Stronger Front Sway Bar?

Sam Baker · Post by **Sam Baker** » April 7th, 2005, 1:15 am

so i know u can get a 22mm strong rear sway bar for the mx3.. but what about the front? im thinkin thats a better place for one, but who makes it? if anyone? thnx

nope-mx3 · Post by **nope-mx3** » April 7th, 2005, 4:23 am

A stiffer bar up front would increase understeer.
I would definetely install one, but I`ve replaced lots of stuff in the suspension allready.

Mazdaspeed had a front bar, but not anymore.
Dont think anyone else has either.

(replacing the front one is a really big job)

nope-mx3

tatsu · Post by **tatsu** » April 7th, 2005, 10:34 am

FYI, the front bar is 22mm stock.

As nope-mx3 said, installing a larger/stiffer front bar will increase understeer, which is the last thing I would want to do on our front engine/front drive cars. By all accounts, going to a 22mm REAR bar will balance out the handling nicely.

All of this is moot, however, as nobody makes upgraded front anti-roll bars for our cars anymore, as far as I know. Any upgrade would have to be a custom job, and you would also probably need to do a larger custom rear bar to regain your handling balance.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 7th, 2005, 10:35 am

Out of curiosity, what are the stock sizes for the front and rear sway bars for the GS? Are the same sizes carried throughout all the model years?

Nope, what makes replacing the front one such a "really big job"?

I've heard that by just replacing the rubber mounting bushings with a nylon or polyurethane bushings can make a big difference. Is this true and are they available and where?

Sam, I hope this isn't jacking your thread, BTW, you can't be messin' with the suspension until the projectors are done...LOL

PS...Lambo update??

DavidOS · Post by **DavidOS** » April 7th, 2005, 2:19 pm

front 22mm gs
rear 20mm gs (i think only on 94+ models) if less then 94 i think it was 19mm

Sam Baker · Post by **Sam Baker** » April 7th, 2005, 3:22 pm

yea that sounds about right.. i've had a lotta problems with OVERSTEER in the past.. so thats why im thinkin a front one would be nice to have.. but i guess with 22mm one in the front i can just go with the rear from whiteline. oversteer isnt as much of a problem anymore since i balanced the weight pretty much, but it would still be cool to have a beefy front one.

o and JS man i need to work on my projectors badly haha..

they're just sitting on the floor. but i'm kinda trying to get my suspension dialed in and also get a roll bar.

WOO

and lambo doors are being welded as we speak

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 7th, 2005, 4:42 pm

DavidOS wrote:front 22mm gs
rear 20mm gs (i think only on 94+ models) if less then 94 i think it was 19mm

Whew, just found it in the '92 manual, GS 22mm front, and 20mm rear.

Sam, have you thought about or already done a bushing replacement for the sway bars?

Sam Baker · Post by **Sam Baker** » April 7th, 2005, 6:06 pm

nah but when i do my sway bar i'll definitely need to get a set

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » April 13th, 2005, 7:10 pm

read the post about the protege swap bar..

papa roached · Post by **papa roached** » April 13th, 2005, 11:52 pm

weeeeeeee, sorry

ProtegeSTS · Post by **ProtegeSTS** » April 19th, 2005, 12:48 am

swaybar diameter isn't comparable. by this, i mean that a 22mm bar on the front of the car doesn't mean that it's "big" just because the aftermarket rear bar is 22mm. There's more than just diameter in terms of effective stiffness of a swaybar.

Also, on a camber limited car like the MX-3, I'd go for a stiffer front bar, even leaving the rest of the suspension stock... reason is the benefit of reducing some body roll and keeping a more stable contact patch. Also improves transistions quite a bit.

nope-mx3 · Post by **nope-mx3** » April 19th, 2005, 1:03 am

I want one aswell.

Maybe we could nag Whiteline into making one custom for a group-buy?
24 or 25mm front bar would be great.

nope-mx3

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 20th, 2005, 1:24 am

nope-mx3 wrote:I want one aswell.
Maybe we could nag Whiteline into making one custom for a group-buy?
24 or 25mm front bar would be great.
nope-mx3

I would assume that a quality bushing set would also have to be factored in and that Whiteline would also have to produce those.

nope-mx3 · Post by **nope-mx3** » April 21st, 2005, 1:08 am

Ok, I mailed Whiteline about this, and this is what I sent:

Hi, I got your rear swaybar for the Eunos 30X (Mazda Mx3), and I totally

love it.
Now, we are a pretty big Mx-3 forum with people from all over the world
(with 8272 members as of today).

We would like to know if you guys might be able to do a custom front
swaybar for a group-buy on this forum?
Unfortunately no one makes this anymore, and there are lots of people
interested.

How many people would you need for a deal like this (if it`s possible)?

I got some friends who has Miata`s and Nissan 200SX (S13, S14), and they

all got front and rear swaybar, and they handle really well. This one of
the few items we lack, for what we think is a really great car.

Yours sincerely
Jannis Jacobsen
(Happy Norwegian Mx3 owner)

----------------------------------

I got a reply today:

Hello Jannis,

Thank you for purchasing a Whiteline sway bar, and your continued
interest.

There would be a major draw back in fitting a larger front sway bar to
your vehicle as it will take away the benefits that the rear sway bar
has delivered. If you like the way that you vehicle handles now with the
new heavy duty rear sway bar, and then you increase the front sway bar,
you would need to also increase the rear sway bar slightly to compensate
for the balance shift the larger front sway bar has delivered.
The reason why we do not already list a front sway bar to suit your
vehicle is because we had found the front to already be quite a large
bar, and did not believe that a larger bar was going to bring enough
benefit to necessitate the time involved in fitting it (not a worthy
investment).

If you did wish to go ahead & try to organise a group buy for this bar,
we have a couple of stipulations regarding group buys and they are as
follows:
* Minimum purchase amount of $5,000.
* All sway bars must be delivered to the one address, and it is
then the responsibility of the organiser to distribute the product to
all involved in the group buy.
* We would also need a vehicle to work on, as we do not have
samples of the front sway bar.

I hope this helps you.
Regards,
Wayne Cunningham

-----------------------------

So for this to happen, we would need a lot of people to buy this, along with an organizer in the US. (Makes no point in getting them shipped to Norway, and then ship all but one to US/Canada etc)

nope-mx3

Sam Baker · Post by **Sam Baker** » April 21st, 2005, 2:47 pm

he makes a good point.. but usually front wheel drive cars need a stiffer bar in the front to keep the drive side more flat and in control. iono tho.. i'm ordering up a whiteline bar right now, so if it's needed, it may be a good investment.

$5000 would be what, 25 people if each costs around $200? thats not too bad, but it would be tricky to organize that.