[archer1.8]

***Posted in wrong area Lets try again.***

Ok well I got my 25mm Tribeca Sway Bar today at the dealer for $90 with bushings. This bar is huge. Install was ok. I had to drop the stock headers which turned out to be ok because I needed gaskets bad. The bar mounts up almost perfectly. I had to modify the brackets a little bit like everyone says. I made a bushing to fit in the bar that mounts to the endlink because the hole was to big. Other than that install was pretty easy but time consuming. My first reactions were well scary. With my old setup of 19mm front and 20mm rear I was able to take a 90 degree turn by my house at 45. I did the same with this bar and OMG. The ass end of the car came around and I was able to slide around the turn. The front is so strong now that the back cant keep up thats what i think. However normal everyday driving feels ALOT stiffer and rigid. I have to drive it awhile to see if i like it or not. Upcoming autox should be a good test ground.

The bar is 3" wider than stock so the ends will have to mount on the outside of the end links, hope there is enough clearance.

Here we go, home pit makes things a whole lot easier.

Had to saw off the these tabs on the bushing clamps because the new bushings have a molded in flange that goes around the clamp, unlike the stock ones that are encaptured by the clamps. I bent them open slightly and elongated the bolt holes so everything would bolt up with ease.

Also modified the new bushings as shown for clamp clearance, then sanded off some of the bottom where it contacts the frame.

Before you put the bar up in place run a 1/2" drill thru the end holes so a 1/2" o.d. x 3/8 i.d. x 3/8" long bushing can go in the hole to match the the same size as the original bar.

Plenty of clearance with steering lock to lock and up and down, took it thru some hard bouncy curves with no binding or contact with tie rods.

Had to drop the exhaust to get the new bar in, also removed the crossmember tie plate.

Yea overall its a good bar. I just think its a little stiff for my driving technique. The rear end wants to come out more but at times I get alot more 4 wheel skid. Maby I need a stiffer rear bar to coponsate. Understeer seems to have returned with this bar however.

 

[suby 2.5]

so does this make your car understeer or oversteer....you said the ass of the car comes round in the 45 deg. turn, but understeer has returned?....thanks

 

[archer1.8]

Yea the car feels loose IMO. On normal driving the car is stiff and firm, and i like it. However, in very hard corners the car wants to go to the outside and dosent want to hug the very tight corners like my old setup use to do. I have a road by my house that is very curvy. This one turn is 2 90 degree corners in a row and usually i can slide or hug the corner. This bar took me really outside and I almost lost it again. Either i need to change mmy driving style or get a smaller bar.

 

[Siper2]

"A little stiff" is an understatement, for 25mm on an Impreza. Yowzas!

Good write-up, though.

 

[archer1.8]

yea it is. I like the car loose. But thats what i have been use to for a long time. I am going to have to try this at the next autoX. And if i dont see me liking this bar I think I am going to trade it for a smaller bar to make the car more neutral

 

[RoadRunner]

You also could have just bought some Whiteline poly bushings (P/N W0404-24) and re-used your stock clamps instead of modifying stuff - but.. whatever works.

 

[Imprezademics]

Wait, wait, wait... So the rear end is loose as in oversteer? If so, i thought with a bigger front sway bar the car would have a shit load more understeer. Just to make sure this is correct... you have a 24mm FRONT sway bar and a 20mm REAR sway bar? IF so i would say go back to your old set up or get a bigger (meaning bigger than 24mm) rear sway bar. It almost doesnt make sense for the front sway bar to be bigger than the rear. Again, let me know if im wrong or if this is just what you want out of your car.

 

[archer1.8]

yea I was thinking the same thing but everyone said it made a world of difference witht this bar it was only $90 so i gave it a shot. On normal twistie roads i love it. Just not on very sharp corners....

 

[archer1.8]

ok after driving it for a while is seems that the ass end came around because my tires suck haha. But I do like the car its alot stiffer then usual but i can live with it. The car handles good everywhere now so i think i am going to keep it.

 

[bugman1964]

awsome write up

 

[mr_subaru_rs]

well i had just installed a Whiteline 22-24mm AFSB and having similar experiences. my settings on my bars are at 24mm in the front and 22mm in the rear.

i should mention that i have Tein Coilovers, Tein Front strut, Whiteline front and rear sways(with endlinks), and 17x7 Toyo T1R's, Work CR Kai wheels

what alot of the concerns about having a bigger bar in the front will cause understeer, and this is true to a certain extent. it will cause understeer but ONLY AT THE LIMITS. and since the limits of what the car can do have been raised, this is only a problem if you are pushing the absolute limits of the vehicle. ( got from NASIOC)

However my experiences after the 1st test drive is that the steering felt heavier, but still very controllable. However for the understeer "problem", i barely experienced that at all. for general agressive driving i actually found that the car was more nuetral and was able to take the lines where i wanted. And if i took a corner near or at the limits the front tires would start to hop and skidd across. now this got me thinking on how and why its doing this, but i liked it.....simply because AWD will allow the fronts to slip but the rear power will push the car though the corner. and really reducing my understeer but still some present.

 

[ride4life32]

i think this should be stickied in the DIY so many people want to do this, but there are not enough write ups and with pics man this helps out alot.

PS i envy your ass for having a pit that would make things so simple alot of the times.

 

[archer1.8]

yea i totally agree with you. The steering did feel heavier. However part of it is psychological as I found out after driving it for a while.

 

[immortal1kon]

the reason the tribeca sway should be good is even though it's a 25mm bar.... it's a hollow design so it flexs,and the position it sits on na 2.5 crossmember is another reason why it acts like a 23mm bar. this mod shouldnt affect your steering negativly because it isnt too stiff. it's the max you'd wanna go but it's not as insane as everyone thinks. and this mod is good because it's cheaper than a 22-23mm whiteline or cusco piece.

 

[mr_subaru_rs]

i dont like flex in my sway bars i want a rigid front end, reason i went with a 22-24mm bar.

and besides my fsb was only 250.00 CAN with shipping and tax and duty

 

[FuJi K]

You have to describe the handling characteristics in THREE ways.

Corner entry, MID corner, Corner EXIT.

 

[BRP_GM6]

so I take it that this mod was done with the wheels on the ground? what was the limiting factor that caused you to have to remove the manifold? was it the wheels? I want to say that this will be easier if you remove one wheel after putting jack stands under the A-arms, so that you can remove the front wheels and slide it in from one side.

I have my swaybar on the way. I was planing on boring out the stock mount's bushing, but I don't "see" the custom bushing on the endlinks. care to go into detail on them?

 

[FriscoKid]

Just to clarify, when the car is loose, it wants to oversteer, when it is tight, it wants to understeer. When adding bias to the front in terms of stiffness, it will make the car tight/understeer, when adding rear bias it will make the car loose. This is mostly done with swaybars and camber, but spring rates can also play a roll as well. I just wanted to add my two cents as I saw a few terms being incorrectly used.

 

[BRP_GM6]

Having had the tribeca bar on my car, I can attest the car showed reduced tendency to understeer. the car was also alot more eager to turn in as well. I attribute that to the weight transfer to the outside wheel happening faster along with an overall smaller transfer. The car stays flatter, which allows the contact patches in front to be larger during the course of turning, as opposed to rolling onto the outside wheel.