RSX-S Front and Rear Sways...Installed...

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

Today I received my sway bars in the mail and immediatly got to installing them after work. It was late when I got done so haven't had a chance to go for a ride. I grabbed my service manual and started with the rear, it wasn't too bad, the nuts on the endlinks were kinda hard but other than that it was pretty straight forward. The front on the other hand was a completely different story. Every thing seemed good at first, I unbolted the stock bar from the endlinks(not much range of wrench movement, but pretty easy), unbolted the bar from the bottom of the car(so far so good right). Wrong! Heheh...the bar bends all sorts a ways and goes OVER the exhuast. I pushed, tugged, twisted, etc. Nothing! I ended up having to unbolt the exhaust from the header and drop it out of the first hanger to get the bar out. The service manual doesn't say anything about having to do this, it just says, "remove stabilizer bar". After that it was pretty easy getting the new bar in. Overall it was an experience, and I had fun doing it. My hands were all black from all the grease and road grim...heheh. An extra set of hands probably would have helped out some.

I'll drive it to work tomorrow and see how it feels. I have an auto-x this Sunday, so I will really get to test out my new setup. I'll give some quick impressions tomorrow.

P.S. I ordered the Mugen Sport Suspension Kit from Kingmotorsports.com yesterday, pretty good price of $1028 shipped. Yall know what this means, next week(hopefully) I get to play under the car some more. OoOoOooooo....I'm so excited...heheh

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

OK, I drove to work this morn, but it was raining, so I didn't get a chance to play around on any of the back roads. Also, don't think I would have played around anyway because it seems as though I may have installed the rear bar wrong. I've heard of some people installing rear sways upside down and getting a bouncy ride. Well, I think I'm one of those people...so I'm going to go home tonight and turn it over cuz I don't think its supposed to be this bouncy.

Also, as it sits right now it is bumping against my exhaust, maybe turning it over will eliminate some of that.

[Gasp23]

Don't forget to keep us posted!

[HondaMan]

Coolness...I need a CTR or Progress rear sawy bar (for AutoX)! BTW, my Tein Basics is very nice (nice ride as well), just have some crunchy noises in the rear when going slow...I hope that stops after it settles more.

[oogy-boogy]

Thanks for the info E4, def keep us posted as I'm interested in trying this as well....

[fyzm7357]

If it is bumping your exhaust it is on backwards...I almost had the same problem, but I caught it before I test drove my car....it is very easy to confuse which way it is suppose to go. Overall the RSX-S rear sway handles very nicely and should have been stock on our car from the beginning...

[arctic-k20]

:cool:

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

Originally posted by arctic-k20
:cool:

This is the man who sold me the bars, awesome, thanks again.





OK, I came home today and put my car in the shop to swap the bar around. It wasn't hitting the exhaust, it was hitting the control arms, that would explain the bouncy ride right...heheh I took some pics.

Here is the left side on the wrong way: Edit: the caption reads "this is where the bar was hitting"

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

This is after I removed and reinstalled the bar correctly, notice how it now bends to go over the control arm instead of bending to hit it.

[1abSi]

what is all the red spray paint from????

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

Originally posted by 1abSi
what is all the red spray paint from????

I painted my calipers awhile back, thats just some over spray.

[raiyo]

Originally posted by Hatch, Si Hatch
This is the man who sold me the bars, awesome, thanks again.





OK, I came home today and put my car in the shop to swap the bar around. It wasn't hitting the exhaust, it was hitting the control arms, that would explain the bouncy ride right...heheh I took some pics.

Here is the left side on the wrong way: Edit: the caption reads "this is where the bar was hitting"


heheh, i had the same problem. i was like damn.... my car is stiff as crazy with this CTR bar. no wonder everyone says it makes a HUGE difference. after driving home from my friend's shop I had a headache due to the bouncy ride. got home and found it the thing was installed wrong.

[TezGari]

Sorry for the dumb questions..I am considering to purchase these...What is better the CTR sways or the RSX S? ARe they the same? What is the cost diffrences? Difficulty level 1-10? How is the performance from this mod? Give me examples..Thanks guys!:D

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

Originally posted by trinispeed
Sorry for the dumb questions..I am considering to purchase these...What is better the CTR sways or the RSX S? ARe they the same? What is the cost diffrences? Difficulty level 1-10? How is the performance from this mod? Give me examples..Thanks guys!:D

I want to say that the CTR and RSX-S bars are the same, but don't hold me to my word cuz I'm not sure. The cost difference is a pretty good bit...I got both the front and rear sways for about $120 shipped, I've seen just the rear CTR bar for $155 somewhere(poleposition.com maybe).

I would have to rate the difficuty a 7-8. As you saw in my original post the rear wasn't too bad. You will need a 14mm wrench, a 12mm, wrench and a hex wrech(not sure of what size). Jack up the rear of the car with a floor jack(I used the tow hook in the back) and support it with jack stands at the factory suggested points in front of the rear wheels). When unbolting the bar from the endlinks you will have to hold the bolt with the hex wrench while removing the nut with the 14mm(the hex wrench fits inside the end of the bolt). This was kinda hard, due to all the road grim and ish on the threads, I had to spray it down with liquid wrench and it was still pretty tough. The 12mm wrench is used to remove the bolts for the bushings. After that is done you just take the old bar off and re-install the new one in reverse order starting with the bushings.

The front is the same except you won't need that 12mm...everything is 14mm. Jack up the car and support it with jack stands, unbolt the bar the same as the rear. The part that makes the front more difficult is how the bar goes over the exhaust. I had to unbolt the exhaust from the header and drop it out of the first rubber hanger in front of the cat to get enough clearence to pull the bar through. Then you re-install the new bar and then put the exhaust back and you are done.

I removed the front wheels to get better access to the bolts on the endlinks, this may work the same for the rear but I was able to do it with out removing the wheel.

As far as driving immpressions, I drove to work this morn and hit one pretty good "S" turn amd one 90 degree turn, so the only thing I can really say at this point is that the steering response is definitly improved, and the rear seems like it follows the front alot better. I'll tell more after the auto-x this Sunday.

[HondaMan]

FYI: The CTR rear anti-sway bar is supposed to be 22mm and can be had at poleposition.com for $90 USD. I'm going this way or the Progress way sooner or later.

[raiyo]

Originally posted by Hatch, Si Hatch
I want to say that the CTR and RSX-S bars are the same, but don't hold me to my word cuz I'm not sure.

They are different. CTR is 22mm and RSX-S is 19mm, size that is. I got a CTR sway on my ride, big difference between stock. I would recommend the CTR over the RSX-S bar. The reason is because the price of the CTR is just a tad more than the RSX-S bar from the dealer.

[arctic-k20]

yes the ctr is bigger - but it all depends on what you are trying to achieve with the car.

bigger bigger bigger doesnt always mean better. there is a balance to be had !!

george knighton (sp?) uses the rsx-s setup and from his comments he likes it quite nicely !

[TezGari]

I did alotta research and some people are saying that the CTR sways are excellent, but u have to replace some stuff...Others say the RSX S sway is perfect, just bolt right up..With the CTR some had to replace for better bushings..Correct me..:D

[Hatch, Si Hatch]

OK, yesterday was the auto-x so I was able to really test out this new setup. On my very first run, I found out very quick that the tail end will slid out. The course started with and immediate right "L" turn, which had a bit of a straight and then in to a slalom. I was able to basically continue straight past the first cone(non-pointer) and then begin to brake for the second one. I turned just as I normally would. Bad mistake, I wasn't ready for the oversteer since I'm so used to understeering. I made it through the slalom, but I was sideways more often than not. The corner one workers were diving for cover when they saw me pull my little stunt. I had to come to an almost complete stop to stay on course for the next turn, and to regain my composure, I think I utter a few obsenities. I took it a bit more easy through my next 2 runs, some guy asked me later, "you just couldn't decided which 3 wheels you wanted to ride on could you?" Heheh.

I was able to get the rear end to slide out on a few more occasions that actually helped me around a few turns, I still haven't quite figured out how to get it do it when I want to, but the under steer is definitly gone. The course was a fast one, not a lot of complicated turns(it was designed by one of the FMOD guys, the mini Indy car looking rides), lots of semi-straights and long sweeping turns. I got a best time of 36.6 and the course designer got time of day with a 28.5 or something like that.

Overall I think these mods are great, especially for auto-x, but I think that it might be alittle bit over powering for the stock springs/shocks.
Enter THE MUGENS.