NHCivicGuy
Senior Member
Great find! You may have actually found the issue after all.Hey all first post here and owner of my 2019 Si coupe since Christmas 2018.
i’m pretty sure i know exactly what this is but i’m consulting with other engineers on it now.
same thing happened on a few rear high performance suspension systems out there.
rear sway bar bushings are very soft with internal nylon rate plate features.
they get very hard under 30F almost like a glass transition temperature. the rubber shrinks significantly and the outer size shrinks and you get play between the outer rubber (hard like a rock when cold also) and the bracket. in addition if the ID is not glued to the sway bar itself you can have the interference fit between bar and bushings rapidly become a clearance hole and again you get loud thunking.
i checked the links they are just fine and fyi blown ball joint links fail cold or warm. only the rubber has this issue when cold. and man when those cold days hit it sounds like the rear end is going to fall off!!
so i’ve reached out to see if there is a fix out there with the folks who designed it. i’ll write back asap
in the mean time realize this is a performance enhancement when not cold meaning it is so fine tuned for the perfect ride feel this was a result. fixing it will tighten things up back there and could change the perfect handling balance
quick fix? aftermarket bushings that have way more interference fit. or maybe if they are not glued to the bar use the bushings from a smaller size bar diameter so the interference fit will be much increased. this will fuck up the ride a little tho.
hope that helps. Jeff
On my previous car with an aftermarket sway bar, I actually wrapped the bar where the bushings sit with teflon tape. This kept the area slick in case the lube dried out before I could lube them up again. I wonder if doing some layers here with that would help tighten and solve that up.
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