Tri-Point front sway bar
 

Hey folks,
I'm looking for a Tri-Point front sway bar with brace kit. I know it's a long shot but worth a try. Looking for the .188" diameter. Hoping there is someone that ordered one and never installed, or used; either way. I can get a new one from Tri-point but, I'm looking for the "low rent" "track -ho" price if possible...lol. Thanks!

Dave:nod:

A .188" sway bar is by FAR the smallest I've ever heard of. Are you sure that's the size? It would essentially do nothing to reduce the lean but whatever.

.188" is the wall thickness, not the diameter.

http://tripointengineering.com/produ...5693f4950c2086

Thanks for clarifying. Wall thickness is what I was referring to. I'm staying with the
stock rear as suggested by Fritz and Brent. Tri-Point has three wall thicknesses. The .250" is too stiff for my application. Cheers!

Dave, I may have something for you. I have a similar one that I bought from Fritz a few years ago. I'll shoot you a PM when I get a chance.

Please do Brent. I was going to call Tri-Point this afternoon. I'll wait to hear
from you!:icon_tup:

Cheers

Been mentioned before that Tri-point gets the bars from here, but you'd still need to source the arms I believe...

http://www.1speedway.com/Swaybars.htm

Not sure but I think that you can buy these from MazdaSpeed without being a registered race team. Since this is an aftermarket part. I know you can only buy OEM parts if you are registered. They sell the arms and links as a separate part # from the bars.

I called Mazda Motorsports last week. They never called me back. I do have an account. They had the bar listed there, he said he would have to check current
pricing. Thanks for the input. It seems the brace kit upgrading the mount,
is just as important as the bar itself. The adjustment capability is a big deal
as well. Cheers!

When you say the "brace kit" are you talking about the longitudinal braces and the bronze bar mounts?
I think that most that run this bar just upgrade the Mazda sway bar mounts and use the standard poly mounts that come with the kit and bolt to the stock mounts. The bronze mounts can't be used without the longitudinal Tri-Point braces as the bolt spacing of these mounts is much wider than the stock sway bar mounting points.

Dave, i haven't forgot about you. I've just been really busy. I'll shoot you a PM tonight when I get home.

I build these bars, currently have them on my RX-8's. If you are interested feel free to contact me.

Hey Bud,
Send me a PM and let me know pricing, etc. I really appreciate your knowledge and input.

Dave:icon_tup:

When you say the "brace kit" are you talking about the longitudinal braces and the bronze bar mounts?
I think that most that run this bar just upgrade the Mazda sway bar mounts and use the standard poly mounts that come with the kit and bolt to the stock mounts. The bronze mounts can't be used without the longitudinal Tri-Point braces as the bolt spacing of these mounts is much wider than the stock sway bar mounti

Just to be clear you can run the longer footprint bronze or the stock footprint poly bushings with the Tripoint sway bar and reinforcement kit as there are two sets of rear mounting holes on the brace to use depending on which bushing option you decide on.

The brace kit will keep the stock swaybar mounts from cracking.

I just swapped down to the lowest rate .094" bar on lowest setting (supposed to be softer than stock) and poly bushings as I hated the understeer the car had with the larger bar and the maintenance of the bronze bushings.

Car still understeers a bit, but I think it is the effects of the pig heavy stock REW engine up front when I am used to my stripped down 13BT in my TII.

Thanks for the input. I have talked with DWalker and also Mazda Motorsports.
Reinforcement of the mounts is very important. The input I received from fellow
FD drivers at the track recommended the 1 1/4" bar, >188" wall thickness. I will be taking my struts in to get them dyno'ed to confirm spring rates.

Thanks,
Dave

Hey Dave:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-rx-7-1993-2002-parts-99/tripoint-engineering-swaybar-rotary-extreme-swaybar-mounts-new-1000658/

Thanks bud,
I have talked to the folks @ Tri-point, Works Concepts, Mazda Motorsports, and
finally decided to take Don Walker up on his offer to build one for me. He has an FD
in his shop to test fit everything. I'm quite sure he will do a great job for me. FYI;
Tri-Point wanted $790 shipped, Works Concepts was $70 less shipped (BTW, Eric
is a great guy to work with, he definitely gave the best pricing on this particular
set-up), Mazda Motorsports was in between the two.
Don is doing mine for me for $400 plus shipping. He is going to fabricate 4 or 5
more if anyone is interested. As you guys may know, tooling and set-up is a big
part of the time and expense to produce this "kit". Don said he would honor this
pricing for the additional kits he's producing. I'm not trying to be a vender here on
the forum, just sharing what I came up with. Thanks to all who chimed-in on this
thread.

Cheers!:icon_tup:

Any word on if anyone will be making a mount like the wide foot one?

Awesome. Don is a great experienced option. Love reading his posts. :)

He was gracious enough to spend some time talking with me. That was really
appreciated. When he gets together the list of what all is included; one of us
will update.:icon_tup:

I think Don is going to fab a tubular brace. Will update when we get things
final.

Thanks,
Dave

Thanks for posting. That's a much better deal than I was previously quoted.
Is the "brace kit" and"bracket kit" one in the same? So; if I wanted to have poly
bushings with the "brace kit" and a .188" thickness bar, it would be $585.00
shipped? Just want to be clear.

I have already committed to Don Walker for mine. I'm sure others on the forum will
be interested in your Group Buy.:icon_tup:

Correct

We always welcome group buy requests. For any of the products we offer, Tri-Point or other.

EB Turbo

Does the bronze bushing w/brace option require OEM sway bar mounts? I have the widefoot sway bar mounts which raises the mounting point bar higher...

They were designed to work with the stock mounts. If we were to get our hands on a set of the wide foot mounts we can make adapters to work. Depending on what is needed the price can be the same. When you order the mounts you either get brackets or adapters for the wide foot mounts.

EB Turbo

Tri-point has started a new group buy.

Tri-Point Engineering - Chatsworth, CA - Automotive | Facebook

Just a heads up to anyone interested in having this guy ^ "D Walker" (Don Walker) from Colorado make them a custom sway bar... I sent him a deposit of $220 back in June 2012 and he has given me the run around for 18 months now. In April it was supposedly ready and he was going to "test" fit it but has since stopped replying to texts, voicemails, emails, and will not answer my calls. Bottom line, he's a crook. Funny thing is he seemed legit and owns a race shop named Grid 1 Motorsport and looks likes he is or was involved in SCCA and Grand Am pro racing. Luckily it was only a couple hundred bucks and a drop in the bucket in the big picture for my build but it's the principle of it that pisses me off. Unbelievable what people do these days for a couple bucks. I'm sure it'll catch up with him sooner or later.

On a positive note I finally pulled the trigger on the Tri-Point sway bar mentioned in this thread, I noticed they're having a sale again so heads up to anyone who wants one. It's a pricey unit so the sale definitely helps.

Really sorry to hear that :( Like you said, not a huge amount of money($220 is a lot), but it's the principle of the matter. What a shitbag.

Any updates? I am also looking for a proper front swaybar.

Tripoint.

I own an fc3s. I was trying to see how D walker turned out for the OP and what his final choice was.

Dave, the OP, did not purchase one from D Walker. I do know that Pandaz posted that D Walkeripped him off. After going back to look at private messages with me and Dave, I noticed I had given him a heads up about D Walker due to a message another RX-8 Grand Am team owner and friend of mine had posted on his facebook that said:

"I can't believe Don Walker of Grid 1 Motorsports in Aurora Colorado wrote me a rubber check for $4,000 that has bounced 3 times and won't return numerous FB messages, emails and texts."

FCs don't work terribly well with speedway bars because there isn't a strait shot through the sway bar mounts. the radiator outlet gets in the way...

but if you can get around that, AWR used to sell one, and will probably still make one for you if you ask nicely :)

Don Walker is a crook. I ended up buying the Tri-Point bar kit with 0.188" wall. Very nice quality. I bought the bronze bushings from McMaster and will fab my own bracket/bracing to work with the Widefoot mounts.

I currently run widefoot mounts on my stock bar. Can I run the tripoint bar with poly bushings and the widefoot mounts or do I have to change things to make it work with the mounts?

I use a Racing Beat brace on my stock front and it's done great! I just had the car up the other day and gave it the once-over. After about a dozen track days in 2 years, my front sway and mounts look just fine. 100 or so well spent until I can find a nice front bar.
RB also makes (made) a nice, beefy, adjustable FSB for the FD.

Here's the brace I have and the bar I'm talking about:
http://www.racingbeateurope.com/ekmp...%5D-1430-p.jpg

Yes, you can choose to buy the Tri-Point bar with regular bushing/bracket and bolt up to Widefoot mounts. The bronze bushing kit they sell is optional and only works with stock height mounts.... Which is why I bought the bronze bushings from McMaster so I will fab my own brace to work with the shorter Widefoot mounts.

Haven't been on in a while. Thanks for steering me away from that guy Brent. Tri Point is definitely the way to go. I'm very pleased with mine. Happy New Year!:icon_tup:

Thank you.