the only real tweak I would like to make to the stock suspension is a way to reduce some of the body roll. I was wondering what the cheapest way to do that is? would sways help? I know springs and shocks would do it, but that would run $800-$1,200.

I'm a little nervous just replacing the springs, as I have done that before and not had good results on stock shocks. Any thoughts?

 

Front and rear sway bars will reduce body roll and tighten handling a bit. Under 400 for both.

 

Yep.....front and rear sways will do it. I got the tanabes for $170 a piece. Made a huge difference. Another cheaper add on would be to go with stiffer springs. All together the sways and the Tein S Tech on my car has made it a sweet handling car.

 

Replacing the stock sway bar bushings with polyurethane ones is the cheapest way to decrease body roll. If you get the measurements of the stock bars, PepBoys, Kragen, Autozone, etc have a variety of universal ones that will most likely fit. I haven't had time to check it out - (waiting for Energy Suspension)

 

Yes, when you want to affect body roll, anti-sway bars (a.k.a. anti-roll bars) are the proper way to do it. Reducing body roll is only a side effect of stiffer springs/shocks.

---jps

 

how hard are the sways to install? anyone done it yet?

 

They're not hard to install. Getting out of Shamsundar's Thermo II class with a B-, that's hard. If you are running into any difficulties with installing the sway bar, just refer to the service manual. It's the biggest help so far . If the job is overwhelming brillo, I would just take it to the dealer for an install .

 

I've done spring/strut installs on my 6, with a FWD car the front sway is a real bitch to get at, I was worried that it would be the same in the rear of the 8. Hopefully spreading the drive train out a bit makes it easier to work on the car.

 

Yes it can be a pain to install a sway bar :o. I forgot to mention my friend has a hydraulic lift in his garage. Moochy moochy :D.

 

Yes shelly is right...

You need a hydraulic lift, in fact the front sway is a pain to install.. You need to take the front plastic guard off... the connector to the radiator... it is pain

Brillo it is just tiring watching my friendly mechanics doing it. I install MazdaSpeed sways but I think the other are just as good. I use MazdaSpeed as it is same shape as stock and it is silver = so it is easier to fool the insurance company that it is not a modification.

 

For $0 you can just rip off your tires and drive around on just your rims :D

That should lower your center of gravity and reduce a little body roll.

 

Drive in a straight line. That will be the cheapest way to eliminate body roll.

 

hahah

BAHhAH hilarious

 

I installed the MS ones this past weekend. Check this thread here. Posted some pictures and not too hard. Taking off the plastic underguard is probably the longest, tedious step.
Or you can take it to the dealer and pay the $80/hr. Took me about 4hrs total. The rear is super easy to replace.

 

here's the thread for some pics when thedosdog helped me put in my RB front are rear sway bars.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/rb-springs-bars-links-33396/


I think we were done in about 1 1/2 hours max. Although as pointed out earlier, the front definitely is harder to install than the rear.

 

That's after doing that same install twice before and knowing exactly what to do and what order to do it in. :o

 

I put on the front sway without removing anything but the factory sway bar? Overall, both arn't that hard to swap out. Just be very careful when you loosen the endlink bolts....they are very soft and torqued on tightly.

 

I did exactly of what adrian did. I took me 3 hours to install the front and rear sway, front and rear strut and front and rear brake..but I have a professional mechanics to help me to do it in his shop