On my 504 I had a 27mm K-mac front swaybar with Kmac D bushes and D brackets, with a 604 19mm rear bar. Together with 505GTI springs, this gave a nicely balanced package.
On my 505 I fitted the same springs and rear bar, but kept the standard STI/GTI 27mm front bar and Pug bushes, together with negative camber struts. It felt slightly unhappy on the limit and obviously needed more stiffness in the front. I asked K-mac about making me a 28.5mm bar in the 505 pattern, but they no longer make anything betweeen 27 and 30mm.
Since I already had my 504 27mm K-mac front bar, I decided to try that on the front of the 505, with the K-mac D bushes and D brackets, hoping that the newer bar together with stiffer bushing would provide the extra stiffness I wanted. I'm pleased to say it works fantastic! Very well balanced.
The moral of the story is that if you use a Pug 27mm front bar and bushes, don't go larger than 18mm on the rear. If you want to go for a 19mm at the rear, then you must fit at the front stiffer bushes and/or a stiffer bar. Keep in mind that bars loose some stiffness with age, so a new 27mm bar will be stiffer than an old one.
I wouldn't want to go any stiffer at the front than what I have now, because it would get a bit tooo jiggly on certain types of alternating undulating bumps.
Dave
<small>[ 16 September 2003, 08:21 AM: Message edited by: davemcbean ]</small>
On my 505 I fitted the same springs and rear bar, but kept the standard STI/GTI 27mm front bar and Pug bushes, together with negative camber struts. It felt slightly unhappy on the limit and obviously needed more stiffness in the front. I asked K-mac about making me a 28.5mm bar in the 505 pattern, but they no longer make anything betweeen 27 and 30mm.
Since I already had my 504 27mm K-mac front bar, I decided to try that on the front of the 505, with the K-mac D bushes and D brackets, hoping that the newer bar together with stiffer bushing would provide the extra stiffness I wanted. I'm pleased to say it works fantastic! Very well balanced.
The moral of the story is that if you use a Pug 27mm front bar and bushes, don't go larger than 18mm on the rear. If you want to go for a 19mm at the rear, then you must fit at the front stiffer bushes and/or a stiffer bar. Keep in mind that bars loose some stiffness with age, so a new 27mm bar will be stiffer than an old one.
I wouldn't want to go any stiffer at the front than what I have now, because it would get a bit tooo jiggly on certain types of alternating undulating bumps.
Dave
<small>[ 16 September 2003, 08:21 AM: Message edited by: davemcbean ]</small>