White line adjustable sway bar set up

[maxgus]

Hey Guys. I have a set of whiteline adjustable sway bars on their way and wanted to get some info on suggested set up. I have an NB8A that is running coil overs and I want to know what setting to run these bars at. It is mainly my weekend car that gets as much use through the mountains and winding roads as possible. Can some one please recommend a suitable setting. Something that has been tried and tested.

Thanks

[project.r.racing]

put the links on the most outer setting, and drive. then adjust accordingly. normally front first to stiffen that end up.

[maxgus]

Thanks. That was my thinking too. The setting is going to differ for different driving styles.

[Steampunk]

put the links on the most outer setting, and drive. then adjust accordingly.

Disagree.
You've bought and are installing front and rear, correct?
Just put them on the middle setting (which is where the OEM end links will sit naturally) and leave it.
It makes a big difference anyway so don't bother playing around with "soft" and "hard" settings as you are putting undue strain on the end links.

Google "miata sway bar mount breakage" and words to that effect and you'll find examples of breakage of the front because the anti-sway bar is either too big/stiff or it's being pushed in an unnatural direction and over-stressing associated parts.

If you want to find out more about properly adjusting between hard/soft settings, send a PM to tbro for his opinion/recommendation. He's played around with rose-joints and custom end link mounts and have had direction from well respected suspension people on setup.

Not to be a bearer of bad tidings, you might also find that either the front or the rear will only have room to be installed on the middle setting anyway. Some NB owners have reported that their Whiteline bars, when installed, causes the end links to touch the dampers on one of the end settings.

[project.r.racing]

Sorry but I'm gonna have to tear you post apart on this one.

Disagree.
You've bought and are installing front and rear, correct?
Just put them on the middle setting (which is where the OEM end links will sit naturally) and leave it.
It makes a big difference anyway so don't bother playing around with "soft" and "hard" settings as you are putting undue strain on the end links.

You disagreement has one minor flaw. The aftermarket sways bars are totally different from the oem ones. Trying to make the endliks sit in a natural position is not gonna happen. Hence where the location to be bolted to is irrelevant. And only at a guess, but the whiteline on it's weakest setting is probably more stiff than the oem sawybar.

If you want to find out more about properly adjusting between hard/soft settings, send a PM to tbro for his opinion/recommendation. He's played around with rose-joints and custom end link mounts and have had direction from well respected suspension people on setup.

I am one of those people that has had all that experience you suggested he seak out. End links with spherical balls and length adjustability is childs play to the people in the know. If you are going to comment on something, you better have at least a small understanding of the subject matter.

[KevGoat]

OK ... You'll have to excuse my ognorance, but I'm somewhat confused reading these posts.

My limited experience with my NA so far is that the stock roll bars feel quite reasonable for ordinary to enthusiastic road use on my pretty standard spec suspension set up. When considering any future roll bar upgrade, I had considered that the Whiteline 22mm/16mm non adjustable front/rear bars would be plenty sufficient for my purpose unless I decided to head on to track use, in which case the adjustables would be better.

But am I right in the way that I'm reading the comments that even these non adjustables, due to their extra strength over the stock bars, would cause stress problems?

[project.r.racing]

Any part of the car you upgrade will put extra stress on the parts closest to said installed parts. But it doesn't mean the will be failures a plenty, if any. If it is a failure, it is normally an 15-20 year old part that needs to be replaced sometime soon anyway.

[KevGoat]

Any part of the car you upgrade will put extra stress on the parts closest to said installed parts. But it doesn't mean the will be failures a plenty, if any. If it is a failure, it is normally an 15-20 year old part that needs to be replaced sometime soon anyway.

So that said, it would probably make sense to fit new end links when fitting stiffer sway bars? I'm not suggesting something like the 949 adjustable setups but just fitting new OE links and bolts. Not much extra cost while upgrading. I think all the rest of the fittings that might get stressed would be new as they'd be supplied with the bars wouldn't they?

For the slightly extra cost of the front/rear adjustables, would you recommend fitting these anyway rather than the non adjustables? Kind of a "just in case" scenario ....

[manga_blue]

I used Whiteline adjustables on my car with a few different setups over the years. You can use them with OEM end links, as long as the bushes are in good nick, but it does take a bit of time and effort to fit them up properly.

If you overlay a Whiteline bar over an OEM bar on the ground then you'll often see that not only are the arm lengths different but also that there's a difference in the lateral (across the car) spacing between the bolt holes and that the angles between the end flats and vertical are not the same as OEM either.

When you use OEM end links you need to compensate for all these differences. The process is pretty simple: basically you put the links in a big vice and wallop them with a sledge hammer. The end links are just mild steel and can take a helluva lot of punishment.

First up you need to compensate for the vertical angle variation. Fit up the bar without end links on and make sure it's centred across the car. You'll need to bend the top and bottom of each end link in a lateral direction very close to the eyes so that it fits both to the bar and to the bottom bracket without force. If you can't achieve that then you may have to bend the links slightly at the centre in a longitudinal direction as well. If you get it right then the links bolt in easily and the bar remains naturally centred when you drive the car. If the bar keeps travelling in one direction when you drive it, sometimes to the point of fouling the springs/dampers, then you've got the centering wrong and you need to do it again.

As per the original response, start with full soft (longest arm) settings. If the car understeers then firm up the rear. If it's too taily then firm up the front. Only make one small change at a time.

The end link bushes can be either OEM rubber or after-market poly. It doesn't seem to make any difference which. The OEMs are stiff enough. There does not seem to be any significant NVH transfer from poly bushes on sway bars.

Don't tighten up the end links until you have the full weight of the car on the suspension.

Breakage of front sway bar mounts was just a problem with high mileage NA6s using very stiff bars AFAIK.

[maxgus]

Thanks for the info. I am replacing the end links as well as I imagine that they will be pretty tired.

[maxgus]

Bars are in and front set to softest/rear set to middle. Will test drive tomorrow.

[mazmad]

Good thread guys.

I am assuming both wheels have to be off the ground to adjust the sway bar?

Do you also have to loosen the end links to adjust the bar? I am guessing: Raise rear (for rear sway adjustment), loosen both end links, set bar to the setting you are after, mildly tighten links, set wheels on ground again, and tighten link ends.

??
Thanks in advance for the input.

[mazmad]

Scratch that. Mr Google to the rescue.

http://www.miata.net/garage/swayrear/index.html

[The Dude]

I used Whiteline adjustables on my car with a few different setups over the years. You can use them with OEM end links, as long as the bushes are in good nick, but it does take a bit of time and effort to fit them up properly.

If you overlay a Whiteline bar over an OEM bar on the ground then you'll often see that not only are the arm lengths different but also that there's a difference in the lateral (across the car) spacing between the bolt holes and that the angles between the end flats and vertical are not the same as OEM either.

When you use OEM end links you need to compensate for all these differences. The process is pretty simple: basically you put the links in a big vice and wallop them with a sledge hammer. The end links are just mild steel and can take a helluva lot of punishment.

First up you need to compensate for the vertical angle variation. Fit up the bar without end links on and make sure it's centred across the car. You'll need to bend the top and bottom of each end link in a lateral direction very close to the eyes so that it fits both to the bar and to the bottom bracket without force. If you can't achieve that then you may have to bend the links slightly at the centre in a longitudinal direction as well. If you get it right then the links bolt in easily and the bar remains naturally centred when you drive the car. If the bar keeps travelling in one direction when you drive it, sometimes to the point of fouling the springs/dampers, then you've got the centering wrong and you need to do it again.

As per the original response, start with full soft (longest arm) settings. If the car understeers then firm up the rear. If it's too taily then firm up the front. Only make one small change at a time.

The end link bushes can be either OEM rubber or after-market poly. It doesn't seem to make any difference which. The OEMs are stiff enough. There does not seem to be any significant NVH transfer from poly bushes on sway bars.

Don't tighten up the end links until you have the full weight of the car on the suspension.

Breakage of front sway bar mounts was just a problem with high mileage NA6s using very stiff bars AFAIK.

Awesome advice manga. I will take this on board when getting my whiteline adjustable sway bars installed next week.

Cheers,
Craig

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[The Dude]

Bars are in and front set to softest/rear set to middle. Will test drive tomorrow.

Hey mate, How did you go with this setup? I am thinking of going softest in the front and softest in the rear.

Would be interesting to hear how it was like with your mentioned combo.

Great thread, it's a shame to find it deep in the archives. Not now haha

Cheers,
Craig

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