My brother has a Mazda6 and has put a rear sway bar on it going from a 19mm to 27mm. Now, the rear end is breaking loose a little more than he wants, so here's the question. Would he notice any difference in just changing out the front swaybar bushings with polyurethane or should he replace the whole bar? The front bar goes from a 23mm to 28.5mm. The car is not autocrossed etc., it may be in the future, but trying to solve the problem now.

 

Heres a crazy idea.. put the 19mm bar back on.

 

putting the other bar back on isn't an option. Just front sway OR front sway bushings.

 

27mm is massive for the rear, even on a bigger car like the 6. I don't think poly bushings in the front are going to fix your problem. Throw some money at it and get the front bar, see what it does.

 

considering the size and weight of the car a 8mm bump in the rear isn't insane, we do that all the time, SI's from 13mm to 19+, just trying to get feedback on the comparability between the two, but like we figure most likely a front sway is what will happen

 

options are

increase front spring rate (either with a sway bar or springs)
increase front rebound on shocks


decrease rear spring rate (either with a sway bar or springs)
decrease rear rebound on shocks


i would say that all the ES will do is have the front bar react quicker, not increase its stiffness

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tthomass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">considering the size and weight of the car a 8mm bump in the rear isn't insane, we do that all the time, SI's from 13mm to 19+, just trying to get feedback on the comparability between the two, but like we figure most likely a front sway is what will happen</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, the car ain't THAT big or THAT heavy. But anyway...

 

it's 3400 lbs. and a LOT bigger than a civic etc.

 

hey, i gots a mazda 6 that i'm tryin to mod but havin problems locating parts... email me where u got the bars from please..... thnx hellrazr1208@hotmail.com


sorry bout goint OT on ur thread dood

 

You put a monster sway bar on the back and now it breaks loose. Hmmmm who would have thought.

Suggest taking it off.

What was wrong with the suspension in the first place?

 

i figured that it would probably do it, although I also thought that considering how badly the front was breaking loose that it may just even it out. I don't plan to take it off, just want to correct the problem.

 

First thing I would do before messing with any car is running it and then checking the tires with a pyrometer.

Check your readings then go from there. Hey I am just as guilty as the next guy in the past but really a pyrometer is gonna help point you in the right direction.

 

Maybe your friend could just practice his driving a bit to learn to control his new setup. Also, try running like 1-2 more psi in the front tires than spec, just an idea.

 

A good rule of thumb that I always try to follow is NEVER TAKE TRACTION AWAY FROM THE SIDE THAT'S GRIPPING before you do whatever you can to ADD TRACTION TO THE SIDE THAT'S SLIPPING. Your car might be better balanced F/R with a huge front sway bar, but your overall grip may be diminished. So before you stiffen up the front, see if you can't soften the rear to get it to grip. And as mentioned above, make sure it's not just driver input based on the old setup. It takes time to adjust to a looser car, but loose is fast.

 

I doubt the car is oversteering on its own without some sort of back to front weight transfer. He is probably encountering Lift-Throttle Oversteer as the car will have much more LTO now with the thicker rear sway. The car is much more sensitive now to throttle inputs. Either your friend should learn to drive with LTO, or take the bar off. Even with an added front swaybar, the car will still have LTO with the thicker rear bar there.