Ok, i did the search and got lots of crap- no real answers....
im looking to get the awr 19 rear sway bar...people have said it will break the tabs on the strut, it wont break them, i need adj endlinks, i dont, but i do if its lowered, but then i dont- everyone says two different things to every situation. can someone just tell me what i need??? I have a 2002 lx sedan, with stock struts and eibach lowing springs... What do i need to make things not break??

 

AKAIK nobody on this list has broken the stock endlink mounting tabs on the struts with the 19mm AWR bar. I can't comment on the endlink situation personally, but some recent threads had some good info IMHO.

However, I will say this... with an aftermarket rear bar, I would STRONGLY consider upgrading the struts anyways. Your struts are probably already hammered from the Eibach springs. Do your car a favor and buy the MSP struts.

 

From what Ive read:

The bar breaks the tabon the struts if you install it backwards.

You need the endlinks if your car is lowered. The reason being, you want them shorter so they don't bang up against another piece. I don't know the name, but its pictured in alll the other thread.

I will be getting this bar also, with the adjustable endlinks and I have H&R springs and the same car as you.

 

This is a summary of what I have gathered from the other thread:

1) The 19mm bar can be mounted in 2 ways: with the bend facing up and over the lateral link or the bend facing down and under the lateral link.

2) The adjustable end links may not be necessary even if your car is lowered if you mount the sway bar with the bend facing up and over the lateral link.

3) If you are using the stock end links, it is best to use the bar with the bend facing up and over the lateral links. Make sure that you do not have any clearance problems with the bar and lateral link! If the lateral link hits the bar while driving, you can break off the mounting tab on the strut and/or the subframe. You need to check the clearance while the car is under full compression and also at zero compression. That means you will have to jack the car up on both sides to check the bar at zero compression.

4) According to AWR the stock end links are weak and may break while using the 19mm sway bar.

 

one more thing to add:

if you mount the bar right side up where the bar ends
are pointing down and
if your car is lowered and use the stiffer setting, then
the bar may or may not hit the control arms. if you use
the softer (standard 19mm) setting, then you should not
hit the bar at all.

if you do want to use the stiffer setting and your car
is lowered, then mount the bar upsidedown so that
the bar ends are now pointing up. then you will be
able to use the stiffer setting, but AWR warns that
it could facture the stock endlinks. therefore they
recommend using their adjustable endlinks... but then,
there's another problem...the strut endlink mount will
probably break next.

THEREFORE, as a summary:
i would suggest to use the softer (standard) 19mm setting
if you plan to use stock endlinks and stock shocks which
do not have the reinforced endlink mount as the MP3
tokico struts.

 

man, my swaybar was ordered last monday and its still not here...parts that i ordered after this to Japan arrived 2 days ago. wtf is protege5online thinking? this sucks completely. if i dont get it by tomorrow im going to get my money back and order the sway bar from japan.

 

I am starting to steer clear of prtege5online myself. They aren't the only place around and I don't like some of th ways they do business. Sorry to get off topic

 

yeh, mitch could get kinda sloppy...but good news, the bar
arrived...but to my surprise, the 19mm bar looks like the 21.5mm
bar. it came with adjustable endlinks as mitch mentioned. my
19mm bar has bar sliders like the 21.5mm bar so its infinitly
adjustable i mounted the bar as the 21.5mm bar picture (under
the lower control arms). it comes with pretty good text instructions.

it took me a while to install it, but all went well...except, i need to
ask AWR about the slider bar mount and the endlink. when i
try to mount the endlink so that it is connected in the center of
the slider halves, the endlink ball joint centering washers are
too thick that the bar would not tighten down... i used only
one of the sides of the slider half hole to mount the endlink. ill
try to scan what im talking about tonight or tomorrow and upload
a link.

anyway, i have it on the softest setting and it works great. the
anti-roll exponentially increases so on expressway ramps the
car corners pretty fat. on sharper turns, the initial roll is less
than factory but still there. i dont plan to use any stiffer for now
as my tires arent that great and dont wanna be spinning out
in the rain. hahaha. 60mph+ lane changes were much more
controlled.

 

To those of you who have installed the Rear sway bar,

Have you noticed any difference in the amount of wheel spin or wheel hop? I'm curious as to whether or not the swaybar helps to eliminate wheel spin and wheel hop accelerating out of tight turns (like in Autocross).

Thanks,

 

here's wat im talking about

http://hometown.aol.com/teined/page2.html




im not sure if tony sent me the wrong sized cone shaped
centering washers or not... shall find out next Monday. i dont
think the slider half will break from the softest setting.



edit: this link is no longer active.

 

Dude, you definately got the 21.5mm bar! I just installed mine (AWR 19mm) and it has mounting points built in:







Actually, if you paid for a 19 and got a 21.5, you got a good deal. Hope you get things squared out with Mitch.

Jim

PS - The polly bushings squeek like a bitch! I used SilGlide, but that's not going to cut it. Off to NAPA first thing this morning for some lithium grease. Hope that helps.... if not they've got to go.

 

really?! but the instructions inside says 19mm and 21.5mm bar.
i measured the bar diameter and it looks like its a 19mm... ??!!

well, the softest setting is only a tad firmer than stock, so
i guess its cool...i didnt want to make it super stiff.

maybe i should rotate the slider downward if one of the
halves break. hahhahaha.


oh yah, definitely use lithum grease on the bushings. no
squeaks on mine or my other car that i changed the swaybar on.
lasts a long time too.

 

I'm very familiar with the use of lithium grease on previous sway bar upgrades... I just didn't have any in the garage yesterday. No worries, it's all taken care of now!

Does your bar look lke mine? From all the pictures I've seen, the 21.5mm bar does not have the 4 mouting "tabs".

Either way, it makes for a nice upgrade, don't ya think!

Take care,
Jim

 

yah, lithum grease is probably the best for bushings.

naw, my bar doesnt have those 4 tabs.... but mitch mentioned
that mine does come with adjustable endlinks, so i thought
AWR came out with a 19mm fully adjustable sway bar and this
was it. the instructions clearly state its for both 19mm and 21.5mm bars.... and it does not say that for 19mm go over the
lower trailing arms or anything like that.

i was a bit confused but installed it anyways. now as long
as i can figure out that slider & endlink mounting thingie i think
im all set for not. i just hope that if this IS the 21.5mm, the
strut braket mount for the endlink does not break off. hahaha.

 

That would be my greatest concern....

But hey, new struts and your in like flynn.

Enjoy,
Jim