some trouble with a racing beat rear sway bar

[Brains]

About a month or two ago i managed to pick up a nice used RacingBeat rear sway bar complete with the old mounts off an MSP and the old rubber bushings. A few thousand miles later, the bushings split/failed and my normal clunking sound turned into some sort of awful banging noise that "clunking" doesn't seem to be the word for.
So, i ordered a pair of the AWR urethane bushings advertised as being replacements on the MSP/MP3 since i figured that i didn't have any trouble with the old stockers, so the new ones should be about the same. I managed to get on the new urethanes (as well as getting grease on all my tools, all over the sway bar which i had nicely repainted and replaced the logo -_-, and of course all over myself) but i noticed that the flat part of the bushings isn't sitting flush with where they're supposed to mount up against the rear sub-frame. I assumed i had put them on wrong or something, but they don't seem to want to mount up flat with the sub-frame anyways.
I took it for a short drive today after installing the AWR bushings and the noise with the new bushings was worse than it was with the old ass split rubber ones -_-
-I'm assuming that the bushings are moving up and down in the mounts when i go over anything, which is causing this....more than normal clunk, clunk.

What i wanted to know is if the MSP's rear subframe has a better mounting surface for the bushings so they will sit flat on an MSP, but on my 2001 ES they won't sit flat because the ES and the MSP have a different rear sub-frame?
I see AWR makes some kind of bracket for your bracket that bolts onto the sub-frame, and then you attach your mounts/bushings/bar to the AWR mount- would that provide a better surface for my bushings to mount up against?
I also see that a clunkFix bracket would probably fix this...
I'd appreciate any opinions on why my bushings won't mount properly, and i'll post some poor-quality pictures taken with my poor-quality camera tonight...
...right now i have to go get a fruit smoothie.

 

[njaremka]

if you can get your hands on a clunk fix kit, do it. it provide a much better mounting solution.

also, try wrapping the bar with teflon tape under the bushing. it will provide a grease free, squeak free mounting solution.

 

[Brains]

The clunkFix looks like it might solve my problems, but i have some concerns about it possibly not being as effective as it's made out to be. Are you using a clunkFix? I'd like to hear about the difference between driving without a clunkFix and with the bracket.
I read a lot of the older threads regarding the clunkFix, but they didn't seem to help me much. I want to know as much as i can before i spend $100+ on something i'm not that familiar with eh?

edit:
and i forgot... i seem to be getting a lot of horizontal movement- it seems the little rubber bands that are supposed to prevent the bar from moving horizontally are slipping. we just used a hammer to push them (roughly) back into place (scraped up some more of my paint -_-)
uh.... o,
Will the clunk fix bracket prevent my bar from sliding around? And is there a way to tighten those little rubber bands?

 

[njaremka]

The clunkFix looks like it might solve my problems, but i have some concerns about it possibly not being as effective as it's made out to be. Are you using a clunkFix? I'd like to hear about the difference between driving without a clunkFix and with the bracket.
I read a lot of the older threads regarding the clunkFix, but they didn't seem to help me much. I want to know as much as i can before i spend $100+ on something i'm not that familiar with eh?

i have the clunk fix on my car. however, i have never been without it. it works fantastically. i have never had any noises from my rear sway bar, except when the grease starts to wear out. (this last time, i wrapped the bar with teflon plumbers tape and have since not had any noises)

edit:
and i forgot... i seem to be getting a lot of horizontal movement- it seems the little rubber bands that are supposed to prevent the bar from moving horizontally are slipping. we just used a hammer to push them (roughly) back into place (scraped up some more of my paint -_-)
uh.... o,
Will the clunk fix bracket prevent my bar from sliding around? And is there a way to tighten those little rubber bands?

the clunk fix kit uses collar clamps to hold the sway bar steady. these are much more secure than the stock bar "clips"

this is the kit you want:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123814156-GI-AutoXRacing-Clunk-Fix-Bracket