my TRD sway bars installation + experience (many pics)
07-08-07, 11:07 PM
#1
my TRD sway bars installation + experience (many pics)
Sup guys.
Friday night / saturday morning at 2am, my bro and I decided to put on my new TRD sway bars ourselves instead of paying $150 at a shop. My bro is somewhat mechanically-able, as someone who can do basic mechanics on his car, like installing exhaust manifolds and suspension pieces on his WRX.
Summary: Took us almost 2 hours, we finished around 3:45am. No break in between.
tools: 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm wrench and sockets. That's really all you need as far as hand tools. 2 low-profile jacks and 4 jack stands. We also used flashlights and work lights.
The most time-consuming part of the whole installation was jacking up / putting down the car, and finding jack points / setting jack stands. If we put this thing on a lift, it probably would've saved us over an hour.
So here we go: here are the pics I took during installation:
starting with the front:
1) Removing the under panel.
2) After removing the under panel, you can see the whole sway bar.
3) Driver side. The bushing bracket is enclosed in the side-pieces of the under panel.
4) On the left, you can see the passenger side bushing, and the piece around it.
5) Driver side sway bar attached to the end link.
6) close-up of driver side bushing
7) passenger side bushing, side-piece of the under panel, and my bro.
continuing....
Friday night / saturday morning at 2am, my bro and I decided to put on my new TRD sway bars ourselves instead of paying $150 at a shop. My bro is somewhat mechanically-able, as someone who can do basic mechanics on his car, like installing exhaust manifolds and suspension pieces on his WRX.
Summary: Took us almost 2 hours, we finished around 3:45am. No break in between.
tools: 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm wrench and sockets. That's really all you need as far as hand tools. 2 low-profile jacks and 4 jack stands. We also used flashlights and work lights.
The most time-consuming part of the whole installation was jacking up / putting down the car, and finding jack points / setting jack stands. If we put this thing on a lift, it probably would've saved us over an hour.
So here we go: here are the pics I took during installation:
starting with the front:
1) Removing the under panel.
2) After removing the under panel, you can see the whole sway bar.
3) Driver side. The bushing bracket is enclosed in the side-pieces of the under panel.
4) On the left, you can see the passenger side bushing, and the piece around it.
5) Driver side sway bar attached to the end link.
6) close-up of driver side bushing
7) passenger side bushing, side-piece of the under panel, and my bro.
continuing....
07-08-07, 11:10 PM
#2
8) Scraped-out GReddy lip, my bro's WRX in the back.
9) Under panel removed.
10) The 2 smaller side pieces of the under panel.
11) Sway Bars out of the box!
12) Front sway bar.
13) Stock front sway bar vs TRD front sway bar
14) Close up of the bushings. The TRD bar is thicker and ALOT heavier.
9) Under panel removed.
10) The 2 smaller side pieces of the under panel.
11) Sway Bars out of the box!
12) Front sway bar.
13) Stock front sway bar vs TRD front sway bar
14) Close up of the bushings. The TRD bar is thicker and ALOT heavier.
07-08-07, 11:16 PM
#3
15) Close up of driver side bushing installed.
16) the hook up with the end link.
17) bar installed.
18) Another pic. Oil pan in the middle.
19) Tightening the bolt on the end link.
20) Another view.
21) Notice that when installed correctly, the bar is nowhere near the speed sensor cable.
Thanks a lot to people who gave me info on installing the bar the correct way!
continuing....
16) the hook up with the end link.
17) bar installed.
18) Another pic. Oil pan in the middle.
19) Tightening the bolt on the end link.
20) Another view.
21) Notice that when installed correctly, the bar is nowhere near the speed sensor cable.
Thanks a lot to people who gave me info on installing the bar the correct way!
continuing....
07-08-07, 11:21 PM
#5
22) Re-attaching the side pieces of the under panel.
23) 15 screws for the big under panel piece. Be careful, 2 of them are longer than others.
24) Seeing the sway bar from the engine bay.
The rear strut bar was much easier to do. Once the car was jacked up, everything was accessible. However, the problem was that the bushing bracket's bolts were blocked by my exhaust piping, so it was VERY hard to reach.
25) Rear end link
26) Rear bar. See how close the bracket was to my muffler piping....
27) Another shot, installed.
28) Yet another shot. Finally tightened the bolt behind the muffler pipe.
continuing....
23) 15 screws for the big under panel piece. Be careful, 2 of them are longer than others.
24) Seeing the sway bar from the engine bay.
The rear strut bar was much easier to do. Once the car was jacked up, everything was accessible. However, the problem was that the bushing bracket's bolts were blocked by my exhaust piping, so it was VERY hard to reach.
25) Rear end link
26) Rear bar. See how close the bracket was to my muffler piping....
27) Another shot, installed.
28) Yet another shot. Finally tightened the bolt behind the muffler pipe.
continuing....
07-09-07, 12:07 AM
#6
driving test:
The sway bars are simply amazing. I can not believe how much of a difference this made. There is now lots of confidence in every corner and turn that I take. Those 270 degree freeway connectors, I can drive at least 10~15 mph faster than before, with plenty of stability. Tighter turns such as residential areas yield almost no body roll. Before, every faster turn felt like the car was going to tip over. Now the car is planted flat to the road. Pancake flat. Keira Knightly flat. You get my point.
harshness:
A lot of people pointed out that the TRD blue "race" sway bars are harsh. I find the ride firm, but not overly rough. I can certainly live with it. You can feel every small bump or road unevenness, but I actually wanted it that way.
When people install sways/coilovers and all the suspension parts at the same time, it will be a dramatic difference compared to stock, so people would find it too harsh. I have L-Tuned springs and KYB GR-2 shocks installed, as well as 18" wheels on 245/40/18 front, 275/35/18 rear tires. So I had a gradual shift from stock ride to something firmer. The transition to sway bars was easy for me to handle.
Losing some cushy-ness to flat handling I would trade anytime.
alignment:
10 hours after installing the sways, I went to an alignment shop to do alignment. I noticed that my front tires are turning into racing slicks on the inside. The guy was very professional. He asked if I wanted to use factory settings to conserve tire, or go with more aggressive settings for track application.
If you are in SoCal, I have the recommendation post for this shop in the SoCal forum.
Conclusion:
Get the sway bars if you haven't. I mean, they should've made them a part of some SPORTS PACKAGE for the GS to begin with. If I wanted some supey-comfy ride I would've gotten the ES. But the GS is a sport sedan, they should've considered this.
The harshness is NOT THAT BAD people. It's firm but not rough. It's stable but not harsh.
What I would like to know now is, how my car handles compare to a BMW 5 series with sports package. With sport-tuned springs/shocks and sways, it shouldn't be too far off. Stock BMWs don't have coilovers either.
How can I test handling capabilities of a car without really taking comparing models to the track? That's what I want to know.
end of review
The sway bars are simply amazing. I can not believe how much of a difference this made. There is now lots of confidence in every corner and turn that I take. Those 270 degree freeway connectors, I can drive at least 10~15 mph faster than before, with plenty of stability. Tighter turns such as residential areas yield almost no body roll. Before, every faster turn felt like the car was going to tip over. Now the car is planted flat to the road. Pancake flat. Keira Knightly flat. You get my point.
harshness:
A lot of people pointed out that the TRD blue "race" sway bars are harsh. I find the ride firm, but not overly rough. I can certainly live with it. You can feel every small bump or road unevenness, but I actually wanted it that way.
When people install sways/coilovers and all the suspension parts at the same time, it will be a dramatic difference compared to stock, so people would find it too harsh. I have L-Tuned springs and KYB GR-2 shocks installed, as well as 18" wheels on 245/40/18 front, 275/35/18 rear tires. So I had a gradual shift from stock ride to something firmer. The transition to sway bars was easy for me to handle.
Losing some cushy-ness to flat handling I would trade anytime.
alignment:
10 hours after installing the sways, I went to an alignment shop to do alignment. I noticed that my front tires are turning into racing slicks on the inside. The guy was very professional. He asked if I wanted to use factory settings to conserve tire, or go with more aggressive settings for track application.
If you are in SoCal, I have the recommendation post for this shop in the SoCal forum.
Conclusion:
Get the sway bars if you haven't. I mean, they should've made them a part of some SPORTS PACKAGE for the GS to begin with. If I wanted some supey-comfy ride I would've gotten the ES. But the GS is a sport sedan, they should've considered this.
The harshness is NOT THAT BAD people. It's firm but not rough. It's stable but not harsh.
What I would like to know now is, how my car handles compare to a BMW 5 series with sports package. With sport-tuned springs/shocks and sways, it shouldn't be too far off. Stock BMWs don't have coilovers either.
How can I test handling capabilities of a car without really taking comparing models to the track? That's what I want to know.
end of review
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07-09-07, 05:51 AM
#8
Great write up.. Very nice install and you saved yourself 150.00..
The install looks very doable but my concern would be jacking the car up.. I only have a 3 TON jack with 2 stands and of course the stock jack.. DO have any other pics of the jacking points? This will be saved under favorites.. THanks GlobeCLK
Very nice install and you saved yourself 150.00.. The install looks very doable but my concern would be jacking the car up.. I only have a 3 TON jack with 2 stands and of course the stock jack.. DO have any other pics of the jacking points? This will be saved under favorites.. THanks GlobeCLK
07-09-07, 02:07 PM
#9
Great write up.. Very nice install and you saved yourself 150.00..
The install looks very doable but my concern would be jacking the car up.. I only have a 3 TON jack with 2 stands and of course the stock jack.. DO have any other pics of the jacking points? This will be saved under favorites.. THanks GlobeCLK
Very nice install and you saved yourself 150.00.. The install looks very doable but my concern would be jacking the car up.. I only have a 3 TON jack with 2 stands and of course the stock jack.. DO have any other pics of the jacking points? This will be saved under favorites.. THanks GlobeCLK
I have a 3-ton jack and a 2-ton jack. I have to use the small 2-ton jack to raise the car alittle bit, and then use the 3-ton jack to raise it completely. The problem was my body kit, particularly the side skirts. It wraps around the bottom of the sides, so the 3-ton jack with the big jack surface was hard to reach.
I did not use all 4 jacks to jack the car up at the same time. I did the fronts first, placing 1 jack per side, and the other jack next to it as a fail-proof jack.
The jack points are very easy to find if you don't have side skirts. The whole frame on the side of the sideskirts could be used.
07-09-07, 02:17 PM
#10
I spent the installation money on alignment lol.
I have a 3-ton jack and a 2-ton jack. I have to use the small 2-ton jack to raise the car alittle bit, and then use the 3-ton jack to raise it completely. The problem was my body kit, particularly the side skirts. It wraps around the bottom of the sides, so the 3-ton jack with the big jack surface was hard to reach.
I did not use all 4 jacks to jack the car up at the same time. I did the fronts first, placing 1 jack per side, and the other jack next to it as a fail-proof jack.
The jack points are very easy to find if you don't have side skirts. The whole frame on the side of the sideskirts could be used.
I have a 3-ton jack and a 2-ton jack. I have to use the small 2-ton jack to raise the car alittle bit, and then use the 3-ton jack to raise it completely. The problem was my body kit, particularly the side skirts. It wraps around the bottom of the sides, so the 3-ton jack with the big jack surface was hard to reach.
I did not use all 4 jacks to jack the car up at the same time. I did the fronts first, placing 1 jack per side, and the other jack next to it as a fail-proof jack.
The jack points are very easy to find if you don't have side skirts. The whole frame on the side of the sideskirts could be used.
than i can use the stands on either side... 
Thanks Tony
