Warning ordering 6th gen Si rear sway bar from HondaAutomotiveParts.com

[chimchim]

Don't worry, nothing bad about the company (www.hondaautomotiveparts.com), but I ordered a 1999 Civic Si OEM rear sway bar and all the components from them for a guaranteed fit to my 97 EX with all necessary parts.

Turns out, it's not so perfect.

You have to order all parts individually, but there's a flaw in the picture and inventory! There is one missing part, so you don't know to order it. The missing part is 4 8mm locking nuts that are needed to bolt the mounts to the sub chassis. These nuts appear nowhere in the appropriate place in the picture. However, I think you can buy other 8mm nuts from another part of the picture for a different part and it'll work, but I haven't done it. I don't see why it wouldn't work though.

In this picture, directly from hondaautomotiveparts, it's part #36. These bolts need locking nuts. But I don't see them in the picture... do you? I think part #24, 8mm flange nut will do the trick. You need 4 of 'em.

I had thought something was wrong when I was ordering, but bolt #35 does not need nuts because the mounts actually have threads for them. So that was confusing.

Anyways, I hope this helps people.

Shipping is reasonably fast, and totall cost for this new Si bar was ~$175 shipped. I've already gotten burned once being told a GSR sway is a direct fit for civic (it's not, you need Si endlinks and Si mounts) and I think I almost got burned from a guy selling a broken sway bar. So I went this route to be sure. Dealer tries to rip you off for $250+ for a new one.

 

[SiGSR]

Actually the only reason I think you will need the nuts for the #36 bolts is that only the Si comes with the rear sway bar and the welded nuts in the subframe for it. The rest of the other models don't come with the nut welded in... and since this is a Si only parts section, they need not include the nuts. And 4 little nuts is not a big deal, just go to Home Deopt and grab em over there.

So which parts did you ordered? I'm planning to do a similar setup. I got a stock GSR bar as well, and would use that instead of the Si if all you need is Si endlinks and mounts.

 

[chimchim]

Good point... the Si probably does have welded bolts. Anyways, I went to a local Honda and got the #24 nuts and lock washers.

The table doesn't paste well, but here goes:

93403-08020-08
BOLT-WASHER (8X20)
4 (quantity)
$0.09
$0.36
90212-SA5-003
NUT, SELF-LOCK (10MM)
2
$0.24
$0.48
90002-S10-000
NUT, FLANGE (10MM)
2
$1.48
$2.96
90306-SB2-013
NUT (10MM)
2
$0.24
$0.48
52300-S52-A01
SPRING, RR. (13MM)
1
$54.58
$54.58
52308-S04-000
HOLDER, RR.
2
$3.32
$6.64
52315-S52-A00
BUSH, RR. (13MM)
2
$2.75
$5.50
52317-S04-000
BRKT, RR. STABILIZER
2
$7.76
$15.52
52320-S04-003
LINK ASSY., R. RR.
1
$39.73
$39.73
52321-S04-003
LINK ASSY., L. RR.
1
$36.71
$36.71
95701-08018-08
BOLT, FLANGE (8X18)
4
$0.47
$1.88

 

[chimchim]

As for the GSR bar, I need to try it myself to be sure. But the GSR endlinks don't have a ball pivot like the Si's do. So it the width doesn't match (which the GSR doesn't match the 6th gen civic EX) then it won't fit; short by about 1/2" on both sides. But, using Si endlinks, the ball joint will turn to allow you to reach.

The GSR mounts don't match so you need Si mounts, but with the GSR 14mm bushings. Hold on, lemme check...

 

[chimchim]

Looks like the mounts are compatible. With a GSR setup, you need to buy 99 Si mounts, but use the GSR 14mm bushing and bushing bracket. Screw these onto the Si mount and that part is done.

The ends of the GSR bar are not the same as the Si so the endlinks mount a little differently. The GSR is a fork, and the Si is just a joint. However, the Si endlinks clearly still can connect, but will need a bolt longer than the 20mm Si one. (I'd say about 30mm). After than, as long as you have all your Home Depot bolts (or Honda bolts), then it'll work.

Even the bushing mount locations on the bars are the same.

Keep in mind though, that the endlinks are about $35-40 EACH. The only other expensive part ($54) is the bar itself. Mounts are $8 each.

Good luck. I had to learn this all the hard way.

Now will someone please buy my GSR sway bar with all the hardware from me? I'll throw in a GSR front tower strut too for a total of $50. Or buy em separately.

 

[SiGSR]

Wow, that's great info. I got most of the bushings and bushing holder for the GSR swaybar. Just need endlinks, mounts and the those longer bolts you say. Since it does indeed fit, $100 is a cheap investment for a rear sway bar for me.

The only thing I'm worried about is, since the EKs does have some differences from EGs and DCs the design of the bar may not be fully effective on EK chassis. If you ever look at the front upper control arms, the EKs are attached to the car differently from the DCs (and most likely the EGs as well).

And ontop of that I don't have a front sway bar either... I just wonder if this would cause it to be more neutral (no front w/ just a rear swaybar) or just a unnatural balance of the car, with the front still rolling and the rear quickly skidding around.

Why don't you put the GSR front tower bar on? I drilled four quick holes and behold, stiffer up front. Yes, it is definately noticable.

 

[chimchim]

These are both bars. You can see they are very close in size, but not exactly. Top is GSR bar, bottom is Civic's.

Here are the bushings and holders on the mounts. The bolt pattern is the same so you should be able to interchange the bushing/holders and mounts. Top is GSR bar, bottom is Civic's.

This is the bottom of the mounts. Note how the mounts for the GSR is offset, while the civic is flush. Left is GSR, right civic.

Finally the endlinks. Left is GSR, right civic. Note how the GSR endlink has a fork which connects to the bar. This allows only one degree of movement (one rotation axis), while civic's has a ball joint inside that cap so the bolt can swivel. Note how fat the GSR bar end is... so that's why I think a longer bolt would be necessary to put civic endlinks on the GSR bar.

Hopefully this helps: how to make a GSR rear sway bar fit a 6th gen civic. This is info I wish I had before got screwed.

 

[SiGSR]

Originally posted by chimchim

How would you go about changing the bolts on those endlinks? It doesn't look like they would be changable. Are the endlinks disassembable (yah, I made a new word)?

Pictures, man it's getting even better, good work! We need more technical infomation with pictures like this on this site.

 

[chimchim]

The GSR endlink on the left is a fork that goes around the bar end. Once this endlink is removed, then you're left with a fat GSR bar end. Take that long bolt on the Si endlink (picture right) and stick it through the GSR bar end. Note how thin the Si bar end is. That's why I think a longer bolt might be necessary.

Now, the other way around, I do not think you can stick the forked GSR endlink on the Si bar because the Si bar is the wrong size for the fork.

I should have tried it, but I was too anxious to put my bar on. Plus, it takes a while to get the bolts on and off because you can't use a wratchet, you have to hold the bolt with an allen wrench and use a crescent to turn it.

 

[gabebauman]

Thanks for the heads-up...I'm actually in the process of searching for a good swaybar for my 98 ex.

 

[Shiznit]

so i dont get it, are you telling me that i shouldnt buy a rear sway bar from hondaautomotiveparts.com for my 2000 si? whats the problem here i read this thread and got all confused.

 

[chimchim]

No... Hondaautomotiveparts is a great place to buy new parts cheaper than the dealers.

I fact, I discovered that I was a little bit in error. For an EX, you order all the Si sway bar parts... PLUS some extra bolts for the bolts of the mounts: 8mm locking nuts. The reason this is not listed is because on the Si, the nuts are already welded onto the subchassis.

In summary: if you are buying a 99-00 Si rear sway bar for your 96-00 civic, then buy all sway bar parts listing in hondaautomotiveparts.com PLUS 4 addition 8mm nuts.

The rest of the thread was about how to make a GSR sway work on a 6th gen civic.

 

[gabebauman]

so i dont get it, are you telling me that i shouldnt buy a rear sway bar from hondaautomotiveparts.com for my 2000 si? whats the problem here i read this thread and got all confused.

NO, you should already have a Stock Rear Sway Bar on your Si...he's informing us "96-00 ex, hx, dx, lx, etc. owners who are looking to upgrade to a 99-00 sway bar that there are four of the LOCK NUTS missing from the "supposeably complete swap"...These models do not come with the stock rear sway bar. Look under your car (rear), there should be a bar there.

 

[greg1174]

So where is a good place to get one?

 

[[civic]]

I had to get four nuts and bolts to install the bar. Its normal for the 96-00 civics (non si) to have no threading for the bolt since it never came with a bar. You paid $175 for yours!? Thats alot of money.

 

[SiGSR]

So where is a good place to get one?

Definately look for it on sale from Si owners. If they have upgraded to bigger bars, they would most likely let these go for cheap.

 

[Shiznit]

oh okay guys, right on, good luck

 

[anekin007]

have anyone thought of using the itr sway bars?

 

[chimchim]

$175... I know was expensive... but it was new and it guaranteed had all the parts. I was sick of waiting and getting burned. For about 3 months I had been: conned into buying a GSR sway being told it would bolt onto my 97 civic, lost 4 ebay auctions for Si sways from 3 second snipers, almost got fooled into buying an Si sway off a dude on another forum that had a broken endlink. So I threw my hands up, said f*&K it, and bought the new one. New, with no worries. So it was worth it.

The reason I went Si sway, was cuz I'm still on stock suspension. I don't race and my daily driver now can take on ramps much faster.

 

[SiGSR]

have anyone thought of using the itr sway bars?

Yes, the bigger 'Type R' bars will certainly make a bigger difference than the Si one, but they also come with the infamous subframe tearout.