rear swaybar (whiteline) - shifting

[woshiagni]

Was wondering about the rear swaybar (for those of you that have an aftermarket bar) .. how do you keep the bar from shifting left and right and knocking against the strut? The stock circular rubber "washer" (for lack of a better term) doesn't fit too well around the bigger bar.

Was thinking of either drilling and inserting a pin or maybe using a plumbing strap instead.

Thanks.

[Phi]

You should have rec'd new yellow polyurethane bushings with the bar. You can always order a set directly from Whiteline.

[SGG]

phi, i don't think he's talking about the bushings. There's a retaining ring that sits inside of the bushings (towards the center of the car).

woshiagni, I just left the bar without a retainer. I haven't heard it knocking into my struts though. Maybe a clamp fixed with epoxy would work. it seems that if you drill the bar, you could change it's dynamics, maybe not that much...i'm not a mechanical engineer.

edit: link instead of pic
http://home.cwru.edu/~jtk5/images/auto/rearbars.jpg

on the other hand, I just got my front sway bar in yesterday and i hear a "hollow" noise everytime the front right wheel dips. Maybe it's knocking up front.

Quick question for you: do you remember if the endlink nut threaded back on all the way? The bolt didn't come through the whole nut on my front bar anymore b/c the bar end is thicker. It's somewhat disturbing and I don't remember what the rear was like. i hate it when things don't fit (those front bushings were a bastard to bolt down)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SGG on 2002-05-30 06:49 ]</font>

[Ratko]

Quick question for you: do you remember if the endlink nut threaded back on all the way? The bolt didn't come through the whole nut on my front bar anymore b/c the bar end is thicker. It's somewhat disturbing and I don't remember what the rear was like. i hate it when things don't fit (those front bushings were a bastard to bolt down)

Same thing for me on my Gen3 rear bar. But it's secure.

[woshiagni]

Thanks for the replies.

SCG is correct, I wasn't referring to the bushings but the retainer ring thingy on the inside side of the stock bushing. The endlink bolts no longer go on all the way on my gen4 bar.

Ends up the bar worked fine for about a month until I took a really hard turn and the bar shifted for some reason. I removed the rear wheels, removed the swaybar, regreased the bushings and shifted them into the right place again, and no more knocking noises.

I also installed a pipe clamp (the kind you put on a rubber hose) next to each bushing in the hope that it'll prevent it from sliding next time.

edit: the epoxy-ed clamp idea might work, if these pipe things don't work i'll give that a try.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: woshiagni on 2002-05-29 05:12 ]</font>

[SGG]

wow, that must have been some turn you took.

woshiagni: so do you remember if the endlink bolt threaded all the way through the nut? it didn't on the front bar. I guess you didn't get the front bar.

jon

[woshiagni]

wow, that must have been some turn you took.

Ah, if only more people could see how I drive. =) I'm actually not a very aggressive driver, at least I don't think so. It was a left hand turn at a yellow light - it wasn't a tight turn and I wasn't even going that fast, but the road was bumpy, so I think that was a major factor.

do you remember if the endlink bolt threaded all the way through the nut? it didn't on the front bar. I guess you didn't get the front bar.

Yeah, I only got the rear bar because I was trying to induce a balance that leaned more toward oversteer. As it is, the Camry is a pretty neutral handler, esp with a light engine (I drive the 4-cyl). On the rear bar at least, the bolt went all the way through, but the nut doesn't tighten down through the entire length, hope that makes sense. It was probably because the bar is just that much thicker, but it didn't seem like the nut would have problems staying on. I just tightened it to spec, but it was a little loose when I took off the bar to fix it, so I don't know, maybe my Haynes manual is wrong or I should tighten it up a little more.

- Jeddy

[SGG]

the condition you described &quot;the bolt went all the way through, but the nut doesn't tighten down through the entire length&quot; makes sense, that's what i'm seeing on the front bar. I'm just try narrow down factors for the noises i'm hearing. i'll have to put my new wheels and new brakes on soon so i'll wait til then to examine it more closely.

with just the rear bar, the car required less steering effort. I was a little saddened by the return of heavier steering effort with the front bar...the car is almost too stiff for daily driving. But I do head into corners amazingly flat, compared to before. The car feels nose heavy though, especially with the v6 and the heavier bar. for what it's worth, that's just my amateur description of suspension forces.