Aftermarket swaybar bushings
 

I'm curious as to what kind of difference to expect by leaving the swaybars stock but going to urethane bushings? (rest of suspension is stock as well) In the past, my experience with urethane was in conjunction with larger aftermarket bars, so it was tough to tell where the performance improvement was coming from. My goal with this car is to leave the suspension as compliant as possible, so before going to larger bars, I'm curious if just swapping for stiffer bushings would have a noticeable impact on the butt dyno, or if I should just head straight for larger bars?

I'm NOT going to go with aftermarket springs, so that's not an option. And any aftermarket swaybars I (possibly) purchase are going to be only a mild increase in size, as I'm only looking to decrease roll slightly, hence the curiosity about the effectiveness of just the bushing swap. Has anyone done just bushings and felt an improvement?




Thx!

bushings don't add power so your butt dyno wouldn't be able to notice anything.

just get adjustable bars and call it a day. I doubt changing to PU bushings would change the stiffness of the bars since it depends on how thick the bars are and the twisting motion of them for the "spring rate" of the bars. the bushings just hold the bars in place in order for them to do their thing. even if they do flex, it's probably minimal and doesn't affect anything.

Yes, thank you for clarifying that swaybars don't make power. I was merely using 'butt dyno' as a euphemism for 'seat of the pants'.

So I assume you haven't swapped out your oem bushings for urethane? This is a pretty pointless post then, innit?

If the only people who are allowed to respond are people who have done exactly what you are proposing get ready for zero responses.

Yes there probably is a benefit, but I think it would be negligible, your butt dyno would probably be fooled by the knowledge that you changed something. If it was a significant benefit you'd see sway bar bushings being advertised and sold by vendors as more than just replacement parts and competing bushing makers saying their bushings are stiffer/more resiliant/longer lasting etc. etc.

It's a simple question. I'm not terribly interested in conjecture, as I can invent enough of that myself. I'm looking for the experience(s) of those who have actually done the swap. There are companies who make urethane bushings to fit the OEM bars, so the assumption that no one has done it seems to be a poor one. I'd rather wait for an answer I can trust than sift through a bunch of guesses.

have fun waiting then. or better yet, just do it yourself and post your results. you might be the first one to do it and can now help other people out.

The benefit is going to be lots of squeaking and that the PU won't rot or swell from leaks.


It's not a dumb idea, but the difference is going to be marginal at best.

Yeah, the squeaking does get annoying...I used to lube my urethane bushings twice a year on my previous car. Summer wasn't bad, but they get creaky in the winter.


I'm obviously not trying to transform the car; just trying to get the bars working a little sooner.

I don't see how changing bushings alone will make any noticeable difference in performance since there'd be zero change in the tension/resistance that the swaybars are applying to the car in order to prevent roll in corners.

Unlike other suspension bushings, which can subtly change the alignment or deflection behaviour of various suspension parts under load conditions in order to increase handling precision or improve performance, swaybar bushings are basically just simple pivot points along a single axis.

Like other suspension bushings you might get an NVH or noise/clunking penalty, which would just be annoying.

Not really worth it IMHO.

The bushings don't affect the rate of the bar, but they can improve the effectiveness of the bar by reducing the deflection of the bushing, which causes the bar to start working sooner. In a car with large, soft bushings, it can be quite noticeable; I'm just not so sure about this one.

Good point; it would have been more accurate for me to say that the difference would probably not be be worth the effort on this particular car, even if it were noticeable.

It would make more sense to spend a bit more money and put on adjustable bars while you have the car raised up IMO. Then you'd have something to play with.

I happen to have pretty stiff Hotchkis bars on my car; am planning on going to a set of much milder bars that are adjustable in increments under and up to 100% stiffer than stock or on either end as opposed to the 200%-400% stiffer range I have now.

Reason: although stiffer bars do flatten the car out I find that I get crosstalk on poor surfaces (poorer ride) and that the breakaway is more abrupt than I'd like.

Sorry if going off topic a bit there; HTH.

how do you like your Hotchkis bars? I ordered a set and will be playing with them on my next track day. the main reason I went with them were due to the adjustment points; with 2 in the front and 4 in the rear I'm assuming it would be pretty easy to dial it to how I like it. it's nice that they come with rear endlinks too.

Compliance is the key to good handling on poor surfaces. This is a large part of why I'm leaving the suspension as close to stock as possible - the roads in central New England are miserable.

I had the same thought but after taking measurements at limits of travel, realized the contribution from the bushings is negligible.