[Mark42]

A few weeks ago I swapped out the OE 28 mm front bar for a 30 mm bar, and installed it with poly end links and bushings. After driving around on it for a few weeks, I was really pleased. So I decided to install the matching 19 mm rear bar using poly end links and bushings too.

Couple of days ago I was in a hurry to get to an appointment. Knowing that the exit off the highway was a nice, wide, long S turn, and it was a dry sunny day, I took it fast (about 55mph), like I have done dozens of times before. Neary poopy my pants as the rear came around and the car had extreme over steer! Damn, I really thought I was going to lose control for a minute. Just let off the gas a little, and steered trough it, and all ended well. For a moment there I was making steering corrections faster than a rally driver in a Subaru.

So, the 19 mm bar had to come out. I can't take a chance of that happening again, or having someone else drive the car and suddenly get megga over steer.

I really didn't think that going from 15 to 19 mm would make such a big difference in the steering. I know the increase of 2 mm is about 3 x the stiffness of the original bar, and I expected it to ride rougher due to being 4 mm thicker. The over steer to the extent I experienced it was not expected or a good thing.

Today the 15 mm bar went back in, and I used the poly end links to give it a little more response. Also noticed that the factory bushings had rubbed off the paint on the bar, and the bar was rusting there. This on a car with less than 40K miles and garage kept! So I sanded the bar down and painted with black rustolium. Also cleaned the bushings, and greased well before installing.

While the car was up on the jack stands, I put in a pair of KYB GR2 rear shocks. Nothing very exotic, just a quality dual tube gas replacement for the OE Decarbon shocks. I was surprised to see the OE Decarbon shocks were worn. They provided very little resistance, even when pushed/pulled with my hands, although they still held their gas charge and expanded to full length when removed. BTW, the OE shock top bushing was in perfect condition, and I re-used it because its much larger diameter than what came with the KYB, and actually fits through the hole in the body. The KYB did not. The OE is about 2" in diameter, the KYB replacement is about 1-1/4" tops.

The Decarbon shocks were the cause of the floaty rear. The KYB GR2 shocks are a little firmer than stock, according to their writeup, and they performed very well when I took the car for a test drive down a bumpy windy country road. The rear stayed planted on the rough stuff, and a funny "clunk" noise I used to hear on bumps was gone.

I couldn't find my 14 mm combo wrench, and figured I was mis-placed when I worked on the car last. Surprise! There it was on the top nut of the end link! The box end still firmly gripping the nut! This after a few days of driving! Made sure I didn't make that mistake again.

Just a little dissapointed that the new shocks did not fix a bad case of wheel hop on burn-outs. They did help, but the wheel hop is still there.