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is this possible to install yourself or do you need a lift?
i see two bolts but i don't know the consequences of taking them out to put the bar on.
has anyone install their rear lower strut themselves???

 
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There have been a few people. Do a search. From what I have gathered, you need to LOOSEN the bolts a little, but not take them out. If you do you will be screwed. The wedge the bar in there and tighten. Good luck.

 
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hmmm
sounds risky. i need to investigate that.
i did do a search but didn't get much info.
guess i have to try a different title

 
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you have to take them out.

step 1: raise car w/ jack.

step 2: remove bolt

step 3: place bolt through tie bar

step 4: replace bolt[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

the only halfway tricky part is realigning the hole with the bolt. just use your foot to prop it into positiion while you replace the bolt. takes like 15 minutes.

 
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what do you mean use my foot?
what are my hands doing that i have to use my foot?
and am i lying on my back, under the car, on the jacks,with my foot on the car...

 
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The thing is that the control arms will slip out from their stock location once you take the bolts out. Then you'll have a hell of a time trying to intall the tie bar. I would use vise grips to tighten the whole assembly down and then take out the bolts. This might put enough friction on it to prevent it from coming loose. Then again, the ideal solution is to screw in a bolt with the same thread size from the other side as you take out the bolt. Then everything will be held in place and you can install the tie bar with ease.

When I installed mine I didn't realize this and I spend a long long time getting the holes to align.

 
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that is another good idea grey
thanx
for all the trouble i might go thru tryin to install this how much would a shop, on the average, charge me?
anyone know?

 
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It took me about 6 hours to install because of the difficulty with the alignment of the control arms. If I had known that they would want to slip out of alignment, then it would have taken me an hour or two at most. I say DIY! The shop will charge you a ridiculous amount of money and they might have the same problem as you might have.

 
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6 hours? are we talking about the same tie bar? what i mean by using your foot is that while you are lying on your back, under the car, use your foot/leg to kind og prop up the arm so that the holes are aligned and then just put the bolt through and screw. seroiusly, its nto that hard. 1/2 hour tops.

 
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You did have the whole car on jack stands, right? I couldn't move those control arms by hand. The problem was that I couldn't just move them up. They slipped away to the bottom and out to the sides. My final solution was to use a tool with a long rubber grip to act as a lever. I can't remember if I propped up each control arm or what? Anyway, I finally got the damb things back into position. It did take me that long. Well... Maybe 4 hours. I can't remember now.

 
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sounds like im going to have to get up early next week and think this out.
it probably isn't that hard thou like you said.
thanx

anymore suggestions?

 
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I did this mod myself on my 1999 Civic and I didn't have any problems with the control arms slipping out after the bolts were removed. Obviously the whole suspension setup has been changed in the models since then, but still... I doubt it would be -that- difficult.

If I remember right, what I did was this: Jack up the car and put it on jack stands. Get a 2x4 that's long enough to span the distance between both control arms. Put this piece of wood on the jack and lift the wood so it's putting mild pressure on the arms. That should hold them in place when you pull the bolts out. Do one bolt at a time too. Make sure to use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts back down to factory specs.

As a side note: for God's sake, any time you're under the car for a mod like this put it on jack stands. All you need is for your jack to have hydrolic failure or the car to slip off while you're under it.

I have DIY pics of this mod, although there's not a whole lot to look at. If you want 'em maybe I can get around to scanning them. =P

My Ride. R.I.P.