How does the rear sway bay fit up?

[Peter Jones]

I picked up a rear sway bar while ago and never really looked at it properly. I dropped it off with my mechanic while the car was in for some other work and he seems a bit confused by it all.

Does anyone have any photos they'd care to share ?

Cheers
Pete

[syncro]

What brand is it?
Photos?

[Valver.]

I'll get you a pic today... it's too hard to put into words really.

There are basically 3 types of swaybars for a Mk1:

- The thin Whiteline one that arcs towards the back of the car and anchors to the two rear jacking points

- The Shine Racing bar, which is a straight piece of steel that bolts to each end of the flat base of the rear beam (it doesn't bolt to the struts anywhere).

- The traditional style (Eibach, Neuspeed, Autotech, H&R etc) U-bar, which bolts in two places on the flat base of the beam (just inboard about 1.5" from the trailing arm gussets), and then to the lower rear shock mounts.

[syncro]

.....and the genuine that clamps to the trailing arms.

[Peter Jones]

It's the genuine one. By the looks of it there's two holes that need to be drilled somewhere for the clamps. It has the band and rubber style mounts for the trailing arms.

Cheers

Pete

[syncro]

Yes you have to drill two holes for the clamps.
The other four clamps go on the trailing arms.

[Valver.]

Yep, ok... you do have to drill the holes - and it's a pain in the arse! Very close to the fuel tank too. I'll have you some pics up this evening.

[EndlessMKI]

very dark........hehehhehe.

[Peter Jones]

Thanks guys! I've just picked up the car from the mechanics, he never worked it out so I'll put it on the long list of projects! Hopefully I'll get it on there before DoVW and see you all there!

On a positive note it looks like my gearbox woes are finally over! It's only taken 6 months but it was worth it! They ended up modifying the linkages too so now it's got a quick shift kit.

By some bizarre coincidence the speedo shat itself when the box went back in and now it makes terrible noises and reads 130km/hr at stand still. (Another project!)

BAck to the sway bay... Which bit of the car do I need to drill? Does the bar mount to the body or the torsion bar?

Pete

[Golf Loon]

You need to drill holes in the rear beam.
endless`pics are quite good i thought.

[william]

that would eliminate the rear wheel lift on mk1 and 2 when takin courners at high speed it is the only problem with handling good idea thats simple too not so simple to fit though

[Peter Jones]

You need to drill holes in the rear beam.
endless`pics are quite good i thought.

Thanks Matt, I thought so, just wanted to make sure! Might be a job to do on the hoist with a right angle drill. I should be able to organise some hoist time one Saturday morning. I can fit the front lower strut brace at the same time.

Thanks again everyone!

Pete

[roccodingo]

Check the rear axle image out on my resto thread...

Pic is at the bottom of page 1, you need to clearance drill it for a 8 mm bolt.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...ead.php?t=2339

[hiho]

Sway bars

The arrangement where the sway bar attaches to the rear beam will reduce flex in the rear beam, but there will still be some play in the trailing arm to chassis bushes (as well as the sway bar bushes). If the sway bar was attached to the chassis then it would transmit the rolling (side to side) load to the chassis instead of to the beam, bypassing the trailing arm bushes.
It appears that this setup will have unrestrained roll to the extent of the play in the trailing arm and sway bar bushes. Are uprated trailing arm bushes available? Is it possible to mount the sway bar to the chassis in the vicinity of the trailing arm mounts or perhaps... the fuel tank. Just kidding

Any thoughts???

[blackgti1.8]

It's not too hard to fit a GTI rear bar, but drilling those holes can be tricky - one's worse than the other from memory. I went through this earlier this year.
Sit the bar in the correct place (trying not to drop it on your head), and mark the right spot on some masking tape.
Fitting the clamps for the trailing arms can be a royal pain, especially if they've been off and on again a few too many times
Needs some patient use of G-clamps and multi-grips...
Why they did this, and didn't just use the lower strut bolt is beyond me.