newbie-Wheres my rear sway bar?

[dome24]

Ok so i have a 97 Impreza Brighton Coupe and i dont' think i have i rear sway, ive found the front one easily enough, but in the rear i can't seem to find it:eek:, or even where it would mount. Ive seen pix of them on other cars so i know sort of what im lookin for but nothing seems to be there. What do I do? Can i use any old sway off an impreza? i know lots of people just give em away, anyone want to help a brother out and "sponser" my project:brow: i would pay shipping if someone has one just collecting dust and taking up space in the shop

 

Thanks either way

Pete

[jamal]

here's what I did with my rear swaybar-less legacy.

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13537676

 

Everything applies to your car except for the "Impreza bars don't fit a Legacy" part.

[kimokalihi]

Exactly what is the purpose of a sway bar? Is it to do with stability/body roll?

 

I have a 90 AWD legacy 4EAT. Does my car have a rear sway bar and if not, should I want one?

 

I know the car has a lot of body roll and I don't exactly like it but I don't know if this has anything to do with what you're talking about lol.

[jamal]

your car does have a rear swaybar.

 

Simple explanation of what they do:

 

A swaybar is a spring that resists body roll. It attaches the left and right sides of the suspension, trying to keep the tires level. It only acts when the left and right wheels move independantly of each other, such as in cornering. By increasing the roll stiffness and making the car corner flatter, you'll make the car more responsive and quicker at changing direction. Springs also resist body roll but not as efficiently and stiff springs make for a harsher ride (and in extreme cases a loss of tire contact over bumps).

 

Swaybars are also used to tune the way a car handles. Stiffening a front or rear swaybar will increase weight transfer on that end, which reduces grip because that outside tire is more heavily loaded. So by varying the front and rear stiffness you can make a car more or less prone to understeer/oversteer.

 

Reducing body roll is especially important because our suspension geometry causes a loss of negative camber after about 2" of bump. Having more negative camber and less camber loss means that the tire stays flatter on the ground in a corner and grips better.

[porcupine73]

Nice description jamal. One possibility if the vehicle is supposed to have a sway bar but doesn't is that someone removed it previously, like maybe an endlink broke or something and they just removed everything in stead of fixing it. Though it is a safety inspection item, at least in NY. I need to look at my '96 legacy brighton and see if there is one on the rear, I know there is on my '00obw but it's pretty small diameter at least compared to the front.

[jamal]

Thanks. 92-94 L model Legacies weren't equipped with them and neither were many base Imprezas. Newer Brighton Legacies might not have either, and I think I saw a pretty new Forester without one yesterday too.