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Hi all,

Just installed front and rear sway bars today from MX5 mania today.
Awesome! Great modification as now the car rolls less on corners.
Extra wide smile on corners!

Only one thing do sway bars have a settling in period?
I find on hard braking coming to a stop or on heavy acceleration there is a clunking sound coming from the rear?

Any advice would really help.

Cheers Paul

There shouldn't be any diferernt noises to what you had before. The bars dont need a settling in period. Though the aftermarket bars dont usually have a shoulder to stop them moving sideways, so there is a possibilty that the bar has moved sideways a little and is fouling against something.

Thanks for quick reply.
might need to get it re-adjusted...
is there anything in particular that i should look for?
Or maybe it will go good again?

what brand are they?
im interested in buying a set for my car?
how much will they set you back?
cheers

I have heard they squeek a lot if you dont grease em up...

Nope.
I didn't grease or put any anti-squeak lube on my front Whilteline one and not a single peep after 3,000 km and 3 track days.

I was talking to some mates, and someone had piped out it could be the panels making that noise as the car has now become more stiff?

Could this ring true... if so I may have to live with it...

when you upgrade a part (eg. making 1 part more stiffer) - your sway bar.
you've moved the flexibility to another part of the car.
if thats the diff, bushes, suspension ect.

check your bushes to start off with. you'll find that if the car has done more then 140k then they'll be getting tired / sad.

you'll be able to just jump under the car and see if they are dis-figured / tatty ect.

if they are then they would be the squeek and the only reason you hear it now is because u've upgraded the sway bar and transfered the stress onto different parts of the car.

otherwise, take it to a suspension shop and get a \"free\" check done on the suspension.

they'll give their recommendations. you take the print out of what they think is dead and you can either get it done there or source the parts and do it yourself.

to change all the bushes will take you about a day with a few mates, a hoist. and a shop press (to press the bushes out) - otherwise if you dont have a hoist or a shop press, good luck =) (i dont know how long it will take)

other things could be your sway bar end links have bushes in these as well,
simply check to see if these have play or look tatty as this could be your problem as well.

otherwise, it *might* be the body panels, however i highly doubt it as the rear quarters are welded on.

Hi Muzza2,

Thanks for the comprehensive write up I think I will use your write as a point of reference when finding the fault.