05 wagon rear sway bar fitment

I have a 2005 LGT suspension swapped OBXT, and I was thinking about getting a rear sway bar upgrade because I need to replace the bushings and endlinks pretty badly anyway, and like all my best ideas "because I'm there" is a valid enough reason.

 

Is there a cheap-ish OEM upgrade (off a WRX wagon or something) that I can fit without having to go Whiteline? The only things I saw when I googled were for the 15-19 Outback, no longer manufactured, or rather expensive for what they are.

If you have the stock obxt sway bar it's 16mm. Pathetic. The lgt bar is 19mm I believe (at least the wagons) and that would fit and be an upgrade. Then the jdm hollow bar but I think those are harder to find now. And then the on sale at Amazon apparently even though I bought some two weeks ago whiteline bar.

 

Honestly, I'd just get a whiteline bar. Sometimes you can find a deal on discontinued ones used. But I'm pretty sure the track width of the wrx is different enough that it doesn't work. It's suggested not to go above 20mm unless you're doing the front as well.

 

 

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Every single 4th gen USDM Legacy/OB came with the same rear sway bar, 16mm and yeah it's pretty pathetic.

 

The JDM OEM rear sway bar is 19mm and can be found on ebay still for around $120(?). Otherwise you're onto aftermarket options. I really like the JDM upgrade for a basic daily driver, but if you want something beefie you'll need to go aftermarket and would warrant a matched front bar and endlinks in my opinion. Both mandate the reinforced rear sway stout mounts in my opinion too.

Edited January 29, 2020 by BoozeRS05

Good to know. My mistake. I ended up buying new and the 22/20 whiteline kit can be had under $400 with end links which isn't bad compared to over $200 for the rear bar without end links. Just made sense to me.

 

 

 

 

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Good to know. My mistake. I ended up buying new and the 22/20 whiteline kit can be had under $400 with end links which isn't bad compared to over $200 for the rear bar without end links. Just made sense to me.

 

 

 

 

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It also depends on what kind of handling characteristics he wants, bigger isnt always better.

I'm running a whiteline 20mm rear swaybars with stock front and polyurethane bushings in order to make the car over steer bias. If you go bigger all around you are keeping the stock understeer characteristics with less body roll.

I would save your money and just get the rear, you would be surprised at how much it improves cornering

True but I figure going 16 to 20 in the back bs 20 to 22 in the front is not as much up front. I suppose that math isn't right cuz the area of a circle.

 

Idk how the sedan feels but my outback on a tight corner seems to roll in the rear but not the front and it's almost nauseating. It's like I feel the thing twisting in the middle.

 

I'll be putting the rear on first and then later the front when I change the steering rack.

 

 

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Sway bar pending in classifieds, may be worth checking whether it has sold https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegacygt%2Ecom%2Fforums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D281195&share_tid=281195&share_fid=5383&share_type=t&link_source=app

 

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Just wait for a used one to pop up on here, they show up all the time. Running Whiteline F & R with Moog links and stock height Rallitek springs on my Outback and very happy with the handling characteristics of the car. Would probably not opt to go aftermarket front sway unless you put on stiffer springs if you want to add additional oversteer that just a rear sway affords. With my set up, I run the rear sway at full stiff and the front at full soft.

I have to say. A modest rear sway bar is a great idea, but some good struts and springs would be a better first step in my opinion. Dollar for dollar they don't compare bc even a JDM rear sway bar is a very noticeable upgrade, but if you have a couple bucks and would get some Koni's or even new KYB struts and an aftermarket spring, it'll be night and day. Whole new car.

I replaced the springs, struts, boot, and tophats in the back already. KYB Excel-Gs on both sides with new OEM LGT springs. it was fairly cheap all total (~$300 in parts). But the sway bar bushings, and endlinks are both shot, hence the reason why I was looking at replacing it anyway.

 

 

 

Most of the bushings are pretty bad back there, so I've been replacing them as time and money allows.

Ok, good to know you've replace those items.