Rear Sway Bar

[alky89]

hi guys,

havent signed in here for ages... forgot i even had an account haha. anyways i got an 04 zetec hatch and i hear the best bang for your buck move for handling is an uprated rear sway bar. however the only one i could find locally was a $260 22mm adjustable one from whiteline, so there had better be some pretty serious bang coz thats alot of bucks. also, i plan this to be my only suspension mod for the car.

anyway enough of my life story- time for questions. 1stly, for those who have done the rear sway bar, is it truly worth it? i take the car to the track (usually wakefield park) every month or 2 so thats where im coming from.

also does anyone know of any other options besides whiteline (i.e. cheaper)? i've checked most of the usual companies and cant seem the find anything for the focus. if not, i suppose i'll have to scrounge up the cash... unless someone has a 2nd hand one they wish to offload at a reasonable price?

cheers,
adrian

[DZFord]

There are 2 whiteline swaybars for the LR Focus, one is adjustable, the other is not adjustable (and therefore cheaper!). If you're using it for track days, you'd want the adjustable model, as you control the amount of roll stiffness and understeer reduction.

There's probably nothing cheaper, only more expensive. I'm sure Eibach make a kit, that includes front and rear anti-roll bars. You'd be looking at anything from $500-$1000 for that.

[alky89]

i checked the whiteline website and could only find the adjustable one for the LR. either way i'll probably get the adjustable one. for $50 more i might as well.

i've seen 2nd hand eibach ones available on other (american) forums but when i called eibach australia they told me they only have springs for the LR.

thanks for your comments.

[DZFord]

I think Eibach Australia only import springs for the Focus, all other suspensiion stuff - coilovers, anti-roll kits, etc have to come from overseas.

Either way, I've heard good things about the whiteline bars on the ozmadaclub.com forums. It will improve your handling and it is cheaper than a whole set of new springs, where you're looking at $400-$450 for an Eibach Pro-Kit (delivered from o/s), and then ~$350 for installation and balance at Pedders.

[melbzetec]

If you think $260 is a lot of bucks for a modification to a Focus,
don't do any other mods to your car.

It's not a cheap car to modify

[WRC1AB]

I have the whole whiteline kit springs, dampers, front and rear swaybars and i did autokhanas with it.And yes it makes a huge difference.
i remember the first day with it on, i made the backend stepout so easy.
Do it i say.
And yes i payed $2500 for all of this so it gets expensive.

[alky89]

initially, i wasnt going to spend any money on mods for this car as this is my first car and im saving up for something a bit sportier to turn into a track demon (once i get off my p's and insurance companies stop robbing me). an s15 would be ideal (funds permitting in the future).

however, after a few track days, i found the focus to be quite fun to drive and i cant resist throwing a few goodies at it as i will be driving it every day for the next 2 years.

so really, im weighing up if its worth it to spend 260 now on this car or put it towards my next one.

if i do buy it though, i'll have to be careful- its a bit of a viscous cycle. i recently bought some kumho ku36 tyres at a fantasic price and i figure a rear sway bar to reduce body roll would really let the tyres work better. [theory begins now:] but then i'm sure the springs would be letting down the team so i'll have to get some coilovers and a front sway bar while im at it. all that would be missing then is some power, which a supercharger or turbo would fix (its not economical going all out n/a i hear).... and bang- all my money is gone.

[Mullett]

Rear swaybar is a quick and easy mod, and anyone with a spanner could fit it themselves. Springs are a bit more difficult, but if you pick up a set of XR5 springs and fit them yourself, it'd be less than $200 including an alignment. Whiteline make two different size adjustable bars, and a fixed bar. From memory the fixed bar was about $185, the small adjustable (which you'd get, unless you had a bigger front bar as well) was $225, and the large adjustable was $260.

After that, get a fairly aggressive wheel alignment from a shop that specialises in *good* suspension work, sit back and enjoy it. A resonatorectomy will free up a bit of power, and make it sound a little more throaty.

I wouldn't go any further with it if you're planning another car, those minor mods will blow your mind with the handling difference, and make it much more agile and predictable for track work. Also, when you go to sell the car, you can remove the swaybar and springs, and probably recoup at least 60% of what you spent.

-RM.

P.S. What I'm referring to relates to an LS/LT model, just realised yours is probably an LR. Most of the info is still applicable, but you'll need ST170 springs instead.

[BlackLS]

I think the swaybar will do a lot more for you than springs.

Also if you can afford going to track days then the cost of swaybar would be nothing.

[alky89]

i have a dirty secret... my brother is a track day organiser so i get a good deal. but the cost of rubber, oil and fuel is insane. last time i used 3/4 tank in 150km! and 50km of that was on the highway getting there. circuit club is guys i go with. check out the website. i'd love to have some focusses out there with me. im always getting flogged by gtr's, gti's, wrx's and tyre r's etc. it'd be great to get thrashed by a fellow focus driver once in a while. haha.

i find the handling very predictable on track and while it does understeer, its not too hard to get the tail out with a bit of trail braking or a well timed throttle lift. but the body roll is the killer. ruins the tyres contact patch and makes it lose grip much sooner than similar cars with coilovers running similar rubber. but whether the front or back is sliding, its quite intuitive to control. its a very forgiving car to learn in. (thats not to say i havent spun out or lost it it- i've done that many times)

good points mullet. im very tempted to go for some st170 springs but then i should probably get the shocks as well to match and price starts to get up there. when the time comes to sell the car, the sway bar would be easy to take out but i'll probably leave the springs (if i get them that is).

i looked into getting a 2nd handed st170 sway bar for a good price but im spewing coz i just found out its the same size as the regular one. apparently the st170 rear sway bar bushings are firmer though so i wonder if it would be worth swapping those? i dont think ford would specify different ones just for fun but i dno if it would make a noticeable difference.

[mudwaa]

My suggestion is dont bother getting the spherical link kit with the whiteline bars. As good as they are for adjustment, the pillow ball joints are rubbish and continually wear/fail on general road use. Am trying some other options but is an absolute pain in the butt. I have the 24mm bars front and back. only the rear is adjustable which i have on the hard setting.

[alky89]

thanks for the tips mate. im assuming urs is the newer model focus? coz i have the old LR (04) and can only find 22mm bars (whiteline). unless you bought from another company?