This is a thread on how to install the Cusco 18 mm rear swaybar (part# 317 311 BJ18) on a DC2 Integra equipped with the ASR subframe brace. The Cusco 16 mm bar (part# 317 311 BJ16) should be the same as well, although I haven't seen one. The Cusco bar works with the ASR subframe brace because it's actually designed for the EK9 Civic Type-R. (Cusco lists these smaller bars for "gravel" use)

Why install a smaller swaybar with the ASR subframe brace? Well, some people don't need a 22 mm or larger swaybar depending upon their suspension setup, but still want the brace to just stiffen up the chassis or use a smaller bar that would still need the reinforcement. I already have a larger rear spring rate on my vehicle, so I'm starting out with a smaller bar so I don't have overly aggressive oversteer. After talking to another GSR driver with the same suspension setup as mine and an ITR 23 mm bar, his feedback also pushed me towards a smaller bar.

Note: there is another thread on Honda-Tech showing how to use the Suspension Techniques 3/4" rear swaybar which is very informative. I decided not to go this route because the ST bar is longer and attaches to the bottom of the shocks. This subjects it to more travel than a bar using the default LCA connection point, giving it a different effective diameter. I also owned an older Integra RS with the ST front & rear kit and stock suspension, and it didn't have any rotation problems. The Cusco bar is 3-way adjustable and uses the stock mounting points for the endlinks, so I'd consider it more comparable and predictable to other Integra options.





First, here's a pic of the 18 mm Cusco bar compared to the ASR 24 mm bar. Quit a bit of a difference in size. I bought the ASR subframe brace/bar as part of a nice combo pack before I decided to change swaybars. One interesting thing to note is how the shaft collars on the ASR bar are on the outside of the bushings, and the Cusco's "shoulders" are on the inside of the bushings. I also like how Cusco uses the stock CTR swaybar diameter for the bushings, enabling you to reuse your current bushings if you want.



Before purchasing bushings for any model of swaybar, I always recommend measuring your bar first. It might be advertised as a 22 mm bar, but after paint/coatings/manufacturing you don't know what it actually is, and you don't want to pinch the bar using bushings that are too small. In this case, 22 mm is close enough.

If you want to go with generic Energy Suspension swaybar brackets, you can use ES part # 9.5126G. Part # 9.5108G or the greaseable bushings won't work because the centerline distance for the bracket bolts is 65 mm. With the ES kit, you have 3 options because the collars on the Cusco bar prevent you from simply bolting up the brackets. You can either...

1. Hollow out the bushings some on the inside for the collars—from one end only. I don't see this as being easy though.
2. Cut the brackets so you can use the existing bolt holes, not too fun.
3. Re-drill new off-center bolt holes on the brackets.

EDIT: Prothane Motion Control sells greaseable bushings that will work, but you'll still have to do one of the options above if your swaybar has shaft collars. For 22 mm the part numbers are 19-1165 (red) and 19-1165-BL (black).





The pic above shows where you would need to drill new holes. This would be at the 23 mm mark on the ruler. Another pic shows where the bushing would line up with the bar if the bracket was put on as is. Since I'm going to be using this vehicle for road race, I didn't feel comfortable doing this.



Since I bought the ASR subframe/swaybar combo, I have the aluminum D links that came with the kit. Using the measurements off of them, they'll work perfectly with the Cusco bar. I only need to find 22 mm bushings that will work with them.



If you look at the ASR 24 mm bushings, the part number is very close to ES part # 9.5109G. And looking at the back of them it looks like a single bushing was cut in half to use with the D links. Assuming that this is an ES bushing, and looking at the dimensions on their website, I ordered the 9.5108G kit to see if I could get those bushings to work.





Looking at the 22mm bushings that came with the ES 9.5108G kit, they are just a little loose in the D link. But they definitely won't fall out or get pushed out, and since the Cusco bar measures out at 22.22 mm the looser fit will allow bar to rotate easier in the bushings.





Also looking at the aluminum D link, you can see that the ES bushings are exactly twice the width required. Even though you could use the entire bushing, I decided to cut the bushing like ASR did, giving me a spare 22 mm swaybar bushing. I made the cut on a band saw, and it didn't do too bad at all.



Looking at some Honda parts sites, it looks like I might have the Cusco bar installed upside down compared to a Civic rear bar. But even if so it needs to be put on this way to clear the LCAs on an Integra. The D links are also rotated 180 degrees compared to an ASR bar because of the Cusco's inner collars.



The ASR endlink kit is nice as well. They include tapered spacers to keep the endlinks as vertically oriented as possible, and the tapered spacers prevent the endlinks from getting jammed if they rotate—although you could still accomplish this with washers successfully. I did add an additional spacer washer next to the LCA to help center the endlink better. You can see that endlinks lean slightly forward and outward (they do, but my pic is barrelled), but it isn't too bad. The outward lean will also help keep the swaybar centered besides just the swaybar collars.

Note: If you have a swaybar that has problems wondering side to side, lean the endlinks inward or outward a little bit. This naturally centers the swaybar and eliminates the need for shaft collars.

EDIT: The tapered spacers are actually called safety washers, or safety retaining washers—specifically for rod end bearings. Besides allowing for a good range of motion, they prevent the rod end from becoming completely uncoupled if the bearings would get punched out. Large enough flat washers will provide the same function if you use them with short bolt liners to allow for a good range of motion. There isn't any critical safety aspect for a swaybar though.

There is one thing about the ASR brace/swaybar kit that I'm not a fan of, and that's the aluminum D links. In my opinion they're too narrow, especially for a swaybar that has collars on it. Unless you have the bracket bolts completely tight, the D links easily lean side to side if you push or pull on the swaybar slightly. (not like you would ever have them loose to begin with) The bolt heads are the only thing preventing the D links from leaning, which puts some additional torque on them. Add the fact that you tighten the bolts into aluminum and this doesn't give me much confidence. Although ASR has not had any problem with this, and I probably won't either, the swaybar brackets should be wider like the steel ES brackets are. If the Cusco bar didn't have the shaft collars where they currently are, I would have used the ES brackets over the aluminum ones.

But that's it. A Cusco 18 mm swaybar on the back of a DC2 Integra with the ASR subframe brace. If you don't have the ASR D links you can still get the generic ES brackets to work by one of the methods above. If you do this though, you need to use the smaller 9.5126G bushings, which brings the swaybar closer to the brace. If you're using the softest setting on the bar and want to keep the endlinks as vertical as possible, you'll probably have to use some steel or aluminum flat stock as spacers under the brackets to move the swaybar back towards the rear of the car. And you'll need longer bolts as well.

Note: If you're one of the few people that has the MFactory/OBX 19 mm rear bar, you should be able to easily use it with the ASR brace using ES 9.5123G swaybar bushings and brackets. I don't know about the endlink spacing though.

 

PEFECT! Thanks Court. I hope to upgrade my MFactory 19mm sway bar setup to use with the ASR subframe brace in the future. This was a great writeup!

 

Awesome write up. I guess i need some swaybar end links before I start mine, got everything else. Where is the best place to get just the end links?

 

Here are some choices.

http://jhpusa.com/store/pc/viewCateg...idCategory=169

http://www.weaksauceparts.com/store/home.php?cat=2282

http://www.inlinefour.com/swaybars.html

 

Those BLOX endlinks off of JHPUSA are decently priced, they even have the fancy tapered spacers.

If you really want to penny pinch, you can do a search for some inexpensive spherical rod ends. But when you add up the individuals that BLOX set looks pretty good…

eBay might have some good deals.

Sometimes you can get a real good deal as a "parts kit" or just replacement parts from another swaybar setup. I bought a parts kit for my CRX ST front/rear swaybar setup for $40. It included EVERYTHING except the swaybars. New endlinks, bushings, bushing brackets, rear toe hook support brackets, bolts, washers, silicone grease, etc. You need to call the supplier and ask though.

 

Thanks guys! Going to order the Blox ones from JHP now.

 

Does any body know where to buy the aluminum ASR d links by themselves?? I already have an ASR brace I polished but I want to pick those up. Somebody has to know!!!!

 

Don't know. Have you tried calling ASR and asking them? Some companies will sell parts kits or replacement parts as I mentioned above, just not advertised of course.

 

so the Cusco 18mm rear sway bar doesn't come w/ bushings & D bracket?

 

No, it doesn't. It's intended platform is the Civic Type-R. It's designed to use the CTR's stock mounting location and even the stock swaybar bushings...

I believe the larger Cusco swaybars in this same series come with larger ID bushings though.

 

i'm thinking to get the SAME setup for my 00 EM1
just not sure if the distance from the driver side LCR bolt to the passenger side LCR bolt is the same between EK/EM & DC/EG

if its the same
then the mounting point of the bar will be somewhat difference

 

The distance between the LCA bolts is different as far as I know, but the centerline distance for the swaybar mounts should still be 60 cm.

If that distance is the same, which hopefully it should be, then you won't have any problems.

ASR sells their swaybars independently regardless of model type, so I doubt if they'd start welding on shaft collars if the swaybar brackets weren't the same distance apart. The ASR 24 mm bar also bends immediately after the shaft collars, so your swaybar bracket location can't be any wider than mine...

 

um........ ya that makes sence

& do u think the ITR D bracket & bushing will fit
or it would be the same, the cusco's shaft collars is blocking in place, just like the ES bushing & D bracket did?

 

More than likely the ITR bushings and brackets are going to cause problems. If they're like my stock GSR brackets they'd be close to 1" wide, and not allow any opportunity to re-drill offset holes. I'm not speaking from experience though, I've never actually seen stock ITR bushings/brackets before. I saw a larger Whileline bar on an ITR before, and those bushings/brackets were about 1" wide.

Cheapest, and probably best alternative, is just to buy the ES kit and re-drill off center bolt holes. Those ES brackets are pretty beefy compared to stock Honda brackets, so I wouldn't see any problem with it. They should hold up fine.

I just had an easier alternative with the ASR alum D brackets. Cutting a bushing in half vs drilling 4 holes through hardened steel. Those ES brackets aren't mild steel, I can tell you that. I'd definitely use a drill press though, drilling those by hand is probably going to be a bitch...

Of course the easiest alternative is to find a swaybar that doesn't have shaft collars or shoulders on it. But I don't know if one exists around the 18-20 mm range besides the MFactory/OBX bar, which I don't believe they make anymore. There's the ST 3/4" bar, but it attaches to the bottom of the shocks and not the stock LCA points which makes it act like a larger bar.

 

Great!

Added to the faq

We need more contributions like this. Thanks.

 

http://www.asrparts.com/instructions/egsubframe.pdf

here a pdf file from ASR
up till page 7 u can see the EG/DC subframe brace w/ ITR RSB
then in page 8 .................a EK subframe brace w/ ITR RSB
lol

and here from mine Hyper Rev Cusco ad


.
the Cusco 18mm RSB is 43%/50%58% of the stock EK9 22mm RSB

& according the [ (new bar/ stock bar) ^4 =stiffness in % ]
58% ~19.199mm
50% ~18.499mm
43% ~ 17.815mm

 

Thanks for the refresher, I forgot that I even had that install guide. So I guess I have seen stock ITR brackets and bushings installed before. :-)

Here's a nifty swaybar rate calculator...
http://buildafastercar.com/tech/Sway...ate-Calculator

It uses the equation below. The equation gets messed up in the reply thread, but if you go to the link above you'll see what it means...

 

hey court76wi
can u tell me wts ur front & reat spring rate?

 

Well, I can tell you what I'm running and how my car handles. But this is my IT race car so the differences mount.

I'm running PIC Select R3 coilovers, which equate to 12 kg/mm front (670 lb/in) and 14 kg/mm rear (780 lb/in). I'm running the stock 24 mm front bar w/poly bushings for both the bar and endlinks, and of course the 18 mm Cusco rear bar.

When I have the shock dampening set, the car defaults towards understeer. But if you trail brake too hard going into a corner the back end will come out on it. This is what I was shooting for though. (that's partially aggravated by a bit too much rear brake, but not much) The front spring rate is manageable on the street, but the rear rate makes it feel like you're driving an unloaded dump truck when you hit a bump.

With my car though, the rear end is pretty rigid on it. Add the 6-pt cage, rear upper brace, trunk brace, lower sub brace, and most of main bushings replaced with polyurethane. Plus in '97 Honda started putting a center "gusset" in the Integra coupes, which I like to refer to as a large beam than spans under the front of the rear seats. That eliminated a lot of twist in the chassis.

I don't know what you currently have and what you're looking for, but if you're talking about a street setup I'd drop a PM to gabebauman up above. He's got the MFactory 19 mm rear bar and brace which is comparable and he's running GC coilovers. I think he's running 450 lb/in front and 600 lb/in rear? But you'd need to ask him for sure. I rode in his Civic during an AutoX event and it handles really well. It shuffles pretty good but it isn't tail happy or anything.

Hopefully that helps you. Sorry about it not being to the point, but I wouldn't want to steer you wrong either.
Court

 

Yes. My setup as Court says above on my '93 Civic Cx hatch is Koni Yella/Custom Rate Ground Controls, (450F/400R ERS springs) lowered around 2"-2.5", with the M-Factory 19mm rear sway bar, no front sway bar, (Cx chassis didn't come with one), 205/50/15 Hankook RS2 tires on 15"x6.5" wheels.

I love how this setup feels on the street and solo course. Very neutral, I can get the rear end to come out if I need too...but it is very controllable.

 

Oh, that's right. I was thinking of Dave's Integra, he's running 450/600...

Are you running poly bushings Gabe, or are you still on rubber?

 

Only poly I have is in the rear LCA's...because the oem ones were toast...I replaced them with the ES bushings.

 

for my Em1
i'm running ots koni yellow w/ GC 345lbs front, 375lbs rear
stock 26mm & 13mm sway bar
both front & rear toe 0
front -1.5degree camber & rear -1.1 & -1.0 degree

during autox
withthe right tire presure
the tail will swing out abit (by lifting throttle)

tried my fd's em1 w/ tein mono flex F10k & rear 6 or 7k; ITR 22mm RSB; front -2.5camber, rear -1.7; front 0 toe & rear toe in
very tail happy, almost no room for error on street

so thats y i want sth less aggressive

 

You can use a a Cusco CTR rear sway bar on a DC2? I saw there are two Cusco product listings: 317-311-BJ18 and 321-311-B25