I have the ASR brace and a 23mm JDM ITR rear sway bar installed on my Acura 1.6EL (EK civic sedan) however I planned on using the JDM ITR end-links. After I got it all installed and went to connect the end links, I realized mount slightly more towards the centre of the car on the EK LCA. I'd have to re-drill new holes about 1-1.5" more toward the centre of the car on the current LCA, so i'm wondering if that will affect the geometry of the sway bar. If it will i'll just buy up some RSX-S end-links.

Right now it just won't line-up with the sway bar holes on my EK LCA which came with a 13mm rear sway bar stock. So its either drill new holes, or get new LCA.

 

when i put a gsr rear on my ej8, it was narrower than would be needed to line up with the pre-drilled lca holes, which would suggest that the integra sway bars are narrower than the ones specifically for civics & your el (which i think is the same as the 99 si rear sway bar). I ended up drilling new holes, some 1.25" or so inboard of the old ones, i dont remember the exact amount. that would change the geometry of the sway bar function slightly, it seems to me that because the sway bar mounts closer to the center of the car, wheel movement would have just slightly proportionally more leverage against the bar than with mounting holes further out. that should in turn, for the same amount of wheel dusplacement, twist the sway bar less for an incrementally softer feel and just that much more body lean.

just pulling dimensions out of my ***: if the endlink hole is 18" fron the subframe bolt, and you drill a new hole 1.5" inboard and use a 3" narrower sway bar, 1.5" for each side), assuming lca rotates the same amount with the hole in either location to result in the same rotation angle, we would have a pair of similar triangles, with a (1-(16.5/18)*100=8.333% change of vertical endlink displacement and thus sway bar twist. this is all assuming an over-simplified 2 dimensional movement with no affecting outside forces because im too lazy to figure out the math for that. the bar would twist that 8.333% less. but since you wouldnt be using a wider bar to accomodate the wider stock pre-drilled holes, mating endlinks to the wider holes will apply force at an angle created by their length and the distance they are from directly under the sway bar, the 1.5" for esample. they would have both a horizontal and a vertical component to the force they apply to the sway bar as transfered from the lca. if under the assumption that the bar has a limited and fixed torsional rigidity, its twist would be divided between those two forces so it may compress by some percentage less than there were only a vertical component.

again, this is a drastic over-simplification, but it seems to me that each option will have some effect on the geometry and the application of force on the suspension system. i cant say for sure which one would yeild greater result without making my brain hurt through math, but it seems neither would be without its consequnces.

on the subject of lcas, drilling the oem ones doesnt seem to pose a problem. the stock holes didnt seem to recieve any special treatment, no reinforcement, no nothing, jsut a hole. putting jsut a hole is quick and easy. aftermarket, should you choose that route, most of the ones i know of have their endlink holes drilled very close to the location in the oem lcas. iirc function7 has several drilled for you to provide good geometry for a variety of sway bars. plus they look sexy

once you decide what youre going to do and get everything sorted out we need a review of how it handles

good luck!

 

thanks for the reply. The ITR bar itself with stock end-links fits the stock holes ok, but the stock end-links mounts on the side where as the ITR end-link mounts in the centre of the end, thats why i'm thinking RSX-S end-links (same as stock, but smaller) will work perfectly.

I thought about drilling, but i'm thinking now that i'll just grab the RSX-S which /i know will fit and line up correct.

 

A-Spec has the exact soloution to your problem in their tie bar kit (that comes with the ITR sway-bar). The kit should have come with 99-00 Si end-links and special spacers that make the end-links fit the ITR bar.

I'm guessing you bought your ITR bar separate?

 

ya, not sure if your with ASR, but definately NOT ASR's fault at all. Charleston sent me RSX-S endlinks with the package I bought, but I sold the 22mm bar and endlinks because I wanted to use this 23mm bar and the JDM ITR endlinks because of all the corrosion we get here from winter. I couldn't be happier with my ASR brace, its quality and so easy to install.

Thats why i'm thinking RSX-S endlinks are what I need. I sent charleston a PM about ordering the RSX-S ones again. Also instead of using the metal bushings, the bar has new Honda rubber bushings, so i'm just going to use those so its already somewhat of a stiff ride with my coilovers.

If your with ASR tell Charleston to check his IM, I need to order these
RSX-S ones asap.

 

I'm not with ASR, I've just seen several threads like this one involving people installing ITR bars on EK chassis...

 

Got some new RSX-S end-links and stainless steel sway bar inserts on the way from ASR. As usual ASR and Charleston provided great customer service

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alwaysoverkill &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As usual ASR and Charleston provided great customer service </TD></TR></TABLE>
I second that