I'm working on the suspension for my project car which is a 90 Civic hatch.

It didn't come with front or rear sway bars so I installed a ST rear bar and am looking for a DA front sway bar but I'm having a really hard time locating one for sale.

Is it dangerous to have only a rear sway bar without a front?

This car is going to be my daily driver/autocross car once I get it up and running. My goal is to get the car as neutral as possible, my concern is with the rear sway bar only that I might have oversteer, which I don't want.

How bad will it be? Anyone run a rear sway bar with no front on purpose? What kind of handling characteristics will it give the car?

 

This front sway bar will work on a 90 STD hatch right??
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...%3AIT

What else will I need to install this? I know I will need to get some endlinks, anything else I will need?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm a noob when it comes to sway bars.

 

i would like to know also. i have a ej1. i have gsr front sway and itr rear sway. but nobody wants to drop the shift linkage for the front for me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Manolo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would like to know also. i have a ej1. i have gsr front sway and itr rear sway. but nobody wants to drop the shift linkage for the front for me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You should be able to get the bar in if you disconnect the shift linkage by the bolts only. That means one rod un-bolts at the transmission, and the other un-bolts at the shifter. The one that un-bolts at the shifter has a hinge at the transmission that allows it to pivot & swing out of the way while you position the sway bar...

No messing with the bitch pin...

 

sway bars are like adding spring rate without affecting ride comfort. sway bar only work when the car is swaying and not when its moving up and down(like hitting a bump in the road). main reason for them is to keep comfort while maintaining good handling. on a race car they done really matter since u don't usually car about comfort and can bring the spring rate way up.
having a rear sway bar and no front sway bar is like having stiffer spring rate in the back compared to the front(less understeer). if you want to keep your car near neutral then u could get a smaller front sway bar(stock civic front)and keep your rear itr sway bar,but the car will near understeer a bit more unless u stiffen the rear spring rate.
is it dangerous to not run a front sway bar? no its not and cant think of a reason why it would be unless ur car was uncontrollably oversteering

 

as far as safety is concerned, as long as you drive normally on the street (aka, don't drive like a maniac) it should be fine.

A/x performance might not be ideal, as the car will be loose (which is good) but sloppy in quick transitions. hpde handling won't be as negatively affected, since most tracks don't have slaloms and other tight quick transitions.

it's really a preference thing. i took out my front bar on my then STX lude and liked the instant rotation, but hated the sloppiness. on track it was fine, i liked the way the car handled with no front bar and a big (26mm) rear bar.

loose is fast, but not if you're uncomfortable with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bad-monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">loose is fast, but not if you're uncomfortable with it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
loose to a certain point , we dont really want to be drifting around the a/x course

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ1 wilcox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This front sway bar will work on a 90 STD hatch right??
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...%3AIT

What else will I need to install this? I know I will need to get some endlinks, anything else I will need?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm a noob when it comes to sway bars. </TD></TR></TABLE>

yes, the DA front swaybar will work fine. pretty cheap deal too! (its never a good idea to advertise an ebay link before its ended tho, especially if you plan on bidding on it...)

theres really no reason youre going to "kill yourself" with just running a stiff rear swaybar. you only ever get into trouble when you drive like a jackass on the street. so just dont, ever.

as for getting the swaybar installed, ive removed and installed front swaybars from EF's countless times. you dont have to remove anything like the shift linkage or the exhaust. just get your car on jackstands. flip the swaybar so the arms are pointing backwards. like this

front
/----\


then its MUCH easier to snake the sway bar into place. it helps to rotate the bar so it starts like this (working from the passenger side)

front
\
|
|
/


oh yeah, it looks like youre going to need #2, the bushing holder bracket, 2 of em. looks like the integra bar comes with it, but the integra and the EF brackets are different. see how the integra bar has two holes on each side of the bushing, the EF bracket only has one hole, the other side slides in.


youre going to need those and the 10mm bolt and the end links, 2 each.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
oh yeah, it looks like youre going to need #2, the bushing holder bracket, 2 of em. looks like the integra bar comes with it, but the integra and the EF brackets are different. see how the integra bar has two holes on each side of the bushing, the EF bracket only has one hole, the other side slides in.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the info.

Do you know if Energy Suspension makes the brackets that I need? I know they make end links so I'll buy those from them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ1 wilcox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Do you know if Energy Suspension makes the brackets that I need? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't think they do. The EF/DA bracket uses a hook on one end, and a bolt hole on the other. That is a little to "specialized" for an aftermarket company to produce...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't think they do. The EF/DA bracket uses a hook on one end, and a bolt hole on the other. That is a little to "specialized" for an aftermarket company to produce... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I looked through their products and couldn't find the brackets. It looks like they make the bushings, but not that brackets.

I guess I'll have to call up the local junk yards to see what they have.

 

if youre not in a hurry, ill pick up some at the junkyard next time i go and mail it to you. its gonna be a few weeks tho.

 

If you are in a hurry, you can get them right here for $2.85 each...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you are in a hurry, you can get them right here for $2.85 each...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I actually went down to the local dealership this afternoon to buy these brackets but they only had 1 in stock so I didn't buy it. I'm going to order it online instead.

One thing I did notice though, the bracket is REALLY SMALL! I mean, how on earth am I going to fit a 23mm sway bar and bushing under that small of a bracket?

Other people have used the stock Civic bushing bracket (#2 above) with the DA 23mm sway bar before right? Maybe I will just have to bend the bracket or something to get it to work.

Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and order the brackets and bolts right now.

Oh, I won that eBay auction this morning for $5.50! I think that's a pretty good deal! I'm thinking this DA 23mm holow front bar with my ST 22mm rear solid bar should make for a fun little hatch.

So, am I crazy or will the DA bushings fit under that civic bracket??

 

itll be fine.

 

If you need the stock hardware to the bar to the LCA's, hit me up. I installed the ES master kit, so they're just sitting here. Its the 8 rubber bushings/caps, the bolt, and the nuts. A bit rusty, but workinf fine. From a '90 sedan. $5+what it costs to ship.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HiProfile &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you need the stock hardware to the bar to the LCA's, hit me up. I installed the ES master kit, so they're just sitting here. Its the 8 rubber bushings/caps, the bolt, and the nuts. A bit rusty, but workinf fine. From a '90 sedan. $5+what it costs to ship.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks but I just bought Energy Suspension endlinks.

 

hmmm...I'm gonna have the OEM ITR 22mm rear swaybar in my EG hatch, no front sway...I would also like to hear from other's personal experience...*** end slide out much?

 

I ended up with the Suspension Techniques rear bar and a GSR front bar.

It feels pretty good for now, definately no oversteer unless I really try to make it oversteer.

The first Solo event of the season is on March 19. I am going to try some different configurations as far as the stiffness setting on the rear and I might even disconnect the front just to see how it affects my times.

 

I think I am a little late but I have a few cars with different setups. My 92 4 door has a integra rear and no front. I run integra shocks and h&r sport springs. I personally don't think anyone can match the handling per dollar investment. I have it all for less than $150. It kinda feels like my old 5.0 mustangs. I personally like it.. uneven roads are a little more touchy but you should have a hand on the steering wheel anyways. TRY IT OUT YOU MAY LIKE IT? or maybe a hollow hf bar? My 89 hatch has ST rear, DX front, 400/450 GC's, and konis. I like my car without the front anf may try a smaller and even no bar on my hatch when I get a chance.

 

i run skunk2 springs 8kg front, and 6kg rear, tokico illumina shocks, an ST bar in the back with nothing in the front..

as for handling balance, the car still understeers, but you can get the back end to step out if you try hard enough. once the car is back on the road this spring, i'm going to be getting another alignment to see if i can get the car to be a little more neutral.

 

sorry to bring this back


but yea from what i've heard running auto-x without the front, u get tons of rotation, but just like u stated it's sloppy. so i'm going to try an inbetween. i've been told the civic front sway bar is smaller than the stock integra bar...so i'm gonna look into that

does anybody know the sizes of the front sway bars?

thanks,

Michael

 

yes!!! i found my own answer


http://grabka.org/articles/hondaswaybars.php

 

"Civic 88-91 17.0mm 13.0mm "

thats not true.