danwat12345

Hey guys,

A few years ago I bought a cheap 19mm rear sway bar which came with a cheap reinforcement bar ::
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"OBX Racing Sports" brand and the ebay store is "racingpartsdepot" I think. Also known (I think) as SRR sway bar kits or MFactory brace.

The sway bar bolts to the reinforcement bar on the outer 2 holes, and then the reinforcement bar bolts to the subframe on the inner 3 holes.

So, a year or so into it, the right side reinforcement bar tore completely off! My subframe had a small tear out (@small top inner hole) and inner 2 bolt holes are still connected to the subframe. The whole outside piece of the reinforcement bar tore off the car and is still connected to the sway bar with the bushing bracket thing.
The left side, it's still fine and still hasn't tore off like the right side, even years later.
So basically the sway bar isn't connected to the subframe at all on the right side, yet I couldn't see a decrease in cornering, it's still much, much better than stock, IMO! It was only when I looked under my car one day that I saw that it had torn apart and I LOLed. I didn't notice the hole in the subframe until a week ago (The torn mess attached to the sway bar was blocking the view)


My driving style; Aggressive around corners but have never been on the track. Daily driver, I try to take care of it.


With it just being connected on the left side, how much cornering benefit have I lost with no support on the right side? In some case it wouldn't twist but lift or lower I guess.
Is it repairable and could I mount up an ASR reinforcement kit?
Could I mount up an ASR reinforcement kit and reattach the right sway bar bracket without repairing the subframe?


I'll probably never do anything about it. I've taken a spray can of Krylon Primer to prevent any rusting inside the subframe.

PICS:
http://s909.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20sway%20bar/

EDIT: May take pictures of left side of subframe and add to PB album--> looks fine to me

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

...
if you had not noticed the difference, they were innefective from start...

danwat12345

The one good thing about this reinforcement kit is that the sway bar isn't connected directly to the subframe at all, and the metal of the reinforcement kit sucks too, so it *should* rip apart before much damage happens to the subframe, if something like this ever happens to the left side. As for fixing the right side I think just welding up a thick piece of steel where the small hole is would fix it and then I could install an ASR kit at some point in the future.

danwat12345

OK, well, I fixed my sway bar set up for free..

Zip ties can be an amazing tool..they should hold, they can handle 75 pounds each.
My only concern are the 2 nuts that keep the sway bar from moving downward and stress on the blue metal link via the zip ties.

Before pictures are in a link above.

After pictures are here;
http://s909.photobucket.com/user/dan...20DIY%20repair

click on any picture to enlarge. Text are in 2 pictures for explanation

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Interesting!

Might want to just buy a new sway bar that fits the car properly.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Youve gotta be kidding me. This should get REAL good. Take that off your car, delete everything youve posted here, put your OEM sway bar back on, and call it a day. All this for something that probably doesn't even work as well as the OEM one? I don't mean to get rude but look at all the trouble you've gone through for no gains. !

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

^
What he said.

Seriously....
What....dafuq.

Dude, a used RSX 19mm sway bar is like $30.
Save yourself the time, and effort.

danwat12345

You don't understand guys. 13mm is the stock Si sway bar and this is 19mm on a DX.

In order to do this properly, first I'd need to weld up that tear in the upper quadrant of the subframe. Then I'd need to get an ASR brace and perhaps my existing sway bar d-brackets will match up or maybe not.

It is a proper sway bar except for maybe the d-brackets it's just the crappy subframe protector metal sheared off on the right side sometime around 1 year of installing the kit or so.


The sway bar has been held in place from lowering by that bolt and 2 nuts for years and years now without failing. I just recently put electrical tape around it so I don't hear the tap-tap-tap when I go over rough terrain.
The zip ties are just stiffening up the upward movement of the sway bar. So now the setup should be nearly as stiff as a properly installed 19mm.

It's been good to me, handles great. I hope this just tightens it up a bit more.
It's been 100% reliable and we'll see with the zip ties.

It wasn't much effort.. put on those zip ties in like 10-20 minutes, so..

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

It's not doing anything though... It's not functioning as it should and it looks like crap. It's not even connected to the framework of the car it's only hooked up to the suspension. This is a total waste of time. Are you racing this that you need a 19mm sway bar on it bad enough that your willing to zip tie it together? Take that off or this will get bad once people start seeing this thread. This is one of those.. Oh my god I can't believe this guy did this threads. I'm not trying to be a dick I'm trying to save you from serious flaming.

danwat12345

Oh I know. It's got kindling but it saves me about $180 in not having to buy an ASR brace + the labor of a welding guru to weld the subframe.
The sway bar is bolted to the frame; Fully on the left side, and redneckstyle (zip tied tightly) on the right. The zip ties are as tight as possible so the sway bar should be almost as tight as if it was bolted in to the right side and the bolt on the bottom is keeping the bar from moving down.
I just took if for a drive and it seems to have less slop in the corners and starts to tighten at lower g-forces. Could be placebo though.

Nope I don't race, just a slow, sporty DD.

My attitude with this is sort of a take it or leave it sort of thing, like my upper grille block.
If it functions as it should and it's reliable, that's just fine.

If I redo it properly I'll probably do it at the same time that I get new rear trailing arm (RTA is the lingo) Hardrace branded bushings and timing belt/drive belts done so there might be a bulk discount at my shop.
Edit: I am concerned about longevity so it is on my mind to do it right sometime in the future.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

dangerous posting this online though you will get flamed. I never understood why people buy new mods before they fix their old broken ones.