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Make your front sway bar adjustable.

Old Apr 3, 2004, 06:03 PM
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Make your front sway bar adjustable.

Jack up the car and remove the wheels, place jack stands under the lower control arms.
Remove the tie rod end from the spindle. Undo the end links. Using a 27/64”drill bit I drilled center-to-center ¾”. The sway bar mounting tabs are an inch thick. You will need to mark ½” down to center. Place a two by four under the sway bar. Drill…drill and drill. This may take some time. The sway bar is made out of hard spring steel. When the hole is done you can put it all together.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg

Last edited by Tri-Bar; Apr 20, 2004 at 08:24 AM.
Old Apr 3, 2004, 07:59 PM
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good write up Tri-Bar , and a good idea. How does it feel?
Old Apr 3, 2004, 08:16 PM
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Very crisp! faster turn in, less rollover on the tires. I am using Falken sports 245-45-17"s, softer sidewall. Even with that, I can tell its better. I dabbed the tires.temps are better as well, across the tire. The 3/4 inch move is about the same as a 25.3 mm bar would be. Next I going to install poly sway bar bushing, that should ferm it up a bit more.
Old Apr 3, 2004, 08:23 PM
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agreed - the poly bushing will help as well. Are you running a rear bar? I dont want to induce more "push"
Old Apr 3, 2004, 08:59 PM
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Yeah! a Works 24mm, 3-way adjustable set on soft right now(wheel lift set on full. ie..too much roll stiffnes). Push is not really a problem. but I did need some front wheel rate to get rid of it, tires rolled to much even with 35psi, I uped it to 41psi, did the sway bar mod, It's a whole lot better. I am hoping the poly's will be all I need. Will know more after our next event. Still playing with the set up. If I can get this to work I may keep the Tanabe GF210's.

Last edited by Tri-Bar; Apr 3, 2004 at 09:08 PM.
Old Apr 19, 2004, 09:59 PM
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Talking

SO I did this mod over the weekend on an otherwise stock EVO.

The difference was much better than expected!

A couple of note on the original install.
[list=1][*]The drill bit size is 27/64 not 27/32. We are looking to drill a 10mm hole and a couple of drill bits will work in this case. Finding a 27/64 drill bit is hard enough. I also found that a 13/32 drill bit will work as well.[*]don't waste your time (like I did) using standard drill bits. Go to a decent hardware store and buy some colbalt drill bits. I wasted 1 titanium drill bit plus another hardened drill bit (hardest crap Sear & rubish had in stock). If you take the time to get proper drill bits, drilling the holes will only take about 10 minutes.[*]I was able to get away with leaving the tie-rod end intact. After raising the car and disconnecting the swaybar, you have enough room to raise the swaybar so the drill does not interfere with the tie rod.[*]Try as best you can to get the holes centered. This not only creates better operation but also helps getting everything back together.[/list=1]

I used a 13/32 drill bit which works out to 10.5mm diameter hole, while the 27/64 drill bit is a 10.7mm hole. You probably could get away with a smaller hole, maybe a 9.8mm at most, but I am not sure what size drill bit that is.

either way you can't go wrong with this mod if you take the timem to mark everything properly.

Thanks Tri-Bar!

you da man!!!!

let me know when you find the poly bushings! that would be key addition to finish this project.
Old May 18, 2004, 10:17 AM
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Has anyone tried this with the rear sway bar yet? I was looking at it, and it really looks like there's enough flat area on the end of the bar to add another hole... I'd much rather add some rotation instead of understeer.
Old May 18, 2004, 12:40 PM
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Nope, not enough flat to move back 3/4" plus the addition of the hole radius. This will put you well back into the "meat" of the bar.

We changed to a Hotchkis hollow rear bar, works great. We also plan on making this front bar/bushing change in the future.

Rick
Old May 18, 2004, 01:03 PM
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Any negative feedback on this mod (ie. busted end links)? Just curious as it looks like the end link is under alot of stress, even more so than in its stock location.
Old May 18, 2004, 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted by fstgvr4
Any negative feedback on this mod (ie. busted end links)? Just curious as it looks like the end link is under alot of stress, even more so than in its stock location.
Just suck it up and do it BOY!!!!!!
Old May 19, 2004, 12:03 PM
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Did you this mod? Maybe I should so i could be a super driver like you
Old May 27, 2004, 12:05 AM
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I would not do it with the rear bar. Not enough metel to work with. Running hard, nothing bad to report yet.
Old Jul 11, 2004, 08:36 PM
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I did the mod this last weekend to the front bar. I barely noticed a difference at the autocross, but time will tell if I liked the modification.

Do yourself a favor and get the right drill bit. I got a Heavy Duty Cobalt screw machine 25/64" from McMaster Carr. Their part number is 28765 A34. Cost me $7.25. I tried 2 High speed steel bits before that, and they just went dull. Even with the good bit from McMaster, It took about 20mins per side with a good Dewalt drill. I even used machinist's tapping oil to keep everything lubed. The trick is low speed drill application with very high pressure. Get ready to flex some muscle.

Also, I noticed something very unusual. The driver's side flange on the swaybar was a different length than the passenger's side. The passenger's side flange must have been at least 1/2" longer. It appears that the flange is just swaged (forged), so I can understand some variance, but as you can see from the pictures, it was hard to fit a second hole in on the driver's side. Anyone else ever see this?
Attached Thumbnails Make your front sway bar adjustable.-passenger-s-side.jpg   Make your front sway bar adjustable.-driver-s-side.jpg  
Old Oct 15, 2004, 09:02 PM
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I did this mod tonight and last Friday night. This is NOT easy.

I went through 2 Ti bits and 2 Cobalt bits and had to buy a new drill! It took me all of last Friday night to make a hole in the passenger side and part of tonight to make it big enough to fit the end link through. I wound up using a Dremel with some sort of Diamond bit. The Dremel ate through the swaybar like butter, baby!

The driver side took me 10 minutes from jack up to let down. I made a hole with a smaller 7.94 mm Cobalt bit and Dremeled out the hole large enough to accept the end link.

VERY noticeably stiffer. I have the Hotchkis rear bar on the middle setting and will see how it feels full stiff now.

Anyways, all you need is an 8 mm Cobalt bit, muscle, and a Dremel with the strongest bit they make.
Old Nov 14, 2006, 04:44 AM
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Did this mod myself. It only helps the understeer of the car. Put the 24mm Cusco rear bar in, set it on medium (middle hole) and keep the front stock. Point & shoot handling guaranteed boys. Thx, Tom

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