Found the Noise Coming From Rear Sway Bar

[RootedTree]

after installing my rear sway bar i found that it would make this rattling sound when i drove up hill no matter what speed, but more importantly around 3-4k rpms. i read a previous post and decided to lift the bushings to a higher position, this stopped some of the noise.

last night i went under the car and noticed that the gap between my rear sway bar and my muffler is only enough for the tip of my finger to fit through. im assuming at higher rpm my exhaust may be moving around a bit more and with the car going up an incline more weight is on the rear suspension. so im assuming these two pieces are hitting each other.

i thought about how i could solve this. i have some self adhesive foam that i want to wrap around the sway bar to dampen the blows. im worried that the high heat from exhaust will set this thing aflame. i also thought about getting extended exhaust hangers to get the exhaust to sit lower, but i dont think ill like how that makes the stock exhaust look. itll look like its sitting loose.

i have even thought about taking the exhaust down and denting in the section where the two are hitting. i assume this will cause some restriction in the exhaust and be no good for performance.

any suggestions what i can do? (i want to keep new, longer endlinks as a last resort)

[warrior]

i have even thought about taking the exhaust down and denting in the section where the two are hitting. i assume this will cause some restriction in the exhaust and be no good for performance.

Considering you have a stock exhaust, denting it won't cause any lack in noticeable performance but that's not why I personally wouldn't do that.

What I would get is copper pipe heat wrap. It's pretty thick, it should dampen the noise completely. It's used in houses to wrap copper pipes that carry boiling hot water so the exhaust temp at the muffler end shouldn't set it ablaze. It's like $2 for about 6' and has an adhesive side to completely make a seal as if the sway bar came pre-wrapped.

You can find it at Home Depot or any home hardware store.. should be in your copper pipe section and comes in different diameters.

[RootedTree]

awesome idea, never thought about that. ill let you know how it goes.

[RootedTree]

went by home depot found the right size insulation and threw it on tonight. it came out to $1 for 6 feet of it. i through it on the sway bar and zip tied it down on either end. NO MORE NOISE!! im so psyched, that damn sound was driving me crazy. i just hope this thing will be able to handle the heat its in direct contact with the exhaust tubing. thanks warrior for the tip

[Huffer]

You could also try firmer exhaust bushings. Those help to cut down on movement.

[RootedTree]

are exhaust bushings the same as exhaust hangars? if so, is there some way i can determine a stiffness rating for them? or are new ones just better because they havent been broken in? thanks

[RootedTree]

ya so the pipe insulation melted away today. ha it was nice and quiet while it lasted. im going to try and find out more about exhaust hangars and bushings.

[Huffer]

are exhaust bushings the same as exhaust hangars? if so, is there some way i can determine a stiffness rating for them? or are new ones just better because they havent been broken in? thanks

Kartboy make stiffer/firmer polyurethane hangers. WRX/Impreza ones should fit. Alternatively you can zip tie up the hangers to make them stiffer.

[RootedTree]

great suggestion, i might do that too. today i picked up some exhaust wrap from advance auto parts. figured it would be able to withstand the temperatures and it would buffer the two metal pieces from banging into each other. i wrapped a 12 inch section of my sway bar with it and tied it down in several spots. shot it with some silicon sealant and VOILA no more noise again! i think this time itll last.

[dplacencia]

I would just buy Karboy hangers. I have them on my car. My exhaust use to move side to side before. Now it doesn't move at all. Very nice. :wink:

[Brockley]

why not headerwrap the swaybar at the point that it hits...

pretty sure that wont melt!

[deadlydave]

today i picked up some exhaust wrap from advance auto parts. figured it would be able to withstand the temperatures and it would buffer the two metal pieces from banging into each other. i wrapped a 12 inch section of my sway bar with it and tied it down in several spots.

Brockley, I think he beat ya to it :smile: .

[RootedTree]

Ya the heat wrap melted after a week. AHHH!!!


I think I'll have to get new hangers. I think three will suffice, two for the muffler and one further down on the midpipe.

[jmgtp]

I had the same issue when I installed my rear bar.

I moved the bushings up as high as they would go and that helped a bit. Then I used large hose clamps around the rubber hangers to 'compress' them and pull the muffler up a bit higher. It still rubbed on bumps though.

Eventually I chopped the stock muffler off and welded in a flowmaster I had and positioned it so it wouldn't hit. Problem solved.

[RootedTree]

At last, so I was a little apprehensive about using zip-ties to stiffen the hangers (I didn't think they would compress them enough). So I went and tried out what JMGTP said and bought the large hose clamps. It worked! No more noise.

What's kind of crazy is that I can really hear my exhaust now (in a good way). I don't know if this has anything to do with me stiffening the hangers. However it happened or not (I may be going crazy), I like it! Thanks for the help guys

[blackgtbeauty]

What rear swaybar are we referring too? Stock? Whiteline?

I'm looking at a Whiteline so I'm curious...

Also I would almost guarantee that now that your hangars are stiffer it's the reason for more exhaust note resonating through the chassis of the vehicle.

[RootedTree]

I bought the RalliTEK rear sway bar (22mm). They jacked up the price by $30 within the last 2 months. I'm happy with it. It took some getting used to.

http://www.rallitek.com/rareswbarfor.html

[rougeben83]

they jacked up the price for it now? I got mine for $130 shipped, and that's the ONLY reason I've lived with the crappy fitment of the bar.

F'that Just buy the Whiteline, blackgtbeauty.

[blackgtbeauty]

they jacked up the price for it now? I got mine for $130 shipped, and that's the ONLY reason I've lived with the crappy fitment of the bar.

F'that Just buy the Whiteline, blackgtbeauty.

Yeah it does sound like the way too go, anyone have this same problem with the Whiteline?