Rear Sway Bar Upgrade

[Lefty]

two weekends ago i finally got my order for larger sway bars for my mazda6. the front requires some work to install but the rear is very easy.

according to the mazda6 forum, the larger rear bar is all that needs to be done to make the car handle well for autocross and if i had done the front before the rear, i would regret it.

so i did the rear one day after work, really quickly, and still have to do the front since i was holding on the h&r race springs to show up.

the difference is amazing. just like when i put a rear bar on my 79 bmw 320i (which came with no stock rear bar). its a totally different car now, the mazda6. it had a small rear bar and the new bar i put on is huge so now the car feels dead flat through the turns and driving on the highway. no more sway from the 25-30mph cross winds were always have here.

i don't know how doing the front first would have affected the car but if i could have easily put it on, i would have done it at the same time, but just the rear makes me totally understand why some of those guys only bought rear bars.

here is from the site on the mazda6 bars.

Bar Sizes
Stock - 23mm Front, 19mm Rear
Racing Beat - 28.5mm (1.125") Front, 27mm (1.0625") Rear (Both bars feature solid tubing)

Sweet! And maybe "front bar first" is just something of an old wives tale.

 

[superj]

that is what i was thinking, old wives tale and no one had actually experienced it because of the tale

 

[Lefty]

two weekends ago i finally got my order for larger sway bars for my mazda6. the front requires some work to install but the rear is very easy.

according to the mazda6 forum, the larger rear bar is all that needs to be done to make the car handle well for autocross and if i had done the front before the rear, i would regret it.

so i did the rear one day after work, really quickly, and still have to do the front since i was holding on the h&r race springs to show up.

the difference is amazing. just like when i put a rear bar on my 79 bmw 320i (which came with no stock rear bar). its a totally different car now, the mazda6. it had a small rear bar and the new bar i put on is huge so now the car feels dead flat through the turns and driving on the highway. no more sway from the 25-30mph cross winds were always have here.

i don't know how doing the front first would have affected the car but if i could have easily put it on, i would have done it at the same time, but just the rear makes me totally understand why some of those guys only bought rear bars.

here is from the site on the mazda6 bars.

Bar Sizes
Stock - 23mm Front, 19mm Rear
Racing Beat - 28.5mm (1.125") Front, 27mm (1.0625") Rear (Both bars feature solid tubing)

Did your Ranger have a rear bar already?

 

[superj]

Did your Ranger have a rear bar already?

yes. i guess the 05 edge came with both bars

 

[Lefty]

yes. i guess the 05 edge came with both bars

Mine is a 2003 Edge, like all the rest, made with off road in mind.

I haven't really liked the way it handled on the highway even with the sway bars. I lowered it: replaced the 2" lift blocks with 1" in back, cranked down the front torsion by 5/8". Still not happy, I added the spring clamps in back, and then swapped the stock front sway bar with something better. Now of course, it's a lot better. The difference is noticeable. It's safer, I'm sure, at highway speeds. That's what got me searching for a better rear bar.

 

[Josh B]

Alright. So, where in Oklahoma are you? I'm in Midwest City, just east of Oklahoma City.

I'm in Kiamichi Country, far SE. You would think with all the Kiamichi names in SE OK it would be an Indian word. Kiamichi River, Kiamichi Wilderness, Kiamichi Mountains and more, but it is actually a French word for a noisy woodpecker

 

[cbxer55]

Noisy woodpecker. Only in Oklahoma! LOL!!