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Old 03-30-2012, 08:27 AM   #16
Turbo27
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 270182
Join Date: Jan 2011
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Louisville, Ky
Vehicle:
2003 WRX
OBP

Default Sway bar install and Group N transmission mount

Installed my Whiteline 24mm bars last night. I wanted to see the improvement on stock suspension before I put my struts and springs on. The body roll was reduced quite a bit. Id say it was about the same as with RCE springs and stock sway bars. The car gives me a lot more confidence to go faster now since it no longer feels like it is going to roll over before it reaches the limits of grip. I think these bars will pair well with the RCE yellows and koni's.

Here are some pics from the install. it was pretty straight forward and the only thing you have to do is remove the sub-frame to get to the front sway bar. That sounds a lot worse than what it really is. The sub-frame bolts are all easily accessible and mine were not hard to get off for the most part.

Here is the stock 20mm front bar compared to the new 24mm bar, which is 107% stiffer:




The bar came with the stops that keep them from moving side to side already installed. I used teflon tape under the bushings and also applied the supplied grease on all the bushings. During my test drive I didn't hear any new noises after the install.



After putting everything back together i dropped the car back on it's wheels and tightened the endlinks. Make sure you put the spacers in the correct locations to get the endlinks pointing as close to perpendicular to the ground as possible. Here is what mine looked like:



I didn't take any pics of the rear but you can get the idea. It is a lot easier than the front and all i had to do is loosen an exhaust hanger to get the bars in and out.

I also replace my rear sway bar mounts with +04 sway bar mounts. They are a lot stiffer and all around much better than the crappy 02-03 mounts. You can buy these mounts as a kit with all the parts needed from subarugenuineparts.com.

Old on the left, new on the right:



Also installed my Group N tranny mount while i had the car up in the air. wasn't too hard and after install i noticed a lot less slop in the the drivetrain. I need to replace all the other mounts in the car to make it feel new again.


Overall no real change in NVH. I kinda noticed the effects of bigger bars when hitting a huge hole with the passenger side. The car felt stiffer than before when taking the impact, but nothing really uncomfortable by my standards at least.

Going to put the rest of my suspension on this weekend and get the car aligned monday if all goes well.
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