How To: Racing Beat rear Sway bar on P5/ES

dmitrik4 said:
depends on what you mean by "essentially the same." here's how they go in size:

LX/DX bar: 15mm ES/P5 bar: 16 or 17mm
AWR 19mm bar: 19mm
RB (MP3/MSP) bar: 20mm
AWR 21.5mm bar: 21.5mm
I added the lx size to your post .
 
i didn't end up getting the MSP one, the person selling wanted too much ($150 CDN).

somebody else on my board is selling the 19mm fully adjustable AWR sway bar for alot cheaper, i may pick that one up, but will have to buy the AWR mounting brackets and possibly bushings. i think this one would be cheaper and involve less modification to get everything to fit together.
 
just to make sure im being super overly redunant....

i have the MP3 sway bar. I have the MP3 busings. I have the MP3 endlinks. I have the MP3 horseshoes.

i also have the horseshoes/bushings/bar from the ES. my endlinks are shot and need to be cut off (54k, rusted solid).

do I *NEED* anything else?
i am being confused about the brackets and bushing in particular.....

heres what i think i need:
bushings from AWR
brackets from AWR

am i correct? do i really need the bushings from them? or should i just use either the MP3 or ES ones?

i just dont want to cut off my sway bar thinkin i have everything i need when i dont.....
 
mp3wannabe said:
just to make sure im being super overly redunant....

i have the MP3 sway bar. I have the MP3 busings. I have the MP3 endlinks. I have the MP3 horseshoes.

i also have the horseshoes/bushings/bar from the ES. my endlinks are shot and need to be cut off (54k, rusted solid).

do I *NEED* anything else?
i am being confused about the brackets and bushing in particular.....

heres what i think i need:
bushings from AWR
brackets from AWR

am i correct? do i really need the bushings from them? or should i just use either the MP3 or ES ones?

i just dont want to cut off my sway bar thinkin i have everything i need when i dont.....
The AWR bushings will work with the horseshoes from the ES, but not from the MP3. The MP3 ones are larger.

As for the brackets from AWR, they will work with the horseshoes from the ES, but I am unsure if they will work with the MP3 horseshoes. I don't know if the holes mount in the same location. You could ask AWR about that.

If the MP3 horseshoes do fit the AWR brackets, I would say use the MP3 bushings, horseshoes, and endlinks, and get the AWR brackets to mount them.

If they do not fit, then you will probably need to do what I did, and use the ES horseshoes, MP3 endlinks, and AWR bushings.

I hope this helps...
 
ok. i'll send tony at AWR another email about the mp3 horseshoes.

thanks for your help.
 
I have a couple of RB MSP swaybars for sale........
 
mp3wannabe: don't worry about taking off the old bar. i've been driving around w/out a rear bar for about a week, since when i installed my MSP springs/struts i couldn't get the rear endlinks off. i just removed the struts and bar as one unit. it leans a little in corners (but the ride is really nice!), but as long as you're not autoXing it should be fine.

i hope to receive the RB bar i won on ebay this week. from the pic, it looks like it comes w/ endlinks and bushings.

from this thread, and macklum's post, it sounds like i can just reuse my ES bushings and horseshoes over the RB bar. macklum, let me know if i'm misunderstanding this.
 
[QUOTEfrom this thread, and macklum's post, it sounds like i can just reuse my ES bushings and horseshoes over the RB bar. macklum, let me know if i'm misunderstanding this.[/QUOTE] You are correct you can use those parts . Just rememberto open the small bar bushings to fit the new bar
 
when you say "open," you mean just put them on the new bar? IIRC, they are already split, so i can just unwrap them from the current bar and wrap them around the new one. but i haven't looked too closely at them...will i need to cut them?
 
dmitrik4 said:
when you say "open," you mean just put them on the new bar? IIRC, they are already split, so i can just unwrap them from the current bar and wrap them around the new one. but i haven't looked too closely at them...will i need to cut them?
The P5 bar I believe is 15mm the racing beat bar is 20 mm ,you have to open the 15 mm bushings to 20mm . This way you can use the P5 horseshoes . you can use a dremel tool with a sanding drum on it to open the bushings . some else has done this ,check back in the post to find that info .
 
macklum said:
The P5 bar I believe is 15mm the racing beat bar is 20 mm ,you have to open the 15 mm bushings to 20mm . This way you can use the P5 horseshoes . you can use a dremel tool with a sanding drum on it to open the bushings . some else has done this ,check back in the post to find that info .

well it's been a few weeks and a few autoX events, and the bar is looking (and working!) good. i didn't hog out the bushings at all, just put them on the new bar (the old ES bar is either 16 or 17mm), and tapped the brackets onto the bushings.

the only trouble was getting the holes in the brackets to line up with the std and bolt hole on the subframe. i got it to work by working on the bolt first- just thread it in a few turns, enough to keep it from coming out, but loose enough to allow the bracket to move a bit. the fit the other end over the stud...i had to push on one side a decent amount, but the other bracket went on with little fuss. then just tighten up. i notice a (very) slight clunk from the right side every once in a while, but that's it. nothing that even bothers me. best $40 i ever spent on my car.

thanks for the info macklum.
 
dmitrik4 said:
i didn't hog out the bushings at all, just put them on the new bar (the old ES bar is either 16 or 17mm),


...line up with the std and bolt hole on the subframe....
so you used the stock bushings AND the stock subframe?? good thing i havent bought the brackets yet! saved me $40! thats 40 i can use towards my header!
 
ok, so i have my racing beat bar...it arrived with the mp3 endlinks, mp3 bushings and mp3 brackets...will i be able to mount this directly to my p5?

edit: nvm, they didnt work...im just wondering if i should have gotten the awr brackets since the bar seems to be facing extremely downward...
 
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Ok to clarify this is what you need if you don't go AWR

MSP racing beat sway bar
MSP horshoe brackets
MSP teflon lined bushings (eliminates squeaking)


Oh..that bar rotating to the front thing, that just happened to me. Be careful guys. I was going into my underground parkade when it happened
 
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fLyPiNoY7 said:
ok, so i have my racing beat bar...it arrived with the mp3 endlinks, mp3 bushings and mp3 brackets...will i be able to mount this directly to my p5?

edit: nvm, they didnt work...im just wondering if i should have gotten the awr brackets since the bar seems to be facing extremely downward...
did you get the msp rear crossmember? i had to replace my stock rear crossmember to make the new brackets fit
 
nope...all i did was hog out the stock bushings and bolt them directly to the p5 subframe using the stock horseshoes...essentially, the only thing that got replaced through this whole installation was the swaybar itself...still using the p5 endlinks as well...works fine and the swaybar is actually facing upwards past parallel due to the shorter endlinks...no clunks, thumps, or squeaks...

edit: the downward-pointing swaybar was due to the car being on jacks...nvm my stupidity on that...
 
im gonna try to get mine in this weekend, got a list of things to do, gotta repaint my calipers, rotate my tires, change my oil and filter, new pcv valve, depending on when i get my header that may need to be installed, and this sway bar

im gonna try the straight bar swap, and i'll let you know how it goes for me.
 
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