Can anyone give me a quick run down on fitting front drop links please? Do I need to jack car and support anything?
ta
Paul

 

So long as both sides are even I think you should be OK. Easiest on ramps with rear on the level.

Had a bit of a problem with my rear one as front wasn't level so this puts tension in the ARB and you'll get 1side done but won't be able to get the other to line up.

But shouldn't be hard - you need a hammer and grease the bushes.

 

Do it with the car on ramps so the weight of the car is on the wheels. This takes the tension out of the Anti Roll Bar & makes it come apart easier.

Spray some WD40 or Plus Gas on the nuts then go make a cup of coffee while it works into the threads. Then it's just undo the 4 nuts, 2 on each drop link, wind/tap/pull out the bolts. Grease the new drop links & refit the bolts.

I take you have done/are doing the rears to keep everything balanced?

Surgeons tools



Old & New - 14mm & 12mm bolts



Grubby



Bufty



Mark

 

Does replacing the drop links make a big difference to the handling - I know the rear OE ones are plastic are the fronts plastic as well.

 

Yes & yes. Because they are both made from a form of plastic they tend to flex when put under load by the ARB. The solid alloy ones do not flex & give a firmer ride & let the ARB have a greater effect on the handling.

Adjustable Anti Roll Bar adds to the handling

Mark

 

Have you got front and rear ARBs or do you only need the front one.If you replace the ARBs and droplinks do you need to get the geometry reset.My car (MY05 STI) has prodrive springs (geometry reset to prodrive settings) and a Cusco rear sway bar (the one for mounting the MY06 diffuser) so I dont know if there would be clearance problems.
cheers

 

My set up is on a MY03 WRX Wagon so don't know about clearance problems on a MY05 STI.

Replacing the ARB & drop links does not need a geometry reset as you don't undo anything that is adjustable.So your settings will remain the same.

My set up is :-

FRONT SUSPENSION WITH PRODRIVE GEOMETRY SETTINGS.

LEDA STRUT 2.5" ADJ HEIGHT & ADJ DAMPING (SOFT 6/24 HARD)

EIBACH SPRING 2.5" I.D. 9" x 300lb / NOLTEC SOLID ALLOY DROP LINKS

REAR SUSPENSION WITH PRODRIVE GEOMETRY SETTINGS.

LEDA STRUT 2.5" ADJ HEIGHT & ADJ DAMPING (SOFT 6/24 HARD)

EIBACH REAR SPRING 2.5" I.D. 10" x 225lb / NOLTEC SOLID ALLOY DROP LINKS

WHITELINE 22MM ADJUSTABLE REAR ANTI ROLL BAR / HEAVY DUTY ARB MOUNTS

A little guide to fitting the rear ARB. The rear drop links can be done at the same time.

All unpacked


Two spare narrower bushes are for the old standard saddle clamps.

Fitting guide for 22mm Adjustable Rear Anti-Roll Bar & HD mounts

First you need to raise the rear of the car to get enough space to work under the car but keep the car at normal ride height with the weight still on the wheels.Some simple wheel ramps are fine as they should give you enough room to swing the original ARB out from under the car.

A 12mm socket wrench will remove the saddle clamp nuts & bolts and a 14mm spanner and socket wrench will remove the drop-link bolts.
Once these have been removed from both sides, the ARB can be removed although it is slightly awkward since the bar bends around the backbox of the exhaust.

Undo the two 12mm bolts securing the mounting bracket to the chassis & remove.Make a cutaway in the plastic shield as it will help you to get to the bolt & to locate the new bracket later.

Refit the new heavy duty mounts,I had to trim one corner of the HD bracket so it would sit squarely when mounted.Slide the new ARB behind the exhaust pipe and then swing it into place. Use plenty of the white grease on both the inside and outside of the new bushes and clip the new bushes onto the ARB then push the saddle clamps onto the bushes and fix them back onto the new HD mounting brackets.Attach the ARB to the drop-links in one of 3 positions that will determine the 'stiffness' of the ARB :-
1. The outer holes (closest to the ends of the bar) - softer setting
2. The middle holes - closets match to a fixed 22mm bar
3. The inner holes - stiffest setting
I used the middle setting first to see how it alters the cars handling.

Old & New


Thick & Thin
1. The outer hole (closest to the end of the bar) - softest setting
2. The middle hole - nearest to a fixed 22mm bar setting
3. The inner hole - hardest setting



NS from behind


OS from behind


NS from side


OS from side


Modified shield


Wide angle


Mark

 

Brilliant write up.Thanks for the info

 

Your welcome.

Mark

 

where are the blue drop links from? look really good

 

They are made by Noltec.

And you can get them here :-

Mocom Racing - Performance car and trackday products

Mark

 

Like the guide (there needs to be a guide forum imo with these type of posts made sticky's), i've fitted my WL 22mm Adj ARB but couldn't get the bushes into the standard my97 mountings. Can you get the narrower bushes seperate without having to buy the h/d kit? Currently being held on with the stock rubber bushes which aren't in great shape .

 

I'm amazed you cant fit the bushes!
Mine were great @ 22mm and now house 24mm!

They do need some pressure to fit, but all by hand, not screwdriver leverage etc.

I'm puzzled by that.
Graham
24mm bushes in stock Sti v3 mounting bracket

 

Thanks for the reply, mine are the wider of the two in the photo (the ones not fitted in the clamps) and they just didn't seem to fit right in my existing stock clamps. In my defence it was trying to snow by the time i got the original bar off and wasn't up for hanging about any longer than required hence fitting the original bushes.

 

That would explain it. The wide ones are the Whitline heavy duty bushes/mountings and will not fit the stock mounts. You need the whole lot fitting, but a simple task, but not in the snow!

 

Kind of makes sense as the chap i bought the arb off had the h/d mounts fitted as well. Would uprated powerflex bushes be suitable, don't want to bother with the whole h/d mounts package due to cost.

 

Simply get some Whiteline 22mm bar bushes for the stock brackets from Power Station.
Go on a treat with some coppa slip etc and work really well.

 

Ah, i'd not seen the WL bushes as a seperate item but knew about the powerflex kit, thanks again .

 

Thumbs up Powerstation, my WL bushes arrived this morning and make a lot more sense in terms of fitting them in the existing brackets .

 

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