I just bought a 1st gen and one of the rear sway bar ends are broken. So my question is what is a good upgrade sway bar upgrade and where can I find one. A website would be helpful. Thanks

 

Mazdatrix has several here.

Victoria British has a few different aftermarket brands, as well as a stock replacement. You can order their catalog from their website.

 

Let me be the first to welcome you to the 'boards.

First off, there is some question about rear stabilizer bars (sway bars) on 1st Gen cars, so you may want to research what it is that you'll be doing with this bar. IMO, Mazda put it there for a reason, so I've upgraded mine to a Koni adjustable rear stabilizer with Heim end-links and adjusters - this gives me very good flexibility for tire/wheel changes and different track conditions (when I was into SCCA SoloII competition).

Rear stabilizers work by creating resistance to rear end body lean due to axle deflection. While this can be beneficial to reduce body roll, it can also stiffen the rear axle enough that you lose traction. This results in an overall less manueverable car, since you're decreasing the overall cornering force that the car can generate before losing traction and skidding (rear end slide or oversteering).

Rear stabilizer bars should be matched with front stabilizer bars for maximum road holding and overall function. In your case, I'd stick with the stock stabilizer bar, but replace the end-links with stock or aftermarket urethane end-links. You can also replace mount blocks with urethane, but keep in mind that you're trying to maintain pliability and not sacrifice road holding ability.

Again, welcome to the boards, and think it through before you remove the rear bar, or spend extra money on an aftermarket bar that may or may not help your handling. HTH,

 

Thanks for the welcome, could you recommend a good end-links.

I bought this car for a SCCA solo II car. I want be able to run in the stock class so it has to meet the requirements.

 

The best upgrade for the rear swaybar, if you have a limited slip, is to remove it.

 

I went to autozone and found that they have End-Links so I picked up some there, they were slightly to small. Mostly because the bushings were larger than the stock ones, so I have to go back tomorrow and get a slightly larger set.

 

I just installed the Energy Suspension polygraphite end links on the rear bar and found that they were ever-so-slightly too thick to get the sway bar on easily. The solution I came up with was to attach the frame mounting brackets & bushings to hold the swaybar in place and then use my floor jack to give the sway bar just a tiny tiny tiny bit of upward force onto the end link bolt. I gave it just enough push so I could start the nylock nut. Once the nut was started, I turned it to the 4.3mm mark with a regular socket.

I don't know what Autozone sells, but my guess would be that if it's just a tiny bit too short to get the bar on the link bolt, you might try giving it some force. Not a whole lot, but just enough to just barely start to compress the bushings.