Does the rear sway bar have to be fixed in one position?

[Dr.Sound]

.....or does it need SOME play.

my thinking is that it shouyldnt move at all, but i might be wrong?
anyone else?

[project_msp]

.....or does it need SOME play.

my thinking is that it shouyldnt move at all, but i might be wrong?
anyone else?

It's suppose to have a little movement (sideways). Thus the name: Sway Bar
:)

[Dr.Sound]

really......?
weird

what if one were to lock it in place?

[garretts77]

I don't think that mine moves laterally. That is what those black rubber bracket things are for... I have the RB bar with AWR brackets...

[Dr.Sound]

ok, so if it doesnt move then it's fine, right?

[KpaBap]

yea, it should be rotating in it's bushings, not really moving laterally much

I wouldn't worry even if it had a little sideways motion, looking at my swaybars, the rear looks like it has about a 8th of an inch of dust free surface on each side of the bushings so I conclude it has that much free play

has been like that for over a year...

as long as it's not binding anywhere the lateral motion is a non-issue

[Dr.Sound]

what if i were to fix its lateral motion in place, but allowing it to rotate freely?

[garretts77]

^^ what he said...

[garretts77]

what if i were to fix its lateral motion in place, but allowing it to rotate freely?

Which bar are you using? I know the factory bars (P5 and MSP) had little stoppers that prevent lateral motion. This would accomplish what you are asking about I think. If the bar that you are using does not have the stoppers, then I suppose adding them wouldn't hurt anything, since it was like that stock. Just do like above and leave a slight amount of room for movement...

[Stormtrooper77]

The rear sway bar is not supposed to move laterally (up and down) where the bushings are, it's only supposed to rotate. Hence we have the clunking issue. It kind of works like torsion bars do except they aren't straight. Also the swaybar only works the way it's supposed to on turns.

[tonkabui]

It's suppose to have a little movement (sideways). Thus the name: Sway Bar
:)


i thought it was called a sway bar because it helped in limiting the swaying of the car, hence anti-sway bar?

[Dr.Sound]

blah
mazda has a new fix.
they put heavy-duty clamps.......2 on each side......on the swaybar.
2 on each side of the outside of the bushings....thus preventing it from sliding arround.
sliding of the swaybar destroys the bushings, and clunk comes back even after updated bushings are installed.
this was done to marashka's MSP last week at Galpin Mazda.

i was just wondering if this was a fix to stop clunk for ever.

[garretts77]

(shrug) I am using the AWR 19mm poly bushings and I dremel'ed them out a bit to fit better on the 20mm bar. So far all is quiet. It has been on since last summer...

[BlkZoomZoom]

Sounds like a tech. did that, it's not a Mazda fix. However I have done it too, it works quite well.

[Dr.Sound]

well yeah, tech called tech line and that's what he was told to do.

[BlkZoomZoom]

Tech line is a joke....

oops did i say that?

[Dr.Sound]

^ lol
only u would know that ;)