Important info for all those with aftermarket sways!

[trickyazn]

so one of the first threads stated that some tsx guys had similar problems.. anyone know of what they did to solve it?

[illusionstwice]

damn I just bought a Progress Sway and u have me regretting the buy. How is this preventable... What should I look for?? I have a FA5 btw.


ugh. I need a shot now...

[Cookstar]

I just emailed Progress with a link to this thread. Let's see if they will address the problem.

[J-Ro]

Originally Posted by illusionstwice

damn I just bought a Progress Sway and u have me regretting the buy. How is this preventable... What should I look for?? I have a FA5 btw.


ugh. I need a shot now...

It's preventable, either by using Highrev's brackets, which are still under development, and untested as yet, or you can weld 5/16" washers onto the bracket. I did the latter, using two washers per side, effectively tripling the thickness of the bracket.

Originally Posted by Cookstar

I just emailed Progress with a link to this thread. Let's see if they will address the problem.

Good call on letting them know... hard to say whether they will be smart and address it seeing as how this will determine whether or not people use their product, or whether they will pass it off by saying "not our problem".

[televascular]

I'm still a little skeptical about everything.

I'm skeptical as to how big of a potential problem this is; it looks like 2% of Progress sway bar users experience a break. Is everyone doing the install properly? The sway bar replacement instructions in the factory service manual are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than the bare instructions provided by Progress. There are many missing steps, including the calibration of the end-links prior to torquing.

I'm skeptical about the brackets being made. They look like they'll help manage stress, but will they actually work? Without any testing, how do we know?

[J-Ro]

Originally Posted by televascular

I'm still a little skeptical about everything.

I'm skeptical as to how big of a potential problem this is; it looks like 2% of Progress sway bar users experience a break. Is everyone doing the install properly? The sway bar replacement instructions in the factory service manual are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than the bare instructions provided by Progress. There are many missing steps, including the calibration of the end-links prior to torquing.

I'm skeptical about the brackets being made. They look like they'll help manage stress, but will they actually work? Without any testing, how do we know?

Do you have pdf's of the applicable service manual pages. I wouldn't mind having a look. How do you even calibrate non-adjustable endlinks? I can tell you for a fact there's no "calibration" from the factory.

[Highrev1]

Originally Posted by televascular

I'm skeptical about the brackets being made. They look like they'll help manage stress, but will they actually work? Without any testing, how do we know?

Your right but I will put a Progress bar on and go do a bunch of Autox's to prove they do work...And I do DRIVE HARD

[Cookstar]

I heard back from Progress:

I have seen the thread and we have talked about the issue within the
shop but we aren't quite sure what we are going to do about it as of
yet. I definitely don't want to see this very rare problem affect sales
on the part but at the same time it's an OEM part that is failing; not
our bar. People love the handling with that bar and 22mm really is the
perfect size to make just about everyone happy.

The only real option for us is to design our own reinforcement piece.
The problem with that is our shop is completely booked with other
development at the moment and it will probably remain that way well into
the beginning of next year. Welding always seems to sound scary to some
people but that really is the best option with this issue and for now
and that is what we would recommend everyone to do.

Thanks,


Joey Berry
Inside Sales
1.800.905.6687

[Chase]

everyime I have my car on a lift I inspect the brackets, I routinely push my car to its limits and this has been on My mind, I don't want to be taking a hairpin turn at breakneck speeds only to put my car through a guardrail as a result of a sway bar breaking.

[televascular]

Originally Posted by J-Ro

Do you have pdf's of the applicable service manual pages. I wouldn't mind having a look. How do you even calibrate non-adjustable endlinks? I can tell you for a fact there's no "calibration" from the factory.

Sorry, I didn't mean the word "calibration" to sound like a whole complicated process. I don't have any PDFs, but let me just transcribe some parts of the service manual:


3. Remove the self-locking nut and the flange nut while holding the respective joint pin with a hex wrench, then remove the stabilizer link.

4. Install the stabilizer link onto the stabilizer bar and trailing arm with the joint pins set at the center of their range of movement.

NOTE: the stabilizer link has a paint mark. Align the paint mark on the stabilizer link facing rearward.

5. Install a new self-locking nut and a new flange nut, and lightly tighten them.

6. Place a floor jack under the trailing arm, and raise the suspension to load it with the vehicle's weight.

7. Tighten the self-locking nut and flange nut to the specified torque values while holding the respective joint pins with a hex wrench.

8. Reinstall all removed parts and test drive the vehicle.

9. After 5 minutes of driving, torque the self-locking nuts again to the specified torque value.



I have always been told you must never re-use self-locking nuts, so I got 2 brand new self-locking nuts and 2 flange nuts from the dealership. It was a little more expensive than I had thought.

The torque values are:
self-locking nut: 28 lbf-ft
flange nut: 29 lbf-ft.

People who use only the instructions provided by Progress don't know about step #4. I'm wondering if these brackets are tearing because uncentered joint pins are causing extra stress... but I have no expertise in this field. Anyone have any knowledge (read: not speculation) about this?

[illusionstwice]

Well my progress rear sway will be here tomm. Anyone in NJ want to do a weld for me. I dont know how, nor do I have the tools. At this point I am thinking of just re-selling the frican sway. Any suggestions?

Greg... you know how to do the fix?

[televascular]

I think you're being over-cautious. The overwhelming majority of Progress bar owners have had zero problems.

If there was a thread dedicated to how well the Progress bar was holding up, it would be ten times bigger than this one.

[Storm]

Originally Posted by televascular

I think you're being over-cautious. The overwhelming majority of Progress bar owners have had zero problems.

If there was a thread dedicated to how well the Progress bar was holding up, it would be ten times bigger than this one.

^Exactly why I stated earlier in the thead that a choice should be made in the poll for those of us who installed it properly, and have had no problems.

[J-Ro]

Originally Posted by televascular

I think you're being over-cautious. The overwhelming majority of Progress bar owners have had zero problems.

That's true, but what if it does break? Then he has a broken LCA and no access to a welder. You call it over-cautious, I call it proactive.

[televascular]

I read a thread where someone's Comptech supercharger went screwy and the guy had to drive home in "limp mode". He took it back to the shop where he got it installed to get it fixed; supposedly caused by a faulty part.

The vast majority of Comptech SC owners have no problems. If you had already bought one but not yet installed it, would you return it?

The same applies to the CELs some people experienced with AEM CAIs before they were tweaked. Also, some people swore off factory foglights because "they crack too easily" from rocks on the highway. These are all instances where threads are dedicated to uncommon problematic events, and it's blown up to be a widespread issue, simply because many people read forums and the word spreads.

Of course, I fully support the independent involvement of those who are trying to create these bracket plates. I don't like the idea of an unsafe product, but I also don't think this sway bar is necessarily unsafe. I'm just a natural skeptic, on both sides of the issue.

[J-Ro]

Originally Posted by televascular

I read a thread where someone's Comptech supercharger went screwy and the guy had to drive home in "limp mode". He took it back to the shop where he got it installed to get it fixed; supposedly caused by a faulty part.

The vast majority of Comptech SC owners have no problems. If you had already bought one but not yet installed it, would you return it?

The same applies to the CELs some people experienced with AEM CAIs before they were tweaked. Also, some people swore off factory foglights because "they crack too easily" from rocks on the highway. These are all instances where threads are dedicated to uncommon problematic events, and it's blown up to be a widespread issue, simply because many people read forums and the word spreads.

Of course, I fully support the independent involvement of those who are trying to create these bracket plates. I don't like the idea of an unsafe product, but I also don't think this sway bar is necessarily unsafe. I'm just a natural skeptic, on both sides of the issue.

Very true... if issues are going to come up, they will be heard here, making the problems seem larger than they are. I guess the point to take home is that there ARE solutions to every problem. :)

[Highrev1]

Honda is notorious for issues similar to this, the older Civics had tearout issues with the rear sub frame area. THis isn't a single case, anyone who drives hard this can happen to, anyone who is slightly aggresive this can happen to, I am just saying similar issues have arose with similar cars, I don't think that this is a limited case.

[eugenekim.net]

Originally Posted by televascular

I read a thread where someone's Comptech supercharger went screwy and the guy had to drive home in "limp mode". He took it back to the shop where he got it installed to get it fixed; supposedly caused by a faulty part.

The vast majority of Comptech SC owners have no problems. If you had already bought one but not yet installed it, would you return it?

The same applies to the CELs some people experienced with AEM CAIs before they were tweaked. Also, some people swore off factory foglights because "they crack too easily" from rocks on the highway. These are all instances where threads are dedicated to uncommon problematic events, and it's blown up to be a widespread issue, simply because many people read forums and the word spreads.

Of course, I fully support the independent involvement of those who are trying to create these bracket plates. I don't like the idea of an unsafe product, but I also don't think this sway bar is necessarily unsafe. I'm just a natural skeptic, on both sides of the issue.

it's not like a weird phenomena with the tear-outs, it's simply a design flaw from honda (weak mounting points). it's easy to understand the range of the problem. if you drive hard, you are more susceptible. i drove hard on the race track. i think the tear-out is very predictble. drive hard to take it easy?