MSP Rear Suspension Pics please

[TX Speed Demon]

Does anyone have a few pics of the rear suspension set up in a stock MSP?

Specifically I'm looking for close up pics showing:
The endlinks and how they connect to the sway bar
Side shot of the sway bar bushings installed


As you can see from the attached pics my sway bar got messed up a while back. I've repositioned the stoppers, and will be replacing the bushings tonight or tomorrow. What I'm wondering is if I need to replace the end links too. Mine appear to be angled funny, and I think they may need to be replaced too. Unfortunately I don't have another MSP to compare them too.

Someone please crawl down behind your rear wheels and take a few snaps for me.

thanks

 

[Wiggles422]

These are kinda large, but I figured it would show more detail... hope it helps!
-Michael

 

[yashooa]

Sup Ho

I will take a pic for you. I just got my mounting hardware/bushings replaced a while ago.
I will post the pics tonight. You bar looks all kind of ugly (wow)

 

[TX Speed Demon]

That's perfect. Now I just need one of the end link. perferably straight on from behind, but anything that will show how much it angles away from the wheel, and the actual connection to the sway bar would be GREAT!!

 

[TX Speed Demon]

I will take a pic for you. I just got my mounting hardware/bushings replaced a while ago.
I will post the pics tonight. You bar looks all kind of ugly (wow)

Yeah when you use it to desinegrate two 6" thick wooden poles it gets a little dirty.

And (upyours) for not coming over last saturday. You missed a good fight and a great meal.

 

[Wiggles422]

Is this what you're talking about?

 

[yashooa]

Yeah when you use it to desinegrate two 6" thick wooden poles it gets a little dirty.

And (upyours) for not coming over last saturday. You missed a good fight and a great meal.

Man I am sorry. We are selling our house and are having to pack like a mofo!
No fun for me...but a 3 car garage (hopefully) will be sweet.
Get that car looked at. They should replace all those jacked up parts.

 

[ping]

What about these?

What about these? (wink wink, nudge, nudge). Note swaybar shape is same, it's the stock bar. That's not all though... one pic is a "before", the others "after"...

Hope this helps! (thumb)

 

[TX Speed Demon]

What about these? (wink wink, nudge, nudge). Note swaybar shape is same, it's the stock bar. That's not all though... one pic is a "before", the others "after"...

Hope this helps! (thumb)

Yeah your first picture is exactly what I needed. Your end links are angled the same as mine, good to know these are ok.

I've been waiting for Micha to release the new set up, and read your review earlier today. Glad to hear everything is working out as planned and I can't wait till the finished product is released.

thanks again

 

[TX Speed Demon]

Ping:

I noticed in the new set up your sway bar stoppers are not placed next to your bishings. Doesn't your sway bar now move side to side? If so you're gonna want to push that stopper over till it sits right next to the new bushings, or put the old ones back in the original place for further lateral support.

I think this lateral movement of the sway bar is what is causing my car to have severe wobbling when aggresivly turning right. When i realigned the the stopper and went out for a short test drive the car was perfect. When I went out 2 hours later the wobble was back. Getting back under the car I could see some spacing between the bar and bushing (which is why I'm replacing them tonight).

Anyway test it out carefully. In fact, first just crawl underneath and give the bar a good shove to each side and see if it moves before trying it on the road. It really cought me by surprise the first time it happened and I nearly went off the road, very very hard to steer.

Hopefully these new bushing will cure the problem.

 

[FunSpeed]

hope this helps you!

 

[TX Speed Demon]

Thanks for your help guys.

I put the new 156E bushings in last night. While it needed to be done since my passenger side rear bushing was broken into two pieces, it didn't solve my problem.
Took it out for a drive afterward last night and the car still wobbles when making aggresive right turns.

Today while the car is on the lift getting new rear tires I'll check out the front sway bar and see if the problem is there. If that's ok then I'll move onto checking the struts or just give up and get a different car. A used 2002 WRX is sounding better and better with each right hand turn.

Just so you know replacing the bushings was a fairly easy process. You only need jackstands and a 14mm socket wrench. Just remove the two bolts for each mounting bracket, pull off the old bushing and replace and reattach the new one. Took me about 1.5 hours to do both working in the dark with only a flashlight.

 

[ping]

TX Speed Demon: The bushings are close enough to the ends of the bar that the bar doesn't move much laterally, though I am going to be pushing the "bushing locator rings" (can't come up with a better name) to the side with some other testing I'm doing this weekend. The red bushings you see in the pics are actually bushings for a 19mm bar (all that was available) and so are clamping the bar too tightly. I'm checking several other bushings, including red and black urethane, as well as a zerked bushing that allows lubing w/o removing the bar (kewl), to see what works best and what to avoid.

That "hitch" you feel in cornering is your swaybar bending around the "elbow" area. It's GONE with the new setup, as the bar can only really bend in torsion (as it is supposed to). I was noticing the same phenomenon, especially in long hard sweepers with a bump in the middle - the car would kind of oscillate as if the rear suspension wasn't taking a firm "set". No more of that with this prototype setup.

I have to get the other bushings tested as these tight ones are causing some shock/spring effect that I want to eliminate to get at the improvements available "only" from the new brackets. Should have the others on this weekend and be able to report. I may even test some rubber bushings later (if I can find 'em!) for those only wanting the clunk fixed, but right now my main emphasis is getting through this quickly so Mica can get these to market.

 

[TX Speed Demon]

That "hitch" you feel in cornering is your swaybar bending around the "elbow" area. It's GONE with the new setup, as the bar can only really bend in torsion (as it is supposed to). I was noticing the same phenomenon, especially in long hard sweepers with a bump in the middle - the car would kind of oscillate as if the rear suspension wasn't taking a firm "set". No more of that with this prototype setup.

Mines way more than a "hitch". The whole car wobbles from side to side (seems to be from back driver to front passenger), the steering wheel jumps in my hand from left to right, and I can't keep the car in it's proper line. It's not just an inconvinience, it's actually scary. This happens when in long hard sweepers like you described, and only if I'm taking them aggresivly. If I drive slowly it feels fine.

Perhaps my sway bar is shaped incorrectly. When I got into the accident last year my rear drivers side wheel took the blunt of the force and was bent seriously out of shape, it was angled the same as my front wheels when making a left turn about 30-45 degrees. Looks like in the repairs they used the same sway bar since all the scratches and stuff are still there.

Maybe what I'll have to do is measure the distance seperating the end of the sway bar on another MSP and compare it to mine. This will tell me if mine is bent incorrectly.

 

[yashooa]

Mines way more than a "hitch". The whole car wobbles from side to side (seems to be from back driver to front passenger), the steering wheel jumps in my hand from left to right, and I can't keep the car in it's proper line. It's not just an inconvinience, it's actually scary. This happens when in long hard sweepers like you described, and only if I'm taking them aggresivly. If I drive slowly it feels fine.

Perhaps my sway bar is shaped incorrectly. When I got into the accident last year my rear drivers side wheel took the blunt of the force and was bent seriously out of shape, it was angled the same as my front wheels when making a left turn about 30-45 degrees. Looks like in the repairs they used the same sway bar since all the scratches and stuff are still there.

Maybe what I'll have to do is measure the distance seperating the end of the sway bar on another MSP and compare it to mine. This will tell me if mine is bent incorrectly.

Damn they didn't replace the bar at the dealer? Man that thing is worn down. I would have asked for a new one. Mine was clean and red all the way along the whole bar yours looks kind of discolored and beat up.

 

[ping]

That sounds like more of a broken suspension piece, broken/blown strut, or alignment issue. A severely bent swaybar could contribute to it as well, since it would have a different spring rate on right turns than left. I'd say look at other areas as well.

 

[JFW]

I agree, it sounds more and more like a bent strut or one thats lost a seal or has the valving screwed up. A bent strut might act like it has randomly varying compression and rebound. A strut with a popped seal would probably be wallowy all the time. One with damaged valving might have all sorts of compression and rebound problems (hard when it should be soft & vise versa).