25mm sway bar install

[20VT]

Not really sure what the issue here is, didn't have this with the stock sway bar. but here we go, i'll try and explain it. Brand new bar, brand new end links, brand new poly bushings. Pushed stock bushings out of new end links to put in the 25mm ones then slapped it to the subframe and...

Passenger side end link:


Sway bar vs Subframe (pass. side).

The space between both seems legit.

Driver side end link:

what teh fack

Sway bar vs Subframe (driver side):

seems...not so legit.

when I try to center the bar by pushing it towards the passenger side to make it pop out of the passenger end link a tad bit more, the sway bar hits the control arm on the driver side... did I do something wrong here? Been monkeying with this for little over an hour and can't get it. I have loosend the control arms thinking maybe one would go in a little bit more and give me that extra bit of space between the driver side control arm and the bar but no luck. Any suggestions?

And the h&r kit did not come with new clips to hold the bar down to the subframe and with the stock clips this happens-


I tried using a C-clamp but the clip started to bend

[Audiphile]

The kit SHOULD have come with new brackets. Are you sure you installed it the correct way? Once you have it attached on the car the bar will have more clearance from the subframe.

[20VT]

The kit SHOULD have come with new brackets. Are you sure you installed it the correct way? Once you have it attached on the car the bar will have more clearance from the subframe.

Thanks for the reply. The kit did not come with the new brackets- which suck. I am going to call H&R tomorrow and see what lame excuse they give me. Pretty positive it's in the right way, not really sure how I could install in the wrong way but yet again I don't know a whole lot

this is what ECS shows for the kit and this is exactly what I got.
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-...ay_Bar/ES5513/

[veedubmechanic]

Fyi, the links should be bolted to the arms last with the weight of the car

[20VT]

Fyi, the links should be bolted to the arms last with the weight of the car

whoops. well, i figured i could just put my subframe back together like I took it out haha. oh well, I'll just unblock the end links until I put the frame back into the car. thanks for the info tho

[sirpuddingfoot]

Adding anti-roll in the front stiffens it thereby increasing turn in response but ultimately increasing understeer.

It's H&Rs way of negating the rear sway bar increasing rotation.

Just saying.

[20VT]

Adding anti-roll in the front stiffens it thereby increasing turn in response but ultimately increasing understeer.

It's H&Rs way of negating the rear sway bar increasing rotation.

Just saying.

yeah you kind of lost me.



so after spending some time with H&R on the phone, I have lost faith in this company. The technician(after I sent him a link to the thread) assured me I had the bar in upside down and that the numbers on the bar should be facing towards the bottom. Gathering viewable information, this didn't seem right but I gave it a shot anyways...


So here is the bar the way the tech wanted me to install it. seems kinda funky.


mhm


surely doesn't seem right. some help he was.

so I flipped the bar back around to the way I had it-

seems much better, but still the clearance issues on the driver side portion.


Again- seems like it should go this way.

compared it with the way my stock bar came out- vahla I had it right.

can I be an H&R tech, pwease?

so again...I am stumped. Not sure what to do here
the tech also said that this bar doesn't require the ''inner clips" and assured me again that his bar will not 'walk' side to side. ha.


after sitting on the phone for 30 minutes and still no solution to my problem, I'm not sure I would trust that man any farther than I could throw him.

[Audiphile]

yeah you kind of lost me.

Basically if you fit a big, stiff roll bar in the rear, it will make your car rotate faster in a corner. ( The back end will follow the front, decreasing understeer) This can have the negative affect of making the car too tail-happy so they have you fit a bigger front bar to negate that affect.

[20VT]

Basically if you fit a big, stiff roll bar in the rear, it will make your car rotate faster in a corner. ( The back end will follow the front, decreasing understeer) This can have the negative affect of making the car too tail-happy so they have you fit a bigger front bar to negate that affect.

makes sense. well I'll get that 28mm rear bar in sometime.

[sirpuddingfoot]

Anti-roll bars do nothing other than transfer weight from the inside of the car to the outside in a corner. The same effect can be had for corners by increasing the spring stiffness significantly (though this has other effects as well, viz. front/rear weight transfer in acceleration and braking, and bump damping implications).

Adding anti-roll stiffness in the front transfers weight to the outside front tire faster (turn-in response) by picking up the inside front wheel when the outside compresses thereby increasing demand on the outside front tire through the turn.
On a front engine, front wheel drive car, the outside front tire is destined to reach the limit of grip first anyway, and by speeding that process up, you effectively add more/faster understeer.

Adding a 28mm rear sway bar to my Jetta was probably the best "handling" mod possible (well, besides going from 195 shit tires to 225 performance tires).