G'day Everyone,

In order to address some concerns raised, I think it is worth reviewing the problem by pointing out that there are 2 main types if failures surrounding the rear swaybar for this chassis.

Failure type #1 - plucking of the M8 bolts out of the chassis. We have seen this to happen on cars using original chassis brackets only. We have addressed this with our original two-piece bracket design by spreading the load over a larger area, and incorporating the control arm bolt to further strengthen the bracket. We are not aware of any failures of this type with our chassis brackets.

Failure type #2 – tearing of rear sub-frame out from the floor pan. We are of the opinion that although our two-piece bracket design may not have been full proof, it was certainly capable of doing its job as intended, as evidenced by our project car and most customers’ cars working just fine, with only a very small number of people reporting problems. However, as already mentioned by Jim, one of the main reasons for these problems was not-torquing of mounting hardware which is very critical for this installation.

As the main force acting on the bracket is in the vertical plane, the spacer tubes or solid blocks working in compression make little difference to the integrity of the bracket or its mounting strength onto the chassis. If the major force would be in the horizontal plane, then these would be more critical. However, that is not the case, and the tubes/solid brocks are simply there to position the bracket away off the chassis.

We have again very carefully reviewed our design, and considered your feedback and suggestions, and we replace the already large washers that are used behind the M8 bolts inside the chassis/subframe, with a single backing plate with 2 holes to further spread the load over a larger area. The tubes used are heavy wall, so there is a large contact area to spread the load over. IF this would be a problem, then the tubes would either bend/break, or they would push the chassis mounting face in, and we have never seen this happen, and can’t see it happening.

With the help of ozhonda forum, we have tried to improve our product to make it both stronger to reduce the likelihood of any chassis failures as a result of possible installation shortfalls – although this is still very critical and should not be ignored – as well as maintain a competitive and affordable cost for everyone to enjoy its benefits. I like to believe that we have delivered both.

Happy to answer any questions.

Regards,
Wojtek.