Cusco F/R Sway Bar Installation -- Notes and impressions

[tetsulo]

I picked up a set of Cusco sway bars from BLACKonBLACK Limited who is parting out his car. I installed them this afternoon. This is not comprehensive but just a quick set of notes for anyone thinking of popping in sway bars.

 

Rears -- I started with the rears as it seems that most people think of them as more involved than the front. Disconnected both muffler cans and the hanger for the mid pipe, unbolted the sway bars from the suspension and pulled them out. There are nuts on either side of the end links so it was easy get them off. I have on order poly bushings but for now am using the stock (soft) rubber bushings that came with the bar.

 

Installation was easy. Total time maybe took an hour in my driveway with standard hand tools.

 

Fronts -- Pulled off the under cowling and removed the suspension brace all very easily. Started removing the end links using a 5mm allen key and a closed end wrench. I was able to break the bolt loose but everything was SUPER SUPER TIGHT. I had PB Blasted all nuts prior to removal to help loosen things up but they were TIGHT. Finally the allen key hole in the bolt gave up the ghost. Luckily the bolt was close enough to off that I was able to grab the flange on the back with a pair of vice grips and finish getting it off. Bolt #2 same problem, same end result. Bolt #3 - same. Bolt #4 same. Upon close inspection of the nuts it looks like they used the locking type where they slightly pinch the nut to damage the thread on purpose to cause friction (preventing it from backing out). Dropping the brackets to release the sway bar went without any problems.

 

Hmm.. The threads were still so tight that I knew they were not going to go back on. Especially with the allen heads stripped out. Time to bust out the tap and die kit. Thread is 10mmx1.25 I ran each of the end link threads through the die (cleaning up the thread and cutting down the end where they had mushroomed due to the allen head stripping out. And then ran the nuts through with the tap to clean them up. After this everything was easily and freely threading together. Installation went smoothly and I used blue thread lock to be sure that the nuts won't back out.

 

ALL OF THIS WAS DONE IN A FREAK RAINSTORM. It came out of nowhere. Poured on me nonstop. Under the car wasn't so bad but one drip kept filling up my right ear with water. Thank God it was warm out! I could hear my neighbor laughing his ass off at me.

 

Clearance between the front sway bar and the tie rods seems VERY tight. Granted the car was on jack stands with the suspension at full droop (wheels were off). It's hard to see in there when the car is back on the ground but from what I could tell it was still very close. I wanted to take pictures of this and ask in the forums but it was raining too darn hard. Maybe later when it dries up.

 

Performance is noticeably improved. The car is much flatter through the corners (duh). It was still raining out but it seems like the rear may be a little looser in hard cornering situations. Body roll is practically gone which is a huge plus in my book. I'm not really an aggressive driver, but I drive a fair amount and like to enjoy the experience. I'll be curious as to how they perform in the winter months. NVH is greater but I think that is to be expected. I'm thinking now that the car could use some firmer damping. I'll be curious to see how long the end links hold out. They look so weak and flimsy vs the sway bars.

 

I'll keep an eye out on the the rear brackets for bending. The previous owner had used the rear sway for about 15k miles without any braces and had no reported issues.

 

Anyways, I'm warm, I'm dry, and I wanted to share my sway bar experience. Now if Romraider would just get updated for my ECU! I've been staring at my up and down pipe for far too long now.

 

Matt