hotrod_714

so i'm planning on adding a front and rear upper strut tower bar, an H brace on the front, rear tie bar, front and rear camber kit, rear lower control arms to my car for auto cross this summer and i just had a few questions that i haven't really been able to find out to exact info or opinions on. i have a 97 ex and i was wondering how much of an improvement does the front strut tower bar really make, also the H brace. i know one of the biggest improvements is to add a thicker sway bar on the front but pretty much individually on these parts besides the coilovers because that is obvious do they all really make. along with in conjunction with each other. do some not make that big of an improvement by themselves? or not until added with another i.e. front strut tower but isn't all that much but with the h brace/ or rear tower bar it is. i guess really, how important is each one and which ones make the most improvement on over steer, which this car does lack quite a bit.

MindBomber

The sway bars will make a huge difference, get the largest ones that your comfortable with, also get a subframe brace to prevent the sway bar from ripping the stock one out. The rest will only give a few hundreths of a second in gains and will only make your steering feel tighter and look shiny, you'd be better off buying a good set of tires.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

97 strut bar - not lkely - double wishbone
front sway - wrong way, you need rear in a FWD

hotrod_714

does anybody know the diameter of the stock front sway bar?

MindBomber

^There's a sway bar size faq in 7th gen suspension, it covers most Honda models I just haven't cross posted it to other generations.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

and for the records, some do even remove the front sway bar while using a beefier rear to make the car rotate better in corners

hotrod_714

dang that progress technologies has some nice stuff. I've never heard of them before. It's got me wondering if i want to buy their 350/500 coilover set or skunk2's ProSII set. any opinions?

hotrod_714

i also see that with their rear sway bars that they have that mounting bracket for the subframe. with their sway bars is there no need to get a subframe tie bar?

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

i would suppose not, but call them to ask and post the results here
the progress coilovers are well regarded by member lowlife, so i suppose they are good. not much reviews on the skunk2.

please keep the coilover discussion to other threads, this relates to sway bar (not bashing, just trying to keep it in track )

hotrod_714

i definitely think that i'm still gonna go skunk2 for coilovers because they have the double adjustment and don't use the stock hats.

hotrod_714

gotcha about the topic sorry mang

hotrod_714

for mounting the swaybar to the lca's do all aftermarket lca's allow for swaybar mounting or do you have to get ones that specifically allow for it. for instance the lca's that skunk2 offer have three holes next to each other for sway bar alignment, most of the other lca's that you see only have that one hole next to where the shock mounts. will the endlinks go through that one hole?

hotrod_714

They say if you go bigger than 19 inches on the rear sway bar that you need to get the sub frame brace so you don't rip out the stocks ones. Is there a size issue with putting a larger sway bar on and needing to up upgrade the stock struts too?

hotrod_714

so an 01 gsr rear sway will fit into a 97 ex right? are the endlinks compatible too or do you need different ones?

hotrod_714

ok... not trying to bash huh? Well where the hell do I ask my legitimate questions that I can't find answers anywhere else then? Isn't that the whole purpose of these forums in the first place?

oh ok i understand. well to tell you the truth this is the first forum that i have ever joined. i honestly didn't really even have an idea exactly how these things worked up until recently. and i see what you mean by the edit button now. well shoot man thanks for the heads up cause i definitely didn't mean to **** anyone off and don't want to get banned or anything.

MindBomber

^You misunderstood Hotrod, he wasn't bashing you at all and he's actually given you a lot of helpful advice.

He was just letting you know that vertical posting, that's when you have more than 1 post in a row on a forum thread, is frowned apon and actually a bannable offense on many forums. If you have the last post in a thread, instead of creating a new reply just edit your last post. It just makes things easier for everyone

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

?
Create a new thread, inform that you had read this thread here but could not find the info in here.

If the info is pertinent to the thread, it will be added later on here.

That way you get your answer, and the forum can keep a lean and clean thread to consult upon later on, with not too many pages with questions after questions.

Have you ever seem some forums with threads ranging 100 or more pages? You end up not reading them all, and some of the important info is in the middle, around page 50...
So the thread is rendered useless and not a help to the community anymore, so yes, my answer is to help make the forum better

So, no, I was not bashing you at all, rather informing you

hotrod_714

now for the sway bar mounting brackets, those are the ones that have 4 holes in them. two that bolt to the sub frame and the other two are what the actual d-bracket that go around the bushing bolt up too right? does anyone know where to get those other than the dealer? i haven't been able to find those anywhere. their about $17 a piece from the dealer.

MindBomber

Scrap yard?

hotrod_714

ya if any of them had any si's in their yard that would be a good option. ha

MindBomber

I think you'll probably need to go through the dealership then, I looked around but all I could find were replacement bushings.

hotrod_714

so i have gotten everything to mount the gsr 14mm bar up on my 97 ex, the question i'm wondering is since thats only one mm larger than the si's rear bar i shouldn't have to worry about sub frame tear out will I? i know that there aren't the welded nuts on the inside of the sub frame like on the si's but i'm putting a plate back there like a giant washer so it will have some support. i heard that you don't really have to worry about sub frame tear out until your upwards of around 19mm or higher. also i do race autocross which is another reason i'm asking.

MindBomber

You should be fine without it, I've never seen a mention of adding a subframe brace when doing oem sway bar swaps even in the DIY write-ups. Adding a couple of beefy washers should help too.

hotrod_714

well i will be putting it on next week and racing on the 11th so i will let you guys know what definitely happens. and if the subframe does rip out, how do you fix that ****?

MindBomber

With a welder i guess.. Do some googling, I've never heard of one ripping out with a small sway bar, but if it does your in serious trouble.

MindBomber

http://www.carolinahondas.com/tech-t...k-coupe-2.html

http://hondaswap.com/civic-del-sol-e...-hatch-319549/

Seems like the odd guy thinks you need a brace, but the vast majority, like myself, feels it's unecessary for bars under 19mm.

Btw.. read the oem big brake faq stickied under 6th gen wheels, tires and brakes; some of the mod options would likely interest you since you autox.

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

Go to passwordjdm and get their package which includes a rear sway bar (ASR 22mm), the endlinks and the reinforcement brace. (http://passwordjdm.com/ASR-Subframe-...P583C1539.aspx). 22mm is a huge difference but it will seriously tighten up your rear end. However this will make it extremely nervous so I would get a bigger front sway bar (26mm) to compensate (remember front sway bar increases understeer, rear sway bar increases oversteer---under front, over rear is how I remember it)

And if you want a lower tie bar you're going to want these: http://passwordjdm.com/ASR-Subframe-...7551C1539.aspx

It's ~450$ for everything which is a bit steep but will give you peace of mind because it includes everything that you need and you wont have to worry about anything breaking and with the coilovers plus these you're going to have a seriously amazing suspension setup. For lower control arms I would get the buddy club ones (also available on passwordjdm) -- http://passwordjdm.com/Buddy-Club-P1...3829C1542.aspx

Oh and since you're essentially tearing apart the entire suspension/drivetrain I would throw in some prothane bushings since all the new aftermarket suspension stuff is going to tear the rubber OEM bushings to shreds.

hotrod_714

oh ya i definitely am going to eventually step up to a 22mm rear with the asr brace but thats going to be in the future ha. i'll want to get all my coilovers first because if i just stepped up to a 22 even with a brace with all my stock suspension it could still cause tear out on the sub frame. has anybody used the skunk2 pro sII's cause those are the ones that i'm leaning to and they seem really nice. i love how their double adjustable so not to effect shock travel, but there aren't lbs. ratings on them so i have no idea the spring rate on them. if any body knows some good coilovers that aren't too expensive ( no more than about $700) i'm all ears. progress has some nice ones that have a lbs. rating on them but they aren't double adjustable.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

not sure of the pro sII ones, but older skunk2:
Skunk2 Coilovers (new) 500F/400r (L/L)

MindBomber

Skunk2 earned the nickname Junk2 for a reason, stay away from their products, especially the suspension ones.

If you want a good, proven, affordable set-up go with koni/gcs.

Also, itrs came stock with a 22mm rear sway, so you can find those fairly inexpensive sometimes and then you just need the subframe brace.