I have seen about 10 Mini's with the red Alta rear sway bar set up like mine. I have one friend who has it turned the other way. Is mine upside down? The picture was taken of the driver rear wheel. Sorry its a camera phone.
What you think, does it make a difference?

 

I would think that if one side was meant to be up then there would be an arrow pointing up clearly marked.

Since there is no arrow and many of the rear bars are symmetric then it doesn't many any difference how you install it as long as it is bolted in tight.

Have fun.

You might check your instruction paper to see if the bar is oriented one way or another.

Here is a picture of the alta bar from outmotoring.com showing the metal plate edge is facing up not down.
Did you get an instruction paper on the install? Maybe ask Alta if it makes a difference. I don't think it does.

 

 

I'm not sure it matters, all the bar is doing is resisting torsional loads and body flex. Think of it like trying to squeeze the suspension together, as long as the bar absorbs the load, it doesn't matter what the orientation is.

 

My friends is the other way.. you might want to change it :/ the picture says the other way heh

 

It's inside-out! lol!

That bar reminds me of some women.

 

Just flip it over....

 

the bar or the car?

Mine is in the other way too with the angle down. I'm not sur it matters though there may be a clearence issue if you hit a really large bump.

 

That might be the only concern..........clearances. Check with Adam at Alta.

 

+1 being the other way, but also not thinking it matters much.

 

Yeah it's upside down compared to mine. I remember when I put mine in I wasn't sure which side was up, I just put it in like the diagram showed. I doubt that it matters though.

 

I have my ALta bar installed 'upside down' accroding to how most have done it. The reason I did this is because the welded-on 'washers' that keep the bar centered and from working it's way to one side are offset, or eccentric. Installed 'properly', the bar's washers have the thickest part facing downwards. This causes the washer to rub against the subframe as the bar moves to one side. When the bar is installed upside down, the thinner part of the washer clears the subframe, leaving the thickest area (and the whole washer) to rest against the swaybar bushing, preventing metal-to-metal contact and resulting noise. Even though the bar might not be qite parallel to the road in normal operation, this does not matter. A line drawn from the end-link hole to the pivoting part of the bar resting in the bushings determines the operational angle of the bar assembly. This does nto change if the bar is installed in either direction.

As long as the bar does not make contact with other components, it does not matter the direction it's installed. The key is to make sure the operational orientation of the bar is perpendicular to the forces put against it by the end links for maximum effectiveness.

 

i found a bigger problem on mine... my 3rd hole fell off!

 

Hey guys! Thanks for asking. The bar can GENERALLY go either way. On the 22mm bars the washers are offset and thus the larger side should go UP to create additional clearance from the subframe. If there is no interference then the bar works exactly the same way, both ways. Hope that helps.

Kenchan: Better go catch it! I hate it when that happens!

Adam