Whiteline rear sway bar and links ordered.

[Wonson92]

Heres a link to an online album with the pictures. The photo uploader wouldnt work on the site, kept crashing.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1158644550 ... directlink

Theres also a tonne of 16mm rear D-Bushes on ebay if you wanted to check that out.

[murcod]

Thanks for the pics and tips on the end links. I figured they'd be proper ball joints under the rubber boots- but perhaps they aren't?

With the D bushes the measurements needed are: 1. external length and width of the bush under the clamp, 2. distance from the flat bottom of the bush to the bottom of the bar. You'll need vernier calipers (or a micrometer) to measure them accurately.

I'll try and dig up a website that sells them via their dimensions as it will probably make it clearer.

[murcod]

http://www.superpro.com.au/why-superpro ... -bush-size

Select the "D Bush" option and you'll see the required measurements. I found some to fit my old Triumph 2500 sway bar from their site, I think they were off a Toyota Landcruiser- fitted perfectly!

Are you still on the stock Yokohama tyres too? It's good to know that you've got the same config as me; I actually noticed the rear end "tilting" today (with slow to moderate speed) lane changing, so can see how easily the bar could change the dynamics.

[Wonson92]

I'm not sure how the joints work. They work like ball joints but i couldnt say for certain unless i got one off, ive forgotten. Theyre way way stiffer than the stock joints though, the stock ones flop around when the bars off, i had to really force the whiteline ones at first to adjust them to the right angles but they still roll like a ball joint would.

I'm pretty sure i have my old pair of verniers burried at home, ill go looking for them next time im there and measure them up.

Im pretty happy with the stiffness in the rear now, It makes some corners on the freeway/highways around my house feel much safer to do at the 80-110 speed limits plus much more fun on anything with a corner. Most noticable differences are deffinately with speed as expected. I actually was driving behind a 98 STI down a road locals call the old road, fast straights and tight corners and he was screeching around most of the corners and jabbing the breaks mid corner where the kizashi was just taking them perfectly. He ended up pulling over and waving me past, im sure it was a downer on his ego. You can really notice how much stiffer it is if you go over a speed bump at an angle. Searching around now for someone to knock up a custom strut bar, whiteline wasnt interested at all.

I'm on the stock Yokohamas, Theyre pretty good for the factory tire. Most seem to come with bottom of the line khumos of something else korean now.

[murcod]

They might be a metal ball in a rubber cup? That's the type that was fitted to the sway bar on my old Triumph- I assumed all manufacturers these days would be using proper ball joints? Something else to investigate.

[murcod]

I got motivated and measured the D bush. They're made from a soft polyurethane to start with, so only a limited gain (if any) would be noticed IMHO. The bad news is they don't match up with anything on the Superpro website size wise.

I checked the end links and they do appear to move easily, however I couldn't induce any movement (freeplay) in them. So I assume they are a proper ball joint, just a looser type than Whiteline use. The free movement is probably a good thing provided there isn't any slop under strain?.

[murcod]

These would be the upgraded end links that should fit on the stock bar http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_det ... KLC140-090

Just noticed the RRM bar appears to not come with new endlinks? http://roadracemotorsports.com/store/in ... cts_id=700 So they must think the stock version is okay?

[Wonson92]

Maybe being that their bar is 19mm instead of 18mm it'd be a bit too aggressive with shorter/stiffer links. I'm finding mine is pretty aggressive some times when you dont expect it. I went into a round about on my way to work this morning forgetting the new bar and ended up turning way too sharply. I laughed, it's by no means too aggressive but any more aggressive ans it'd take some serious getting used to. In saying That, I'm going move mine to the shortest link tonight and see how that feels. I imagine a thicker bar at the setting I have now (which isn't much shorter than stock) would be a bit too aggressive. Any shorter a link on 19mm definitely would be (for me anyway).

Haha good work hooking straight in to the measuring. Maybe you could call whiteline and say you only want the d bushes or if your a good bullshit artist you could say you bought the bar and damaged the bushes during installation or something? When I spoke to them they were pretty rude and unhelpful but there's always one of those people at call centers, maybe you'll have more luck.

Have you happened to see or hear anything about this brace/brand http://jmspower.com/news/djm-suzuki-kiz ... strut-bar/

[murcod]

It's hard to say how the RRM bar would compare- they might use softer D bushes? Or the bar length could be different?

I like that it's a more stock looking bar and not easily noticed.

I haven't heard of that brand brace before. You'd want to check out how well reinforced the end sections are that bolt to the strut top, a lot of brands seem very flimsy in that area IMHO. I just found this too http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/2010 ... ower-9600/ when googling for engine bay pics to see how the strut top is mounted to the body...

[Wonson92]

Yea I don't really understand why 'made to fit, strut bars are all hinged, these sort of designs always make me think they're just for show for. Makes me think of charades/pulsars.

I was considering painting my bar black to look more stock but the end links are a bit of a give away so I'm not going to brother. I sent off some emails to some suspension shops to see if I can get a custom upper strut bar made up though so that can just be black.

Thinking of the kizashi concepts, I saw the kizashi karbon a few weeks ago at a motor show. Not the biggest fan but still interesting.