Rear Sway Bar Bushings Running Change

[Rey]

There has been some discussion concerning running suspension changes made after early April '09 without much specificity other than "shocks, springs and bushings" (which is just about everything)

I may have discovered a change to the rear sway bar bushings. I wrote earlier about my intent to change oem soft sway bar bushings to Energy Suspension hard poly bushings. In changing out the rear bushings I noted the oem bushings are unlike any that I have ever seen before. They are two part: a hard outer core with a part #B16-18" and a comparatively soft inner core with a part #55513-3N100". What makes this bushing unique is its shape. Assume that the sway bar itself is the "male part" and the bushing is the "female part". Usually the female part is perfectly round to conform to the exact dimension of the sway bar. In this case the female "hole" is not round. It is oblong and situated so that the long part forms the vertical. This allows the bar to move up and down a bit before grabbing. Thus the suspension is a bit more compliant on small bumps along one wheel tract.
I tried to reference these part numbers on oemhyundaipartsdirect.com to no avail, which might mean they are too new to post. There is a lot of engineering in this part. To me it looks like an afterthought typical of a running change that is cheap and easy to implement on an existing assembly line.

With the Energy Suspension hard bushings there rear ride over very small bumps is definitely firmer/harder.

[GripperDon]

Great find REY

Just one More reason to stop procrastinating and crawl under and inspect.. I will order them is different than what I have.