Passenger Side Sway Bar Mount photographed from below
Passenger Side view from above
Racing Beat Sway Bar Brace
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Passenger Side Sway Bar Mount photographed from below |
Passenger Side view from above |
Click on the photos for a larger image
At some email requests, here are some pictures. I have painted the Racing Beat brace black to make it blend in better with the rest of the engine compartment. Unfortunately, that does make it harder to photograph. These pictures were taken approximately 30,000 miles after installation. The mounts are doing just fine despite being driven, shall we say, spiritedly? 4/1/01
Brackets from Roebuck Mazda
Racing Beat brace. Bought from Performance Buyers Club
After shredding, (and I'm not exaggerating here) the sway bar brackets that connect the frame to the front sway bar, I decided to add the Racing Beat sway bar brace when replacing the brackets.
Changing these brackets is a real pain in the ass, and I don't want to do it again if I don't have to.
The bolts on the outboard sides of the brackets are a breeze, you need to remove the wheels, and the two bolts you need to remove are right there.
The inboard side is another matter. The brackets holding the radiator in place are directly on top of the sway bar bracket. Mazda thoughtfully left a hole in the radiator bracket to access one of the bolts holding the sway bar bracket. For some bizarre reason though, there is no hole to access the second bolt. Necessitating removal of the radiator brackets. In order to remove the radiator brackets, you have to remove the fans. I order to get the fans out, you have to pull the intake tract. Of course this is one of those real tight areas to work in in the first place, and the radiator is made from leftover razor wire from the Hiroshima penitentiary.
Once you get all the bolts out, and have hosed your blood from the radiator, all that's left are the spot welds holding the original bracket in place. I pried the brackets out with a screwdriver, and wiggled them back and forth till they broke off. Installation of the new brackets takes 10 minutes. I installed the Racing Beat brace at this time.
There are two parts to the whole package. There is a steel bar that runs from the right bracket to the left. This bar does have a top bottom and a right/left. The differences are slight, but the directions are pretty clear. The bar slides right through the plumbing the same way the sway bar itself does. The original bolts are discarded, and the included extended bolts run through the sway bar bushing bracket, through a machined block of steel that fits flush against the frame. A nut is inserted into the block, and you draw the whole thing up 1/2 turn at a time with an open end wrench.
When completed the right and left sides of the frame are tied together, and the bottom of the sway bar bracket is connected to the frame, eliminating any movement up or down on the bracket.
Replace all the rest of the stuff, radiator brackets, fans etc in reverse order.
Total installation time with bracket replacement: About 4 hours.
W/O bracket replacement: I estimate about 45 minutes, not hurrying.
Total loss of blood: About 1/4 pint.