Yes. MackDaddy is correct. He knows his stuff!

Thank's

Patrick

 

O.K. So I talked with Tony at AWR last night. He said the elbow part of the bar towards the end, should point up. On Pollax's car the elbow points down. The 21.5mm points down because of the length. There is no room for it to go over the top like the 19mm bar.
I know I'm the newbie here, and I'm not trying to cause start any s#it, I just want to make sure you all don't have the same problems I had. I'm still waiting for the instuctions. He said he is very busy. When I receive, I will scan it for you.

Thank's,

Patrick

 

Maybe this will help.

http://www.protege5.com/vbb225/showt...&threadid=5764
Sorry. It's from the another board.

Thank's

Patrick

 

i must be real slow, but i still dont get why the factory endlinks
might not work if the car is lowered.... if you have clearance
problems that would mean that each time
someone has 3-4 people in the car the sway bar will run into
clearance problems (not sure what clearance you are talking
about either....hitting lower arms, hitting something else, etc).

now if you're talking about clearance problems while installing,
then that's a matter of jackin up the car 1.3inches to get it
back to stock height before taking off the jack and putting it
back at the Eibach's -1.3 height.

i dont get it... anyone have anything to add? thanx.
(seriously confused...) ive install numerous sway bars on
different cars but this is the first time hearing that lowering
will cause problems...

 

Whats this mean dude? They mount the same?

 

I didn't write this (caps):

IF THE 19 M. M. BAR IS USED WITHOUT ADJUSTABLE END LINKS THEN IT IS MOUNTED
ABOVE THE CONTROL ARMS WITH THE BEND FACING UPWARDS AND THE REAR OF THE BAR
POINTING DOWN. THE END LINKS MOUNTED IN THE REAR POSITION ARE IN THE SOFT
SETTING. YOU MAY FIND WITH THE CAR LOWERED THAT THE END LINKS MAY OR MAY NOT
INTERFERE WITH THE ARMS IN THE FORWARD POSITION WITH THE BAR THIS WAY. IF SO
YOU WILL NEED TO MOUNT THE BAR IN THE OTHER DIRECTION TO RUN THE BAR IN ITS
STIFFEST POSITION. WE HAVE FOUND THAT USING A BAR OTHER THAN STOCK WILL
FRACTURE THE STOCK END LINKS AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE BEEN OFFERING UP
ADJUSTABLE END LINK KITS TO PURCHASERS OF THE 2 WAY REAR BAR.

IF I CAN BE OF ANY MORE ASSISTANCE PLEASE WRITE BACK.

 

With the stock bar you will have no problems whatsoever. You can fit 50 people in your car as long as you have the stock bar because it was designed to be used with the full travel of the suspension.

With the AWR bar, there is much less clearance than the stock bar at least the bars on the older sedans. You see in the picture I posted how the bar is going underneath the lateral links (the round bar that goes from the center of the chasis to the spindle)? If you had the stock end links and the AWR bar, everytime you hit a bump, the lateral link would hit the bar because there wasn't enough room. Like I said before, if the bar is supposed to mounted different from the way I have it then there might not be any need for the adjustable end links.

The Protege is the only car that I have ever seen that has the sway bar positioned underneath the lateral links. This is probably why the Protege is the only car to have this problem.

 

ok to re-iterate, i think FORWARD position that Tony mentions
is the stiff setting and REAR position is the standard softer
setting.

now since i want the softer setting even with the car lowered,
it will not interfer with the control arms (hense my reason why
it would interfer in the first place).

if you have the non-reinforced struts, i would recommend
to use the stock endlinks at the softer (REAR) setting. this way
worst case the endlink will snap but the strut will remain. also,
if you use aftermarket springs, the spring rates are higher so
i think you can get by with factory endlinks as well even on
the tightest turn.

if you use the stiffer setting or 21.5mm bar with aftermarket
endlinks and non-reinforced struts, the strut will probably
break.

 

pollax - thanx for that info.

 

Not a problem.

I guess with the way Tony is talking, it doesn't matter which way the bar is pointing.

Hmmm... now that I think about it, I wonder if og sk8er was using the stock end links or the adjustables. Because if he was using the stock end links and was experiencing the same clearance problems I had, I would imagine that if you hit a big enough bump or had the bar in long enough, the hammering from the lateral link I figure would be enough to snap off the end link mount and the sub frame mount.

 

Sorry for the typo. I meant the 19mm goes over the trailing arm.


Patrick

 

Well, I received the instructions, and there are no pic's.
I was hoping for some photo's.
Here's what I have:

-----INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS-----

Remove stock rear sway bar.
Retain rubber bushings and caps and hardware.
These will be used to install the new bar.
Install aluminum brackets to subframe.
Slip rubber bushings on the new bar. Add a little grease at the contact point for this bushing.
Hang bar from these points. Do not tighten until bar has been centered with the end links.
Swing bar up into level position and install end links.
Tighten mounting caps at this point.
Depending on ride height you set your car at you may find interference between the bar and the trailing arms. If this happens, you will need to replace the end links with the same ones that are used on the front of this car. END.

So, that's it. Sorry about all of this. I thought these had pic's.
I wish someone with this bar lived close enough to me so I could show how the bar should be.

Hope this helps.

Patrick

 

Yes, I was using the stock end links. doh!
But I found out, after our friend kenchan posted and beat me to it, and talking w/Tony, that if the car is lowered, the bar goes under the trailing if the car is not lowered the bar goes over the trailing arm. I had stock springs and end links, so I was instructed to mount it over the trailing arm.
So in a nut shell pollax, your bar is on correctly.
Sorry for the confusion. Please don't hate me.

Thank's

Patrick

 

Don't worry about it. It's better to take time and make sure everything is correct than to have something break.

 

Alright, I've got the new 19mm adjustable sway bar, same as 21.5mm. The problem is, the end link do not screw tight enough to keep them from sliding off the bar. Any suggestions?