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Addco sway bars for ea81?


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I seen on ebay that there are several front and rear swaybars from addco. Says they fit brats and other older subarus. Are these things really for ea81 cars or is it a misprint?

 

I have an Addco front swaybar on my EA81 Brat, so at least you know they exist. You can also get them on Summit or Jegs. I forget which one.

 

Jacob

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Did it seem to make a difference or was it about the same as the stock one?

-SB

 

I doubt I'll ever be totally happy with the suspension on this thing, but I'd say the upgraded swaybar helped.

 

It's hard to be totally scientific, though. I went from stock, to EJ22 without front swaybar, to EJ22 with front swaybar. It certainly made a difference over having no swaybar at all, but it's hard to tell how much of an improvement it made over the stock one, since I also swapped engines around the same time.

 

One thing to note for your setup is that the Addco swaybar goes below the exhaust, so you'll have to be crafty with your exhaust setup if it's not stock.

 

Jacob

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One thing to note for your setup is that the Addco swaybar goes below the exhaust, so you'll have to be crafty with your exhaust setup if it's not stock.

 

Jacob

 

This is no problem for me! My dad has a custom exhaust shop! Also I have an ea81 turbo sway bar so I may run that... I'm more worried about the rear.

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This is no problem for me! My dad has a custom exhaust shop! Also I have an ea81 turbo sway bar so I may run that... I'm more worried about the rear.

 

I'd venture to say that the Addco front is sturdier than an EA81 turbo front. They make one for the rear too, but I have a Whiteline rear, so I never went for the Addco one. If you get one, I'd be interested in your impressions.

 

Jacob

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I'd venture to say that the Addco front is sturdier than an EA81 turbo front.... If you get one, I'd be interested in your impressions.

 

The Addco bar is larger than all OEM EA81 anti-roll bars. I would have one already, but I'm too cheap. Plus, it might not clear my 3" downpipe from what renob123 says...

 

In terms of anti-roll bar sizes, bigger is better in camber-limited vehicles like the EA81. That being said, I would try to maximize camber via control arm modification, suspension mount relocation, lowering with 2WD suspension parts and playing with slop in the mounts before adding a monster-sized anti-roll bar.

 

Bigger is better, but bigger also means very harsh one-wheel-bump events, and could lead to more understeer if you go too big.

 

That being said, I don't think anyone manufactures a bar that is "too big" for our cars. Adding a rear anti-roll bar from an EA82 or Addco/Whiteline would help balance out the added front end roll-stiffness, shifting the handling balance closer to neutral.

Edited by carfreak85
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Can I use both turbo kits and get twice as much power?:grin:

 

Seriously, Addco is a fairly legitimate company, and I'm happy with my purchase. That their products are sold on eBay (and other places) shouldn't keep anyone from buying something of theirs.

 

Jacob

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one more for ya...if I was building an autocross ea81...what would you guys recommend for the ultimate suspension without going to something extremely exotic (like sti suspension). something that would take some modifing but nothing to crazy.

 

im thinking ea82 front suspension with 5 lug swap, coilovers, addco swaybars, rear disc swap.

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Now...question...if I happened to swap over ea82 front suspension...which front sway bar would I want to use? ea81 or 82?

 

As I'm doing an ea82 control arm conversion right now I can tell you that the ea82 sway bar will not fit with the new control arms alone. the ea82 subframe is wider. The sway bar ends up being a little over an inch short or something like that. Also the ea82 sway bar mounts to the front of the subframe so the mounts would have to be fabricated or cut off the ea82 subframe. In short it's much easier to run with an ea81 sway bar.

 

-SB

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Looks like a nice piece from what i saw on ebay and comes with urethane bushings...not bad. I hope that picture is mirrored by accident that they have though because the hump for the exhaust is on the wrong side if its not.

 

That's what I thought when I ordered it.

 

it's upside down in the pic. The hump faces the ground on those bars by the sounds of things.

-SB

 

That's what it ended up being.

 

Jacob

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  • 9 months later...
6" lift and No swaybar..!!!!!!!!!!!!! People tell me it looks like its gonna flip over on turns...

I be driving brats for 15 years I can handle it:banana:

 

i got a stock 81 brat and ive gone around corners where all four wheels are sliding and this is on pavment in fwd so i think the brat handles just fine..just a lil body roll lol:drunk:

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if they bar "hump" faces DOWN, below the exhaust, does it affect ground clearance much? i have gone to a lot of trouble to get every millimeter of clearance possible without putting on a sky-high lift.

 

also i have the skid plate that come with the LONG style bullbar.

does anyone know if they would fit together and not drag? or interfere?

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if they bar "hump" faces DOWN, below the exhaust, does it affect ground clearance much? i have gone to a lot of trouble to get every millimeter of clearance possible without putting on a sky-high lift.

 

also i have the skid plate that come with the LONG style bullbar.

does anyone know if they would fit together and not drag? or interfere?

 

It's about as low as the crossmembers or rear diff or so. It's not that bad.

 

Jacob

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