I have been thinking about getting a swaybar for the front of my TE.

Although i have been reading that only having a front one, promotes understeer and is crap.

Is this correct?

Are you fitting a sway bar or a strut brace? Sounds like It's a strut brace because you mentioned the top of the strut tower. Yes It's pretty much as simple as removing the nuts on the top of your struts and fitting the strut brace. You wont need to put any tension on the brace at all and don't forget to torque the nuts on the strut tops when your done, It's 39-49 Nm of torque. Hope this helps..


Cheers Luke

And..... if you DO mean a swaybar on the front, your car already has one from factory. FWD cars get a front sway bar, but most get no rear sway bar.
The "Sports" and "VRX" do get a rear sway bar from factory - possibly the GTV and GTVi Verada's also get a rear sway bar. AWD models = I am not sure.

It is possible to buy aftermarket sway bars: either beefier ones for front, beefier ones for OEM rear sway bars, or bolt-on swaybars for cars that had no OEM rear sway bar.

Few points to note:
o Several members have had issues with quality of after-market bolt-on rear sway bars, including me - this includes poor quality fitting hardware, and bars that seem to be not properly shaped.
o Several members who have upgraded to beefier rear sway bar on cars with OEM rear bars, have then had issues with OEM mountings on the car cracking.
o One method (at least) of aftermarket mounting of bolt-on rear swaybar has been criticised - with some justification - as it uses existing subframe mounting bolts to hold on a new bracket, meaning that far less thread of the mounting bolts for subframe is being effective. (This is the case for mine on a KJ, but hasn't given me issues yet).

Now, amongst all that doom-and-gloom, I have a TJ Sports with OEM rear sway bar and love it. I added a bolt-on aftermarket rear sway bar to a KJ sedan and its made a huge difference, tho had issues at first with quality of fitting kit and a bar not shaped properly in manufacture. I haven't bothered to upgrade the front sway bars on either car, and doubt that I ever will bother.

Hey Mate,

As the others have said, yours should have a front one from factory, and they don't make too much of a real difference. What you need to look at is a rear swaybar from whiteline. Even on the lowest setting to start off with it makes a huge difference!

Does anyone know if a ralliart has a rear sway bar? would it be worth putting a white line on mine? cheers.

OK thanks guys this helps alot, are they are to fit?

Also i was talking about the Strut Brace originally but sway bar also sounds good.

With that said though is a strut brace for the front worth it if i dont have a rear sway bar?

Does anyone know if a ralliart has a rear sway bar? would it be worth putting a white line on mine? cheers.

Yea the ralliarts come with one, as well as the sports and vrx models.

They're not as good as the aftermarket ones though. It wouldn't make a huge difference as there isn't much difference between them, unless you have heaps of money to burn and can be bothered to sell off your stock one to make up some of the cost :P

Does anyone know if a ralliart has a rear sway bar? would it be worth putting a white line on mine? cheers.

yes it will, no doubt the same item fitted to sports and vr-x models.

Upgrading to a thicker aftermarket items will change the feel of the rear end quite dramatically, just make sure you have decent rubber!

OK thanks guys this helps alot, are they are to fit?

Also i was talking about the Strut Brace originally but sway bar also sounds good.

With that said though is a strut brace for the front worth it if i dont have a rear sway bar?

Strut brace should be one of the last things you do. Rear swaybar and lowered springs are should be your first two options. If your stock shockers are crap then maybe replace them aswell, otherwise they should be fine with a lowered springs and rear swaybar package, you'll love the handling after those two upgrades, trust me.

ok, cheers.. one more question.. is a strut brace worth it?

Strut brace should be one of the last things you do. Rear swaybar and lowered springs are should be your first two options. If your stock shockers are crap then maybe replace them aswell, otherwise they should be fine with a lowered springs and rear swaybar package, you'll love the handling after those two upgrades, trust me.

Thanks Neo, i already have ordered the springs and shocks. I have King Lows and Boge shocks paid in full, just waiting for Boge to send a shipment over here to Aus so Magmagna can send them to me.

What sort of estimate would i be looking at for a rear sway bar and fitting? I wouldnt need to bushkit would i?

ok, cheers.. one more question.. is a strut brace worth it?

I'm going say.. if you have big rims yes.. if you have 16's 17's not a lot of difference.. From what I can tell on my TF it stops tramlining a little bit (it stops your car from wanting to follow the grooves in the road)

Also: http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_2669/article.html

It mentions there that the sports models, even the TE-TF ones come with a 18mm rear swaybar (non-adjustable). I believe the adjustability would be the main reason for people to upgrade theirs to the whiteline aftermarket option.

It however doesn't mention whether it's a bigger bar on the VRX or Ralliart models, so I'm going to assume they all have the same 18mm bar. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks Neo, i already have ordered the springs and shocks. I have King Lows and Boge shocks paid in full, just waiting for Boge to send a shipment over here to Aus so Magmagna can send them to me.

What sort of estimate would i be looking at for a rear sway bar and fitting? I wouldnt need to bushkit would i?

Think I paid about 190 for mine from repco and fitted it myself. You'll probably be looking at about that, plus 1 hour labour from any suspension place.

I'm going say.. if you have big rims yes.. if you have 16's 17's not a lot of difference.. From what I can tell on my TF it stops tramlining a little bit (it stops your car from wanting to follow the grooves in the road)

I have 18's and i am very stick and tired of the tram lining, so it looks like im getting me a strut brace.

Think I paid about 190 for mine from repco and fitted it myself. You'll probably be looking at about that, plus 1 hour labour from any suspension place.

Are there any tut's on how to fit one?

Are there any tut's on how to fit one?

Well, there are detailed instructions on fitting them which comes with the kit.

Make sure that the grease is used on the joints between the bar and the mount that it goes through. It's ok to fit it with the wheels off but make sure it's tightened when it's lowered down on to the ground (you'll probably need some of the stands that you can drive up on to to do this). Make sure that you don't overtighten the brackets either.

Sorry that this isn't in the youtube thread but I feel it might be usefull here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQeQeAXebpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rupn9ysT3-Y

Strut brace was great, really tightened up the front end through corners

I'm going say.. if you have big rims yes.. if you have 16's 17's not a lot of difference.. From what I can tell on my TF it stops tramlining a little bit (it stops your car from wanting to follow the grooves in the road)

Also: http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_2669/article.html

It mentions there that the sports models, even the TE-TF ones come with a 18mm rear swaybar (non-adjustable). I believe the adjustability would be the main reason for people to upgrade theirs to the whiteline aftermarket option.

It however doesn't mention whether it's a bigger bar on the VRX or Ralliart models, so I'm going to assume they all have the same 18mm bar. Can anyone confirm this?

If you are talking a rear bar, forget anybolt on aftermarket rubbish, the only right way is to get a back end from a VRX or similar and use that. The after market ones have mounting issues, they hit other parts and are generally rubbish

If you are talking a rear bar, forget anybolt on aftermarket rubbish, the only right way is to get a back end from a VRX or similar and use that. The after market ones have mounting issues, they hit other parts and are generally rubbish


thats a very big statement to make that after market/whiteline sway bars are rubbish,

i had BMR69XZ fitted to my TH for 8 years with no problems and tracked the car many times, now is on another TH still with no porblems

peeandham I would like to know if this works out for you. I've been thinking of putting a mitsu rear bar on my beloved TE in (a probably futile) attempt to stop the 'tank slap' effect where the back end won't hold true under cornering.

peeandham I would like to know if this works out for you. I've been thinking of putting a mitsu rear bar on my beloved TE in (a probably futile) attempt to stop the 'tank slap' effect where the back end won't hold true under cornering.


and how fast are you going for the rear end not to hold true during cornering?

peeandham I would like to know if this works out for you. I've been thinking of putting a mitsu rear bar on my beloved TE in (a probably futile) attempt to stop the 'tank slap' effect where the back end won't hold true under cornering.

I only have one on my TF, and since I've been driving my TE a bit lately there's a huge difference. Getting a swaybar for the TE aswell is the next on my list of things to do :)

if anyone wants any swaybars before xmas

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81237

The Ralliart rear swaybar is 18mm. I just had mine changed to a Whiteline 22mm adjustable. Will keep an eye on the mounts. (was bl..dy expensive.)

Also had a whiteline adjustable rear swaybar fitted to my previous TJ exec, and with the lowered springs it was a magical transformation of the handling.
But as Madmagna warned, it did foul the rear suspension, until Robbie at RPW modified it.

Front strut brace looks good, but has a much lesser effect on handling. Only consider it after all the other handling mods mentioned have been done.

Cheers

and how fast are you going for the rear end not to hold true during cornering?

+80km

I'm running a 28mm fully adjustable whiteline in the rear ( one of only 20 ever made) and a 24mm in the front with a whiteline strut brace and I couldn't be happier it handles like a dream..

hey does anyone know if my 2001 verada comes fitted with a swaybar? i was thinking of putting on a whiteline one is bigger better should i get a 22mm or will 20mm be plenty? i'm also thinking lowering with either lovells or king springs.. anyone recommend one spring manufacturer over the other? will i need a camber bolt kit from whiteline to properly aline my 19"s sorry if i asked all this in the wrong place

hey does anyone know if my 2001 verada comes fitted with a swaybar? i was thinking of putting on a whiteline one is bigger better should i get a 22mm or will 20mm be plenty? i'm also thinking lowering with either lovells or king springs.. anyone recommend one spring manufacturer over the other? will i need a camber bolt kit from whiteline to properly aline my 19"s sorry if i asked all this in the wrong place

it doeesnt have one. it'll be a big handling transformation

go for lovell's, have heard good stuff about them.
i've heard that whitelines are *** shit to fit, might have to go mechanics to get it properly fitted

No your car does not come fitted with a sway bar, they are dead easy to fit. The bigger the better IMO, as for springs both brands are good but it will all depend on the ride hight you are after as I believe they are different heights. You wont need camber bolts, a decent wheel aligner should have no problems with setting your alignment up.

Cheers Luke

No your car does not come fitted with a sway bar, they are dead easy to fit. The bigger the better IMO, as for springs both brands are good but it will all depend on the ride hight you are after as I believe they are different heights. You wont need camber bolts, a decent wheel aligner should have no problems with setting your alignment up.

Cheers Luke

i've heard of alot of people havin problems with the fitting, and havvin to get them refitted professionally?

Make sure you have sticky tyres with a heavy duty rear sway bar! shit tyres will increase the risk of oversteer especially in the wet

Make sure you have sticky tyres with a heavy duty rear sway bar! shit tyres will increase the risk of oversteer especially in the wet

Wouldn't go too heavy duty, shit tyres or not if it's too stiff your back will fishtail/oversteer all the time, especially in the wet.
Had a friend write off his car this way when he wasn't even hooning, he just bought the thickest rear swaybar Whiteline had without upgrading anything else and lost control of his car in the wet.

Wouldn't go too heavy duty, shit tyres or not if it's too stiff your back will fishtail/oversteer all the time, especially in the wet.
Had a friend write off his car this way when he wasn't even hooning, he just bought the thickest rear swaybar Whiteline had without upgrading anything else and lost control of his car in the wet.

thats epic. a whiteline sway bar being the cause of a write off.

It was an Evo 3 as well