Editing Sway bars and Strut braces

[[category:Steering & Suspension]]

==Sway Bars and Strut Braces==

These work to keep the wheels the correct distance apart and increase chassis rigidity.
When you corner, your car literally bends like a banana and these will help to combat that.
You will notice a quicker turn in, less body roll and more responsive handling.
Sway bars attach to the lower part of the suspension and the chassis, and Strut Braces put a bar between the top of each strut tower.
Your [[R31]] will already have sway bars, 25mm front, 18mm rear.
GTS1 and GTS2 have 27mm front.


==Sway Bars==

===Whiteline===

[[Image:Strut Sway Whiteline.gif]]

[http://www.whiteline.com.au/ Whiteline] would be the most common after market sway bar and can be ordered easily online.
However, you may be better to shop around to get a better price.

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline front rear.jpg]]

[http://www.whiteline.com.au/ Whiteline]

27mm Front Sway Bar (Import)

Code: #BNF25

Price: $175 at Burson

25-30mm Adjustable Front Sway Bar (Import)

Code: #BNF25Z

Price: $234.55 + 10% GST

20mm Rear Sway Bar (Import)

Code: #BNR24

Price: $207.27 + 10% GST

27mm Front Sway Bar (Aus spec)

Code: #BNF7

Price: $118.75 at Burson

20mm Rear Sway Bar (Aus Spec)

Code: #BNR7

Price:

An alternative setup for the rear of the car would be to have Dual rear sway bars.
This isn't recommended for a daily driver as it would make the rear end a bit too lively, but would be a great setup for drifting.
Instructions on how to set up dual rear sway bars can be found further down the page.

==Strut Braces==

[http://www.whiteline.com.au/ Whiteline] also make a strut brace for the [[R31]].
It's aluminium, adjustable and very solid.

Code: #KSB596
Price: $194.55 + 10% GST

[[Image:Sbsbwhiteline.jpg]]

[http://www.cusco.co.jp/ Cusco]

[http://www.cusco.co.jp/ Cusco] make front and rear strut braces for the [[R31]].
These are available from [http://www.nengun.com/ Nengun].
* Take note that the front Type OS does not clear the plenum of a RB30E!

Cusco Strut Brace Type AS Front
Code: 229 510 A
Price: $236.59 inc. GST Delivered

Cusco Strut Brace Type OS Front
Code: 229 540 A

Cusco Strut Brace Type AS Rear
Code: 229 511 A
Price: $236.59 inc. GST Delivered

Nismo also make Strut Braces for the [[R31]], though they are expensive.
Ask retailers of other genuine Nismo parts and they will be able to help.

There is also an ADThree strut brace which is very hard to find.
You can't buy these new, so you can try hunting around Jap wreckers and you might get lucky.
However they are not the best strut brace out there, the bar is somewhat narrow.

==Fitting Adjustable Sway Bar to Aus Sedan/Wagon==

I looked through Nissan FAST to see what other cars had a similar link, following the hint from GTS20X that N14s had almost the same thing.  It looked like N14, N15, U13, B12, probably others all had the same thing.  So went to the wreckers, no B12s in Australia so forget about that, found some N14s, N15s, U13s though.  The N14 & N15 seem to have the same link as each other and they're a bit shorter than the U13 link but would probably work.  I came home with some U13 links.  And now for some picture overkill:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 1.jpg|600px]]

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 2.jpg|600px]]

Slight problem though, in that the Whiteline bar tang is really thick, so not enough thread comes through:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 4.jpg|600px]]

But the inner hex is actually a separate nut, not part of the shaft, so put it in the vise (couple of aluminium plates to avoid fucking the thread) and started it:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 3.jpg|600px]]

Then finished it with aluminium inside vise grip jaws:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 5.jpg|600px]]

So that exposed some more thread:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 6.jpg|600px]]

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 7.jpg|600px]]

I shortened the inner nut:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 8.jpg|600px]]

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 9.jpg|600px]]

Made the tang on the bar thinner, flat and parallel.  The outside face wasn't too bad, but the inner face was all lumpy, concave, and not parallel to outer.  Used two and a half cutting discs to do that.  Did it in bursts, so as not to get the steel too hot, although the mass of the bar was a pretty good heatsink.  Painted it with a couple of coats of zinc undercoat:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 91.jpg|600px]]

Fitted.  Nolathane radius bushes, Whiteline swaybar link bushes, Noltec LCA inner bush, Superpro swaybar body bushes, quite colourful from different angles:

[[Image:Sway bar whiteline adjustable 92.jpg|600px]]

The bushes that came with the bar were for an import coupe.  They don't fit the domestic bush shells, so bought some Superpro 27mm ID bushes:

[[Image:Sway bar links.jpg|600px]]

GTS-Retro used some Ford links, couldn't remember the part number for the links he made, went to a car place here and looked through their stock till he found something he could use:

[[Image:Sway bar ford link.jpg|600px]]

==Dual rear sway bars==

crayman's 10 easy steps on how to install dual rear swaybars with pics:

[[Image:Sway1.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

This shows what you'll need:

- 1x swaybar
- 2x galvanised bolts 120xM8 (I used galvanised because they were the only ones in that size)
- 4x galvanised nuts to suit (other nuts wont fit, whitworth thread)
- 2x diff brackets and bushes
- 4x high tensile bolts 60xM8 (once again, only size bolts were this type, good to use high tensile though)
- 4x spring washers to suit
- 6x rubber body mount bushes
- 4x spacer tubes for the diff mounts, box steel 25x36mm

[[Image:Sway2.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

First crack the wheel nuts so they'll be easy to undo when the car's jacked up.

[[Image:Sway3.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

Jack the car under the diff where the writing is, make sure the jack seat is secure! I placed axle stands under the trailing arms, which is probably dodgy, but the diff has brake lines running under it so it was the next best thing and didn't bend anything.

[[Image:Sway4.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

Start undoing the diff brackets and put the bolts aside - WD40 or similar is good for loosening those siezed bolts!

[[Image:Sway5.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

Place the brackets with the spacing bits of box steel one under the original and use the 60xM8 bolts and spring washers to secure it - this will be difficult as you'll have to hold the swaybar up while doing it. A good coat of WD40 will make things easier.

[[Image:Sway6.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

Once both sides are done, start undoing the body mount bolts - take care to remember how they go!

[[Image:Sway7.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

This shows the setup, same as before but with 3 extra bushes per side, sandwiching the bars together.

[[Image:Sway8.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

This shows what it should look like when done, using the galvanised 120xM8 bolts.

[[Image:Sway9.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

Use the nuts, 2 on each side and lock them together with the bushes firm but not overly squashed.

[[Image:Sway10.jpg|640px|center|link=]]

This is how the finished product should look, forgive my dirty undercarriage!

NOTE: I had my bottom swaybar brackets welded to the spacer box steel tubes just to make sure everything can't work loose - something to consider!

Consider putting a piece of flat bar on top of the box section to stop the new swaybar bush moving around.

[[File:Sway11.jpg|center|link=]]

==Links==

[http://www.centrelinesuspension.com.au/ Centreline Suspension]
[http://www.whiteline.com.au/ Whiteline]
[http://www.cusco.co.jp/ Cusco]

==Contributors==

Sexy Dave

Julian

GTS-X Craig

Stretch

crayman

Devious Jet

GTS-retro

prestagea

Skylinefreak

dustyr31

runnin4life