Installed strano's bars.. nice
 

I installed the front 35mm sway bar on my TA today. Took a little persuasion but I got it in. Broke off a rusty end link and stripped a couple rusted bolts. The bar itself is just BARELY wide enough to bolt the mounting brackets to the car. And the actual brackets themselves needed slight modification to except the factory bolts. The holes were not big enough. But I got it in. Took it out for a test drive and it feels great. Definatly feels more planted. I will be installing the rear either tomorrow or thursday. Ill have some pics up and some more info on handling. Thanks Sam

im interested to see how much the difference the rear bar makes

I am too :drive:

Roger on the just barely wide enough part...if it was me, I would have made it just a HAIR wider. The d-bushings on mine don't like to sit right because they are so close to that curve, but it works, so I'll leave it. As for the brackets...they work without modification, you just have to thread the bolts through them...definitely a PITA though when trying to get everything lined up. Glad to know I wasn't the only one that had these problems/thoughts...

X2 on the bushings being very close to the curved part. Mine seem to sit fine. Its very tight. And I suppose I could have thread the bolts through the brackets, but with having to force and stretch this thing into lace, it made it much easier to widen the holes.

Here we have a case where I can't see every detail on every bar since they are made elsewhere. The bend it tight because the bar is a larger diameter, and because it's hollow the bend has to be a bit larger radius. We don't like to leave lots of extra length on the bar that we don't need. It's more weight, and it's more to flex. Basically more material is more to bend (which is how bars work) and therefore slightly softer. In other words, if you take two bars the same size and tubing and all (say 35mm w/6mm wall tubing), but one uses 1" less material from endlink to endlink, that "shorter" bar is stiffer than the other bar.

All that said, I did make a call to just make sure Addco is aware of this and that there is not any changes in the way the bars are being bent. As for the U-brackets, that's something that's always been and I think the stamping die is just getting old and needs to be replaced, which I'm trying to get them to do.... just without much luck so far.

Good to hear Sam...I'm gonna end up trying some different bushings at some point to see if they will sit a little better on the bar. The old Energy Suspension bushings looked to be a bit thinner, but that is a guess on my part. Time to dig out my calipers ;)

I wouldn't worry about it if it's not a problem.

That's the problem Sam...I'm a perfectionist. Stuff like this will haunt me for years :jest:

I'm only a perfectionist in so far as things working right, I'm more of a function over form type guy myself. :)

I have no complaints towards you Sam or your company. It was just a little more difficult than I anticipated. I installed the rear bar today and that went smoothly. I am unable to really test the handling improvement today becasue of bad weather, But it already feels better. As for those pictures you asked me to send, I still havnt gotten around to it, but i will soon. Thank you very much for all your help and fast responses.

Just to add... my bar fit tight, but not too tight. The bushings sit perfectly. This one what bought about 6 months ago.

Very nice step up in control.

Driver side bushing mount:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...89/Sway005.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...89/Sway002.jpg
Passenger side:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...89/Sway007.jpg

The driver's side on yours is exactly what BOTH of mine look like...

same with me... works fine though. Im not worried about it.

did you lube it up good...the picture looks kinda dry?

what kinda lube do you guys use?

I used that green tacky sythetic stuff from advance auto... or the energy suspension packets at autozone stick very well. They sell them with their poly parts or seperate.

Synthetic marine grease is also a good choice.

I just wanted to point out a few things.... The bushings do need to be well lubricated, I use synthetic wheel bearing grease myself. Urethane cold-flow and will form itself nicely into that little bend in short order. The way the bushing and bend are in close proximity keeps the bar from "walking" back and forth as the endlinks pull and push on it.

Very good Sam. I am happy with the handling results anyway. Just gotta lube it up.