polyurethane front sway bar bushings?

[twiztids4]

i recently bought and aftermarket rear sway bar which comes with the polyurethane bushings. my research showed that our cars really only need the rear bar. since the rear bar stiffness can be roughly 160% over stock and an aftermarket front sway is likely about 40% i figured if i can simply find urthane bushings this will also increase the stiffness of the front bar but at 1/5 the cost. the only thing i can find are powerflex bushings which i know nothing of and they dont appear to be the black graphite impregnated ones (no squeeking). does anyone know of any aftermarket ones? i have also likes energy suspension products. if anyone knows the diameter of the stock front sway bar do you think you can just cross reference that to an energy suspension one? from what i have read the sway bar sizes are 25 27 and 29 mm. if anyone can help me with this it would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance...

[sCeRaXn]

Urethane bushings wont increase the stiffness of the bar, itll just make it more consistant throughout the suspension stroke. I dont know of any companies that make them though.

Are you sure you really need more bar in the front? Whats the rest of the suspension setup? If it isnt up to the task then adding new sways wont do much other than putting mroe stress on accompanying suspension parts/bushings.

[zakario]

What I got from his ramble was that the front bar is good enough, he just wants to tighten it up a bit. How would adding larger sways be harmful? Any added stress would be taken up by sways and not other components .

OP- get this http://www.034motorsport.com/chassis...rs2-p-554.html

and this http://www.modbargains.com/_e/Suspen...S4_Quattro.htm

Powerflex is quality. I have their bushings on my 540i.

[twiztids4]

suspension is mtm springs and bilstein sport struts. I got the ecs coilover kit enroute as we speak. New rear sway bar and that's why I wanted to add urethane bushings to the front bar. By doing this it tightens everything up and acts like you put a larger diameter bar on. The rubber has alot of give while the car is in turns...

[S4James]

ive run these and the steering sharpened up noticeably. And this was on a floaty old GM.

[sCeRaXn]

How would adding larger sways be harmful? Any added stress would be taken up by sways and not other components .

If he doesnt have the suspension and tire setup to take advantage of the stiffer sways then the added stress/loaded energy will travel through the end links and into the suspension. By design, the sway bar itself will do little in absorbing stress and its actually meant to distribute that stress(in the form of loaded energy) throughout the rest of the suspension. This added stress usually shows up in the form of busted/worn bushings, bearings, and joints. Keep in mind that your suspension setup is a dynamic system and each component effects the action of the next. Strengthening one part of it will usually add stress to other parts.

[sCeRaXn]

suspension is mtm springs and bilstein sport struts. I got the ecs coilover kit enroute as we speak. New rear sway bar and that's why I wanted to add urethane bushings to the front bar. By doing this it tightens everything up and acts like you put a larger diameter bar on. The rubber has alot of give while the car is in turns...

Like i said before, adding urethane bushings wont make your car feel like it has bigger sways. What it will do is eliminate the side load on the endlinks and allow the normal "spring" reflex action of the sway to do its job faster, which will usually be most noticeable by the better bite from initial turn in. In the stock setup the rubber bushings and weak end links will flex and absorb some of the energy from the sway bar, which sort of numbs its performance. If i were you id try to find some upgraded end links which will most likely come with urethane bushings. Doing this will give you more of an upgraded sway bar feeling since youll be eliminating two things that can absorb the energy from the stock bar.

[EuroFreak]

Like i said before, adding urethane bushings wont make your car feel like it has bigger sways. What it will do is eliminate the side load on the endlinks and allow the normal "spring" reflex action of the sway to do its job faster, which will usually be most noticeable by the better bite from initial turn in. In the stock setup the rubber bushings and weak end links will flex and absorb some of the energy from the sway bar, which sort of numbs its performance. If i were you id try to find some upgraded end links which will most likely come with urethane bushings. Doing this will give you more of an upgraded sway bar feeling since youll be eliminating two things that can absorb the energy from the stock bar.

Agreed.

[christianb5s4]

All, wanted to bump this up since I couldn't find any reviews. I'm going to be replacing my front and rear sway bar bushings, wanted to get these powerflex bushings but wanted to see if anyone has experience with them first.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_S4...ont/ES2650211/

[christianb5s4]

Anyone?

[zillarob]

I would guess squeaky mofos that dont last as long as oem, like many other pu bushings

[christianb5s4]

I would guess squeaky mofos that dont last as long as oem, like many other pu bushings

Ha, I've seen mixed reviews after looking through the forums. Need to replace the bushings so figured I'd see if I could upgrade while I'm in there, would love to have stiffer bushings.

[S4Bennett]

Probably beyond the point of being useful anymore but it’s still a good idea to document it for posterity.

I purchased The Powerflex black front sway bar bushings for my 2008 Audi RS4. I purchased them from ecs tuning. Purchase and delivery was seamless. I didn’t need them in any hurry so they arrived during the weekdays after ordering the weekend prior.

Test fit consisted of removing the Swaybar chassis bracket by removing the pair of 16mm lock nuts on each side then allowing the bar to hinge down. Disconnecting the Endlinks was not required although I have the 034 MS Endlinks which allows the joint to rotate independently.

I placed the bushing into the bracket with the split side facing away from the bracket. It doesn’t drop in easily because the two shapes are not complimentary. I had to push and hold the bushing into the bracket which elongates the ID of the bushing while tightening the ID in the perpendicular direction.

I stopped there and decided I didn’t want to use them because the bar would bind in the bushings.

[james 408]

Larger FSB increases initial turnin response, but will hurt over overall balance, rotation, and therefore speed. you can get this same benefit by getting stiffer overall, especially on low speed compression range (dampers). Poly bushings in general have not performed as advertised/expected in my experience. they fall apart, squeek, and or bind.