30 replies to this topic

[Evan]

I just installed the KMAC adjustable front mount sway bar.( 22mm?) Made the front end considerably tighter and more direct.

I am very happy with it besides the crude welding on the brackets. I rang them (Ken?) about it and he didn�t seem to give a crap. Just laughed and said that the bloke welding must have had a big night on the piss.

I had to do mods to my AU twin thermo fans as it hits them. I�m not sure if everyone has this problem. I�m running a 3 core radiator too.

Ev

[76lxhatch]

The front mount bars can get in the way of brake ducts if you want them, but there are still ways and means. Other than that I think front mount is more readily available and they work fine - sooner or later you are going to need the extractor space. I have a Whiteline (mainly due to availability) front mount and it works great.

[Toranamat69]

The whiteline front mount sway bar is the poorest design of an aftermarket sway bar i have ever seen.

10kg's of dead bracketry doing nothing but weighing down a vehilce that is already front heavy. The Kmac style of mounting is far lighter and a far better design.

The mounting of the whiteline brackets to the bumper bar mounts in shear is useless and should never have been considered.

The shape of the sway bar at the ends does not lend itself to wide wheels (sespecially large diameter ones) as it will hit at full lock as they are simply bent at 90 degrees. The Kmac is shaped better to fit wider wheels.

then there is the clearance issues to brake ducts if you are using those.

Edited by Toranamat69, 31 March 2011 - 11:22 AM.

[76lxhatch]

The mounting of the whiteline brackets to the bumper bar mounts in shear is useless and should never have been considered.

Dumb question, but why? Doesn't seem any different to mounting a wheel to me...

[Toranamat69]

The mounting of the whiteline brackets to the bumper bar mounts in shear is useless and should never have been considered.

Dumb question, but why? Doesn't seem any different to mounting a wheel to me...

One would think it could work okay butI have found 2 separate times that mine had loosened off and the bracket was wriggling up and down when I was under the car doing other things.

Slippery Stainless bolts and washers probably didn't help in my case but you also have to line up the bumper at the same time you are tightening these down which I also don't like.

Main issue I have is still the massive bracket mass wise and interferance with other parts when it is simply not neccessary.

I have removed my whiteline front bar and it will never be going back on. Even if I was going to use the actual sway bar I would make custom mounting. I see to recall checking at one stage before I removed it that simple stand-off brackets the same as the K-mac could have been made and used with the Whitleine one. I always planned to do that until i also noticed the difference in the shape of the bar ends to give more wheel clearance at full lock.

Matt

[Toranamat69]

UNVSM8,

What back space on those front wheels? I'll tell you if I reckon they will hit on the whiteline front bar on full lock. I don't yet have a Kmac front bar to measure the exact difference it will make but it visually looks to have more clearance.

Does the UC even have the spot for the whiteline front bar to mount? The LX ones go to the large steel brackets behind the front bumper which are not common to the UC models.

Matt

[Evan]

The KMAC bar bolts on at the front and you have to drill your bottom control arms too. It�s very easy.

Ill take some photo's of the mods i had to do to my fans.

I am going to make a custom alloy radiator shroud as I�m not happy with the butchered fans.

I rang KMAC directly andordered it over the phone.

Ev.

[76lxhatch]

I see to recall checking at one stage before I removed it that simple stand-off brackets the same as the K-mac could have been made and used with the Whitleine one. I always planned to do that until i also noticed the difference in the shape of the bar ends to give more wheel clearance at full lock.

Interesting, which era K-mac brackets are you referring to? The later ones seem to be much nicer (stronger/smaller/lighter) brackets and sit the bar up higher but that introduces the problem you are talking about with tyre contact.
http://www.gmh-toran...post__p__181667

[ls2lxhatch]

I made new brackets to move the K-MAC front mount back around 10 mm to clear the thermo fans.

The K-MAC quality control and powder coating is a joke however in my opinion it is still a better design than the Whiteline front mount. I have bought three swaybars from K-MAC and every one has had parts made incorrectly or missing.

This is an example of their fine workmanship.

[ls2lxhatch]

What swaybars do you currently have?

[Toranamat69]

I was referring to this style of Kmac bar on LS2LX's website (I didn't reallise there were so many over the years)



This bar will fit LX or UC as it comes directly off the bottom of the chassis rail with a fairly short standoff bracket.
The corners are not a simple 90 degree bend and this is the main area where large wheels will rub on full lock.
I can dig out my whiteline one and take a photo to show where my 17's rubbed the paint. I had 235/40-17's on at that time. I will have to double check my back spacing but from memory I have 5 1/4" back spacing on 8" rim up front.

From memory, the spot where they rub is where the KMAC one is angling out slightly after the bends - It would be interresting to know the dimensions or see the 2 types layed over each other.

This pic here shows the bracket on the LX that goes between the chassis rail and the 'gold coloured' zinc bracket on the whiteline setup.



The UC does not use this bracket but has a different bracket that goes straight from the bumper bar to the chassis and uses the dome bolts on the battery tray area so I can't picture how this would fit with the whiteline bar. Maybe it does though, surely someone has tried - I cant find any pics to double check.

Edited by Toranamat69, 31 March 2011 - 09:01 PM.

[Toranamat69]

The splash trays still fit with the whiteline one.

I just checked where the paint is worn off mine from the tire rubbing and it is actually the end closer to where it joins the drop link, not near the bend like I thought so it would be good to actually compare if the KMAC is narrower at that point to be able to tell how close it will be to the tire.

[ls2lxhatch]

The K-MAC Front mount adjustable is 945 mm wide (from outside edge to outside edge).

The drop links are 215 mm from the centre of the bar to the bottom of the bracket. The bottom of the bracket is roughly level with the bottom of the control arm. I know that some people have had tyre clearance issues with the K-MAC front mount.

The bar mount brackets use the inside bumper bracket bolts.

The UC lower control arm steering stops have to be cut off to fit the K-MAC brackets. The LH/LX does not have the steering stops.

Edited by ls2lxhatch, 31 March 2011 - 11:31 PM.

[Toranamat69]

Well the plot thickens. I just measured my whiteline one and it is 915 overall and about 895 wide at the point 30 to 40mm from the ends where the tires rub.

Now I am not sure what I am going to replace mine with. I also have a hollow 300ZX one I was playing with - it is similar width but slightly different shape.

[ls2lxhatch]

It would be interesting to compare the clearance at the different heights.

It may be that the K-MAC is further from the centre of the wheel than the Whiteline which would give more clearance. The K-MAC is definitely higher above the LCA than the Whiteline.

[76lxhatch]

I had a bit of a look through the old threads on here yesterday as this topic got me interested - the best one I saw was Litre8, which I think has a custom bar on the early K-mac brackets, it has a lot more shape for clearance (not unlike an HZ style bar?):
http://www.gmh-toran...post__p__179726

[ls2lxhatch]

The signature bar sounds interesting. Do you have any pictures?