After doing countless hours of research on the Suspension Techniques rear sway bar for the FWD, I came up with nothing. I called several reputable vendors and nobody could give me any information regarding the installation or performance of the bar. So I purchased it from Road///Race Engineering and figured I'd take a chance. Install was very simple with no fabrication required. The kit provided by ST was fantastic. Even coming with the lube for the bushings. The bar fit up with no issues and dimensionally was spot-on. All the hardware needed was provided and all worked very well.
Tools:
3/8 Drill Bit and Drill
9/16 wrench and socket
Procedure:
1: Jack the back end of the car up and remove the rear wheels. Make sure it's supported properly. I'd chock the front wheels and leave it in gear for good measure.
2: The following pictures show what's included in the kit:
3: After the car is jacked up find the center of the axle. I measured 26.5" from the right side. Mark a line in the center of the axle.
Measure 16.5" to either side of this line, and place a mark there. This is where the U-bolts for the bushings will go.
4: Install the poly bushings with a fair amount of the provided grease. The stuff is like pine sap so try not to make a mess of it. Attach the bar to the underside of the axle with the "legs" facing forward. Snug up on the U-bolts enough to keep everything together. Don't tighten everything up until you have the whole thing is together. Line the edges of the bar ends (where the holes are) up with the control arms so everything is symmetrical.
5: Enlarge the hole above the sway bar ends to 3/8". It's very close to that size so it shouldn't take more then a few seconds to do.
6: Assemble the rod ends as in the picture at the top of this article. I adjusted the length so that the sway bar ran parallel to the underside of the trailing arms. I set the length of the rod end on one side, then assembled the other side to match. Make sure you use the provided bearing spacers and washers on each side of the bearings. Again look at the picture above. Use the long bolts for the end that goes through the bar, and the short bolts for the end that goes through the trailing arm. Attach the rod ends at both sides. I had no trouble getting the holes to line up.
Torque the nuts to 16-ft/lb, and then do the same to the U-bolt nuts. Do not over tighten the U-bolts as this may lead to binding of the sway bar.
7: If you think everything looks OK, put the wheels back on and gently drop the car down. Check to make sure it's not going to interfere with anything like e brake cables and the like. It should look something like this:
You will notice a huge difference in the capabilities of your car especially if you have other suspension components upgraded. I run poly bushings, H&R springs, and AGX shocks. This sway bar is a huge improvement so far, and it doesn't affect the ride quality like stiffer rear springs would. I will update this article with my impressions after the next auto-x event in about 2 weeks time. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
-Tom Kendall
