ADDCO couple of years ago. Easy and quick swap to get rid of that small hollow original rear sway bar. It does seem to tightened up the rear and has less roll.


** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
 
RE: rear sway bar

What size should I get? I'm thinking I don't want some much thinker one in the rear, then the front will feel too loose.

Are there any other parts I have to order when doing this, or does it come with the mounts/bushings?

Ken
 
RE: rear sway bar

What size should I get? I'm thinking I don't want some much thinker one in the rear, then the front will feel too loose.

Are there any other parts I have to order when doing this, or does it come with the mounts/bushings?

Ken
Click to expand...
The kit should come complete. You can see the size difference in the below photo from my CarDomain page:
http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/6/web/258000-258999/258112_9_full.jpg

** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
 
RE: rear sway bar

Bill - Thanks for the pics!!

Again, my dumb question, is it OK to put a sway bar twice as think in the back, without changing anything in the front? Would that have any negative effects on the overall handling in the car?

Ken
 
RE: rear sway bar

Ken,
The front bar is pretty substantial in size already from best I remember. Also it would be very labor intensive to replace according to several on the board who have tried. The tiny stock rear bar is also hollow which not only saves weight but probably adds nearly nothing to the handling. I think this is probably the reason that several people on the board who had had the rear bar break didn’t realize it until they heard a “clunking” sound coming from the rear. The rear bar is so small and weak to start with that if removed, it probably won’t effect handling much anyway. I’ve had the bigger ADDCO rear sway bar for several years and probably about 30,000 miles with no noted problems.


** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
 
RE: rear sway bar

The stock front bar is 1 1/16" if my memory serves me correctly and it is solid.
Addco makes at least two different size bars 1 1/4 and a 1 3/8". They might make a smaller size or two also, can't remember, but the bar comes with all the bushing directions etc. you need to install it.
It is not hard to install, the front is a different story however.
I would replace the the bar with one of the Addco bars I think you will be pleased with the results.
I have installed the front and rear 1 1/4" Addco bars.
 
RE: rear sway bar

I put in the 1 3/8" bars front and rear. I don't know how it would've gone in on the front without dropping the K member. I wouldn't even try it.
 
RE: rear sway bar

I have a question ...In the past I have found that due to the less weight in the rear that a 3/4 or 7/8 solid bar gave a nice improvement in cornering without a total loss of suspension movement.
The cornering was better and the ride was still comfortable , not too stiff...Now all cars are different , and the Mark has IRS , and all people idea of a ride they like is also different..but I am going to ask anyway....If a person would like to improve cornering , on the Mark , and still keep some of the luxury ride, is an 1 1/4 bar in the rear too stiff ?Would a smaller bar be a better choice?
 
RE: rear sway bar

.......well my rear sway bar finally snapped. I took it out and now have no rear-sway bar. :(

I know I asked this question above, but I saw another post that contridicted this; Does a replacement sway bar come with all brackets/bushings? Does anything need to be modified on the car, or do they directly bolt on? Does the kit include the bushings on the long (8-inch or so) bolts the end of the sway bar to the car?

The part was easy enough to take out, I just want to make sure a different size bar bolts on with no modifications and the part comes with the rubber bushings on those long bolts.

Ken
 
RE: rear sway bar

Ken, if you get a Addco bar all the hardware comes with it. Probably any new bar you buy will have everything. I installed a 1.25" Addco rear bar several years ago and it came with everything.



** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

If you can read this,thank a teacher. If it's in English, Thank a Veteran
 
RE: rear sway bar

Addco also has a 1 1/8" bar that they list as a replacement for the stock bar. I installed that bar on my car and it firmed up the ride and handling.

Phil:)
 
RE: rear sway bar

......just ordered the 1 1/8th bar from shox.com. $145 shipped to me.

I'll put it in myself after I get my leaky rear fixed by a mechanic.

Ken
 
RE: rear sway bar

The new rear sway bar is in!! I went with the solid 1 1/8th addco sway bar. It was relatively easy to install and came with all parts except the main brackets that mount to the frame of car. You have to reuse the stock ones. It does come with all end-link pieces/bushings. I did it by jacking up the rear of the car and putting it on stands, then removed both wheels. The wheels had to be off the weave the new bar in. I had to jack up the suspension some to get the end links on. The job took about 1 1/2 hours. At least 1/2 hour of that time was spent getting all the tools, stands and jacks out and getting the car on and off the stands.

Since I had no sway bar before this (the other one snapped), the car drives infinitely better.

Ken
 
RE: rear sway bar

I know this thread is old, but i'll add a little something anyway.

If you put a bigger sway bar in the back, but not the front, it will shift the cars handling more toward oversteer. This is not necissarily bad, unless you don't know how to drive. Most cars are set up to understeer from the factory, so a slightly bigger rear sway bar is an improvement.

If you put a bigger bar in the front, but not in the rear, or if your rear bar is removed or broken, it will shift the car's handling toward understeer.

The stiffer the sway bars, the lower the cornering force. If you put bigger sway bars front and rear, the car will feel more responsive, but it will not corner as hard. Extra roll stiffness only removes force from the inside wheels, and ultimately reduces cornering ability.

My recommendation would be to go with a slightly thicker rear sway bar and leave the front one stock.
 
RE: rear sway bar

Back in the mid-70's, I put the largest sway bars that Addco sold, on my 70 Mustang. It came stock with a small front bar and no rear bar. The car felt much more responsive and I was pleased until I tried to pass a car one day in a hurry and had to pull back in quickly because I didn't see the car coming at me in the other lane. My Mustang broke loose in the rear from the severe oversteering situation I got in to by putting the new sway bars on. After skidding back and forth a couple of times I slid off the road into a very shallow ditch. I was able to drive out of the ditch with no damage to anything. After that I installed 428 Mustang front springs to stiffen up the front and balance the handling.
So, my advice is to be more careful than I was.
You can check your car to see if it is over or under steering by going to a large vacant parking lot and driving in a circle. Maintain the same speed and same steering wheel position. If your car makes smaller circles each time around it is oversteering and larger circles would indicate that it is understeering.
Roadie
95 Champagne Mark VIII
00 Ford F150 Supercab 4x4
02 Mazda Protege
86 Chevy Monte Carlo SS
81 Honda CB900C
 
RE: rear sway bar

The 1 1/8th bar is the smallest replacement bar ADDCO makes. Since it is solid vs. the stock hollow one, it is really the best option as far as a replacement for stock.

The handling of my car with the snapped rear sway bar was a mess. It drove sloppy at all speeds, especially around turns at above 30mph. 2-times I almost lost it when the car jerked the other direction for no reason.....one time I was taking an on-ramp at around 70 and the othe time I hit the brakes hard also around 70 going straight.

Ken
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top