[UberWagon]

For those of you that don't know I am the "Nick" that FT is referring to....

I have not had any issues with my Cusco bars coupled with the stock endlinks. I DID bend a set of stock endlinks with the stock sway bar but my guess that was due to operator error during a spring install. (I think the bar could have flipped over on itself when removing the struts.) I do not see the vertical play argument as valid once the bar is properly installed and the swaybar is loaded.

In regards to the lateral play I do agree that there is some possibility for play although I gurantee you have not seen it shift enough to hit my tire. As a matter of fact I do believe that the bar tends to stay right where I installed it last after torquing down the bushing brackets, and I promise I have taken plenty of hard corners. I have not had a chance to track the car since the install so the real test will come when I autoX it later this month, my guess is that I will be fine.

I do not know who this Dynamspeed vendor is, but I do trust what Z1 Performance (and SELGP)has to say so I am awaiting any further comments from them or Cusco directly.

-Nick

[RiX]

Originally Posted by FT@SGP

Still searching and asking different people to get multiple perspectives. I am not concerned at this time, but worth keeping an eye on the issue.

I thought this was not a problem to be concerned about until this afternoon. My car started making weird noises, and turns became less stable / accurate.

Contrary to what Cusco has stated re: how this is an issue only if the installation was bad, I suspect that my installation was done right. I had it done at Godspeed two weeks ago, and I trust Dan's crew.

Take a look at the pictures yourself. (Sorry about the slight off perspectives here, but one was taken while the car was the hoist when I was at Godspeed. The other is taken at the garage about 15 minutes ago.)

The picture taken at my garage ("Two weeks later.jpg") shows how the endlink is compressing the lower latteral link. :cry:

I am going to have a mechanic check out what's happened here. I will likely have to go back to the stock swaybar until the resolution is found.

*Sigh*

[staticx313]

wow, ya i just ordered the poltek endlinks, hoepfully this will fix everything. I used to notice a clunk, but not very often... i didnt even think anything of it i thought it was just "bushing noise" or something...

Robert~

[RiX]

I made an emergency call to the mechanic I know in town to get the sway bar and bent & twisted endlinks removed last night. He said I was really lucky that I didn't get into a serious accident as the sway bar was less than half an inch away from one side of the tyre / rim with some free lateral movement, and both lateral links were compressed. )

Secondly, he said he was surprised that this strong a sway bar was installed without an end link upgrade. But most distressingly, he said, had I upgraded the end links as well, the damanage would have shown up on the lateral link side instead, which would have been a lot worse and costlier to repair.

I am driving without any rear sway bar for the time being until the repair path is mapped out with the Godspeed and Cusco folks.

But you know, having experienced this first hand, now I am more inclined to go back to the stock setup.

[FT@SGP]

I think these are relatively isolated issues; however, even a slight chance of significant matrial damage coupled with a potentially serious safety issue, the best course of action is to utilize the stock bar. Also, I do not think that any other sway bar can be any better than the Cusco one, with the exception of bars that have a shorter lateral length. Frankly, I have not measured the Cusco and stock bars or Cobb ones. If the Cusco or Cobb bars (including Hotchkis) have longer lateral length, this issue will effect them as well.

So, I think for safety's sake over performance, it may be just more prudent that we settle with the stock bars and re-adjust spring rates in our solutions.

In the mean time, we will, like other vendors, continue to look for answers and solutions; and I am sure the collective effort will result in a satisfactory solution eventually.

Best of luck to all and be safe please.

[RiX]

BTW, FT, thanks for bringing this information to our attention! Very helpful and timely.

[FT@SGP]

It is my pleasure, thank you.

[staticx313]

wow, guess its back to stock, what about front sway bar?

Robert~

[STIml8n]

i looked at my car and it looked perfect to me. I'm going to keep it on and check all the time. I want to see if this is an isolated case. I'll keep everyone posted...

How hard were you driving RJ?

[FT@SGP]

Our bar is stuck in its place quite well, and no movement; but I just cannot determine the conditions that may cause the issues some reported. It might even be some isolated failure of the bushings. Stronger end-links may not solve the problem either as their attachment point may actually fail as was the case with one gentelman in the NASIOC thread. So, I don't think we can endorse the use of aftermarket rear anti-roll bars until we know for sure what is causing the issue or there is sufficient evidence that those are truly isolated cases.

The front A/R bar is not an issue to any of my knowledge, and I am pretty sure that stock vs. Cusco front bars were same length. But is that enough to say "there is no risk"? I wish I knew.

[RiX]

If you really want to reproduce this problem (do this in a place where you won't hurt yourself nor others!)... try taking a sharp turn to your right as you accelerate spiritedly from, say, 10-20mph. I got my A/R bar inverted in a similar situation. Only thing I could add to that is that the road surface was somewhat bumpy, and I was turning uphill.

[staticx313]

Well Im sorry guys, stupidly I overreacted about this situation before I even checked to see if I had the problem. I have the eibachs and the cusco rear sway bars and stock endlinks. They are perfectly fine and have no warp or bend. I will still be ordering the poltek endlinks with polyurethane ends and protective collar (for zero movement) for safety reasons, but im confused on how i dont have this happening. Its on the middle setting, not the stiffest, but not thel ightest, and yes i drive it hard, donuts, etc....

Robert~

[STIml8n]

yeah rhjang, like static asked... what setting did you have yours on?

[RiX]

I have Eibachs Prokit + had a Cusco rear sway bar with the med-stiff setting. Same as StaticX's.

[STIml8n]

Could the Eibachs have something to do wiht this (stiffer rear springs)? FT???