Swaybar rubbers - what material and where to buy

[michaeljc]

I need to replace one of the rubber bushes on the link that holds the front swaybar to the suspension arm. All current swaybar rubbers and bushes just seem to be standard rubber. It is just a 20mm swaybar but the car will be mainly for sprints. I have a couple of questions.....
1.  What material is best for the swaybar rubbers and the swaybar link arm bushes?
2.  Where is a good place to purchase new rubbers & bushes from? ie Turin Imports / Monza / Italian Job / Repco /  EB spares etc.
3.  What diameter front swaybars are generally around the traps and work best for club sprints sort of driving.... I do have 22.5mm diameter on my GT

[michaeljc]

BUMP ............. I'm really surprised that noone seems to have information on the rubber bushes in the swaybar link arm that joins the swaybar to the lower wishbone control arm. I thought that there must be a better way to source the bushes than going straight to an Alfa dealer.

These bushes are 13.67mm (maybe 14mm) ID and 32mm OD. The Inner sleeve is metal with the rubber fused onto it. The rubber is then fused onto a thin plastic outer sleeve of OD=32mm which is pressed into the link arm.

These are for a Nov 1983 Alfetta GTV which seem identical to my 1976 GT. I expect they are the same for all 116 series so many people must have replaced them in the past ..... especially when changing swaybars.

Pedders could not help me so I guess I'll call Monza & Alfa tomorrow but any wisdom from fellow club members would still be much appreciated.

[Andrew Bose]

Hi Michael,
Have a chat to Vin Sharp (Pace engineering) for advise on what is the best way forward, he is probably the best person to ask and he also sells some of the parts so if he cannot supply what you need I'm sure he will point you in the right direction. Contact details are on the sponsors page.

Hope that helps you.

Andrew

[GTVeloce]

Hi Michael

I have replaced all my a/r bar bushes and mounts with poly which I bought (when the $AUS was 1.10!) from the International Auto Parts website. I haven't finished the car yet so can't comment on ride quality yet but I guess your choice of material has to do a lot with what you want from the car i.e. performance, comfort etc. You have mentioned doing some sprints so maybe poly might be better.

Cheers
Julian

[michaeljc]

Thanks guys. I had chatted to Vin and he had nothing in stock (only 105 stuff). I found some standard link arm bushes on EB spares and they have both rubber or poly for the swaybar only. I did look at other sites and it was probably your nominated site in US that also had rubber or poly options for the swaybar but only standard (as far as I could tell) for the link arm bushes.

I have both a 20mm & 22mm front swaybars but will probably be leaning more to a 24mm for sprints etc. I'd like to know if anyone has one they want to sell

[martym00se72]

Try Turin or Car Torque in Adelaide - both great. Super Pro (or Roo - can't recall exactly) are Aussie made and excellent - check their website as they should point you in the direction of a supplier or be able to supply direct. Sadly, I found them cheaper from a reseller OS even when having to pay postage from OS back when the dollar was higher. If you are sprinting you will want poly.