Front Sway Bar Setup (M3 endlink issues)

[MisterMiniS]

So, my IE 25 mm front sway bar finally got here (it was on back order). And, I think I am confusing myself on the connection method from the sway bar to the suspension.

So, OE E30 setup is sway bar > endlink > control arm like such



On my GC coilovers, I have the sway bar reinforcement tab like such



So, the only way for that to work is an end link like this ( sway bar > end link > strut housing tab)



My question is, what am I getting wrong here as I cannot have both.? It is either the reinforcement tab on the strut housing is for like an E30 M3 setup and I do not use it and connect straight to control arm or I can use it, but will need different endlinks. Or a third thing I am not thinking of.

Possible followup question: If is is possible to use either depending on end links, what setup is better? Straight to the control are or up to the strut housing?

Sorry for the really silly question, but it is currently getting the best of me.

[ak-]

You need longer endlinks.

You can use/purchase:
E30 M3 endlinks
E36 M3 endlinks
E34 endlinks
or
Adjustable endlinks

I forget which one is the most affordable.

You either connect the longer endlinks from your bar to your housings like on your GC setup or use stock shorter endlinks to connect it to your control arms. Can't do both(if that's what you were asking?)
After connecting mine to the housings, it was a night and day difference with my 22mm bar; Steering was more responsive, felt more connected with my turn-ins. It's awesome.

Here is mine:

[downforce22]

its crazy how many randoms drop into the mountain section. I do realize you are a rev og, but still still.

As for me being helpful to you in this thread, don't expect much. I second what ak- said though.

[ak-]

I did it again, didn't I.


dammit.

[MisterMiniS]

Thanks for the help, that clears it up. Were you saying that there was a night and day difference between connecting to the housing compared to the control arm, or stock sway bar compared to 22mm bar?
Basically, wanna know what is best, connecting to control arm or housing? I would assume housing for obvious reasons, but I could be way off.

[ak-]

Night and day from CA's to housings.

I had the 22mm bolted to the control arms. Was cool.
Then, after redoing my front suspension and adding tabs, I had it bolted to the housings which made the night and day difference.

What's "best" is subjective I guess.
The only negative thing I can think of, if you care, is the steering was a littttttttttttttttttle bit harsher. In a good way.

[MisterMiniS]

The only negative thing I can think of, if you care, is the steering was a littttttttttttttttttle bit harsher. In a good way.

I can only think of that in a good way :p

Any preference to GC adjustable end links to turner motorsport to anyone else?

[blefevre]

Mounting to the strut tube is a better suspension setup. If you have the tabs then use those. However, a 25mm sway with the strut tube mounting may be too stiff. Try it out but keep that in mind. Get an adjustable link and have the bar sit parallel to the ground when the car is sitting flat on it's own weight.

[MisterMiniS]

Mounting to the strut tube is a better suspension setup. If you have the tabs then use those. However, a 25mm sway with the strut tube mounting may be too stiff. Try it out but keep that in mind. Get an adjustable link and have the bar sit parallel to the ground when the car is sitting flat on it's own weight.

I have a test and tune autox this saturday, so I will get it setup attached to the control arm. Then I will get the end links to connect to the housing. After racing on that, I will be able tell what one works best for the overall setup.

[fsmtnbiker]

Attaching it to the strut effectively makes the swaybar stiffer - it moves approximately 1:1 with the wheel.

Attaching it to the control arm drops the ratio to about 0.5:1 - making the front swaybar's effective rate significantly softer.

There are advantages to either setup - the strut housing attachment method makes for a stiffer front bar, but does some interesting weight-jacking in tighter corners. The control arm attachment softens the bar, and puts more strain on the balljoints, but doesn't have anywhere near as dramatic weight-jacking in tighter corners.

Try both - if the swaybar isn't soft enough on full-soft while attached to the strut, the next step down would be full-stiff on the control arm. It would be good to have both setups to 'test and tune' at the autox event. It's a really easy on-the-fly swap if you have the correct tools and a way to get both front tires off the ground.

[MisterMiniS]

Thanks for all the info, Chris. It is really helpful.
Anyways, I thought I would give an update to the sway bar stuff. The say bar is currently connected to the control arm with the stock style end links. At the AutoX invitational, I thought that it did make a huge difference in the handling. That said, I have the e30 M3 (adjustable) end links in the mail, so on the 10th, I can try those out.
Overall, I did really well and pulled off the second faster time of the day there (aside from the shifter kart...pretty confident about that). I was a second behind Mark Melchior's S2000 (he had one hell of a good lap). Managed to beat the SSM corvette and some other fast cars. There were two other DSP cars there that got within 4 seconds of me. So, I was rather pleased with the cars setup and my driving. I will have the M3 end links on the car for the June 10th race, so I'll update then.

[MisterMiniS]

So, I just ran into another issue. Without thinking too hard about it, I ordered some Ground Control E30 M3 end links to connect the Ireland Engineering 25mm front sway bar. However, fully retracted, the GC front end links are too long by about an inch. Thus, that makes me directly think that the difference between say an IE 25mm front sway bar for a 325 and a IE 25mm front sway bar for a M3 is different enough that the end links would fit.
So, assuming that is correct, is there an adjustable end link that will work (aka, shorter than the GC's), or do I need an E30 M3 sway bar (will that even work?).

I kinda made some guesses that the GC coilovers with the support tab for the end links would work with their own end links...guess not.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

[fsmtnbiker]

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-2104-tms-custom-length-adjustable-front-sway-bar-end-links-pair.aspx