Front Sway Bar install for 2.5i

I have the Cusco FRONT and Rear non-adjustable sways on my 2.5i. If anyone cares or wants to install an aftermarket Front Sway Bar on their 2.5i, here’s what I did to make it happen…

 

If you search 'FSB install' or 'Front sway install' here, you will find instructions on how to install the part on an LGT. Basically, those instructions worked pretty well for me to a point... then my friend and I had to improvise a bit. Before completely getting the USDM FSB out, we first noted where it sat (while still hooked up to endlinks) relative to the exhaust pipe and the exhaust shielding. It rested about 1cm above the exhaust shielding, and the exhaust shielding has about 3 mm in between it and the exhaust pipe itself. This way, we could determine exactly how much of the exhaust shielding would get in the way and therefore need to be cut away to fit the newer larger 23mm Cusco bar (which is straight through in the middle of the bar, and didn't contain any bends like the USDM stock one). So, we had to remove that particular section of the exhaust shielding, which was bolted onto neighboring but unimposing sections of more exhaust shielding, by 4 nuts & 4 bolts (12mm I think). After undoing the nuts/bolts, we really had to work to get this part of the exhaust shielding out, and we bent it alot in the process, but the metal is thin, and can be bent back pretty easily, so no worries. The piece is about ~6 inches by ~15 inches, and is shaped semi-circularly, as it fits around the TOP side of the exhaust pipe.

 

NOTE: We HAD to get this piece of the exhaust shielding out to access 2 of the nuts/bolts that were holding the USDM FSB in, so basically, as far as we could see, the USDM FSB can't be taken out until the exhaust shielding in that area is removed first.

 

Once the piece was totally out, we 'test fit' the new FSB (with that section of the exhaust shielding disconnected and on the floor). This let us confirm that we were going to cut the exhaust shielding in the appropriate spot by first seeing how the new FSB sat in place. So, we determined what spot to cut and we cut a circle that has about a 3 inch diameter. (On another post somewhere, one guy who I had pm'ed recommended using a dremel tool, but ours sucked and broke, and we didn't have the right cutting tip for it, so we just used a grinder and took to it).

 

We then put the crudely modified piece of exhaust shielding back into place, which took some time, frustration, and a little hammering. Once it was back in there, we let it sit unbolted. Then, we attached the new Cusco 23mm FSB by hooking it up to the endlinks and the 2 mounting bushings. After that, we went back to put on and tighten the 4 nuts & 4 bolts that hold the exhaust shielding in place to the rest of the exhaust shielding. (Note: It might be tough to make the holes on all the exhaust shielding pieces line up when doing this, as we had bent ours a lot).

 

Then we just tightened everything, and verified that there was a tiny bit of clearance between the new Cusco FSB and the exhaust pipe. After that, we moved onto the RSB which is very straight forward as other posts describe, and we were in business! The process was definitely time consuming, but hopefully this will help.

 

I'm running on the stock endlinks for the Cusco Front and Rear sway bars. I will ride my endlinks until they break; that is if they do.

 

It’s visible that these stock endlinks are stressed slightly more with the Cusco bars on, because of the way the Cusco bars are both shaped at the bar ends and need to connect to the endlinks. (They don't connect straight on, but at a slight diagonal angle.

 

REGARDING THE INFAMOUS CUSCO CLUNK SOUND: I have heard the infamous 'clunk' noise every now and then with the FSB when I start my car, but I was expecting to hear this because a lot of other people said they did. It only occurs immediately when I start my car, and it is just a mild clunk sound, on the driver's side about where the FSB is. I think that this may have nothing to do with the modified exhaust shielding, because the exhaust is on the passenger's side, and I can tell that the noise wasn't coming from there. The clunk noise has never happened while driving, and I have driven my car hard for about 350 miles since install to see if I could make the noise happen... and it hasn't, so I'm not worried. Every few days for the next few weeks I'll put the car on ramps & crawl under the ride for 5 minutes to make sure everything is tight and in place. I did that yesterday after the clunk had happened for the 7th or 8th time and everything was just as we had set it... nothing visibly wrong at least.

 

 

Thanks Kevin from Meziere Enterprises for helping with the install!

Let me be the first to thank you on behalf of all NA legacy owners and people did installed the FSB and posted details about.

 

Keep up the good work, I know there is one or few articles out there and I did search for it but never really got any in-depth detail. Thank you BayArea06NAmt. Now can you so kindly show more pics of the install in the car? One pic is great but can you get a few more shots to show how the fitment looks on the legacy. Greatly appreciated.

 

P.S. I got this bookmarked for future reference.

Let me be the first to thank you on behalf of all NA legacy owners and people did installed the FSB and posted details about.

 

Keep up the good work, I know there is one or few articles out there and I did search for it but never really got any in-depth detail. Thank you BayArea06NAmt

.

Now can you so kindly show more pics of the install in the car? One pic is great but can you get a few more shots to show how the fitment looks on the legacy. Greatly appreciated.

 

P.S. I got this bookmarked for future reference.

ScoobNewb007... In the next few days I'll try to take a few more pictures. I took the above pic when the car was off of the ramps, and of the few shots I took from both sides of the exhaust, the above did the clearest job of showing what's going on.

 

Pictures of the FSB connecting to bushing mounts and enlinks on this car are going to be about identical to the LGT, and many pics of those are around.

Great write up and thanks!

 

Can you share your driving impressions?

Are there any issues with the bar hitting the headers or anything? I actually attempted this a couple of years back, and decided that I did not want to hack anything or risk the abrasions/hits. But it is a good alternative to finding the NA Legacy bar that Cusco supposedly makes. None of the vendors I contacted ever got back to me on sourcing that NA-specific bar:( . I applaud your handiwork. Enjoy the car. Sways make a BIG difference.

Moved to Suspension and brakes, please try and start threads in the forum that suits the topic best, thanks

RE: Sponge; driving impressions:

*This is probably going to sound very similar to any LGT reviews of sway upgrades

-Keep in mind: As stated before, I have an '06 with stock springs, struts, & tires. Car has had ~750 miles of twisties, poorly paved roads, and highway driving since install of Cusco non-adjustable 23mm FSB, 21mm RSB, & AVO RSB mounting bracket reinforcements (the orange things). Also got the Cusco front strut tower brace (added prior to sways... made a slight difference on it's own).

Driving Impressions: Body roll is hugely improved; all but completely gone. When taking tight turns at 25+ mph, the car no longer understeers, at all! The entire car remains extremely flat, and the front of the car 'turns in' to the turn quicker, and more responsively. It feels as though the car is pivoting, or rotating better, from it's rear. I can actually feel that the tires have better contact with the road when turning tight or accelerating through sweeping curves (The don't screech or sound like they're rolling). The handling has improved significantly, and the traction/grip (as far as the stock tires are concerned) has increased a bit as well. There is also less lag or floatiness in the steering input; it feels like when I turn the steering wheel the car responds quicker, always with the front remaining flat (and back too...) Lastly, there is less warning when reaching the (stock) tires' grip limits.

Contrary to what I'd read in many other sway bar posts, the ride quality barely decreased, if at all (And Cuscos are some of the stiffest bars, too). The car feels like stock but a bit more composed at all speeds, and when other people are in the car, they have no idea anything is different until I seemlessly take turns at higher speeds and the car stays totally flat. Also, strangely enough, squat/dive when accelerating or braking seems to have lessened a bit.

*I considered getting springs, but given the way this setup performs, (for my taste), I think they would be unnecessary. I would only do them to reduce the wheel well gap, but with the above setup I don't risk scraping the bottom any more than before.

RE: NALegacy - "sways make a BIG difference." <-- That's for true.

Upon install, I didn't see anything where there would be contact, but I can't completely verify that this is the case while driving. As I mentioned in the initial post, regarding the 'clunk' sound, I can say with certainty the following from my experience...

-The clunk happens only immediately when I start my car, and it happens inconsistently

-It doesn't sound like it's coming from where the Front Sway Bar is

-The clunk seems to happen when the car has been parked outside in the cold (LGT owners spoke of the same thing... so this is not unique)

-The FSB hasn't made a single noise/clunk while in motion, turning hard, under full throttle or hard downshifting, braking, etc...

-There are proposed solutions to this that I'll get around to one of these days which involve glueing PVC rubber in between the FSB rubber bushings and the FSB mounts, as to give them a tighter fit. Also, other members have mentioned making sure their endlinks are tight enough (~30 ft lb), or even making them tighter. One member added extra washers to his endlinks, too. ---All are possible solutions that others say fix this minor issue.

Let's say that maybe the FSB does make contact with the exhaust pipe when I start the car, possibly causing the clunk. Next time I have it on ramps I'll get under with a light and take a look to see if any of the blue paint from the Cusco FSB has been scratched directly above where we cut the exhaust shielding, indicating rubbing or contact.

I'm extremely happy that I took the risk and made this setup possible. No regrets.

...If my car blows up I will change my opinion though.

This sounds exactly like what I want to do! Thanks a lot for the feedback...

thats tight man. i thinkin of gettin perrin coilovers and cusco f/r sway bars. wat u think?

thats tight man. i thinkin of gettin perrin coilovers and cusco f/r sway bars. wat u think?

 

perrin makes coilovers for our cars?I dont think that they do...

 

 

and yeah, let us know how it works out forya...id be really interested...although i like my tail happy 2.5i:lol:

shit my bad man, i was talkin about megan racing coilovers. i always get those two confused. wtf!

kiyanichenko...

 

I think Keefe, god of suspension, advised doing sways last, as a means of fine-tuning how the car handles. If you do coilovers you might find that upgrading to stiffer sways would be unnecessary.

 

In my case, I just went straight to Cusco F/R sways from stock ride... it's ultimately gonna be a matter of individual preference...

kiyanichenko...

 

I think Keefe, god of suspension, advised doing sways last, as a means of fine-tuning how the car handles. If you do coilovers you might find that upgrading to stiffer sways would be unnecessary.

 

In my case, I just went straight to Cusco F/R sways from stock ride... it's ultimately gonna be a matter of individual preference...

At all depends on you.

I had megan coilovers on my car and they were set to pretty stiff, the car didnt loose all its body role id say about 60%to40% (these are guesstimations on behalf of my ass) if that on stock sways.

I recently had a car accident and bent one of the coils so im going back to stock suspension, I do have a cusco rear sway in my room and waiting for my whiteline front sway. Ill try to post updates when the front sway gets here and when ill install it.

^please do

so just for the record: The only fitment issue as far as you know is the exhaust shielding? was there any other fitment issues to go along with the front sway bar that you could visably see? Great write up by the way. i guess it is safe to say that you took the leap that so many of us did not want to do.

RaGe,

 

Keep in mind I installed the non-adjustable Cusco 23mm FSB. I'm not sure, but it's worth considering the possibility that other front sway bars have different bends along with their different diameters...

 

For the record: The only fitment issue I encountered (with the Cusco bar) was that regarding the exhaust shielding. I could not visibly see anything else.

 

As I mentioned somewhere before, the bar ends, meaning where the FSB hooks up to the endlinks, are bent at an outward angle about 80 degrees, whereas the USDM FSB has bar ends that are closer to 90 degrees, or vertical...

 

think " l " versus half of the letter " V "

 

I don't think this would be considered a 'fitment issue' because the FSB still hooks up to the endlinks easily and properly, but you can tell that the endlinks might be a bit more stressed or flexed as a result of being hooked up to the FSB in this position. I don't think there's any way around this because I remember reading that this hookup is the same on LGTs... (still talking about with the Cusco bar).

 

Also, I read that Keefe and some other people determined that stock endlinks are as good/durable as any, and that it wouldn't necessarily be worth the extra bucks for aftermarket endlinks... also, aftermarket endlinks might not fit as well as stock. If/when my stock ones break, I'll get more... gotta pay to play, right?

 

Just some things to consider. Now you take the leap...

UPDATE:

 

Got the car on ramps and went under to take a look at things... Here's what I observed...

 

1. As best as I could visibly see, the blue paint on the Cusco FSB above the exhaust pipe has not rubbed off anymore than when it was installed, so therefore the two probably haven't been rubbing/scraping.

 

2. I was able to put a thin piece of cardboard in between the exhaust pipe and the FSB and move it around, and when I removed it and looked at it, it had no scrapes or marks, helping to confirm that the above is true. (I did this just to make sure that the part of the bar I could not see clearly wasn't making contact with the pipe).

 

3. Bushings and endlinks looked good, everything was tight... it's now been around 900 miles since install.

 

The clunk still happens infrequently and inconsistently... under the same circumstances as I listed earlier... I haven't attempted one of the solutions yet because the clunk issue, for me, hasn't been a big deal.

 

Hope this helps...

thanks for the update. I am going to have to pull up the cusco 23mm non adjustable FSB and start comparing to others. I have COBB rear along with endlinks so i would kind of like to keep it the same all the round if this makes any sense. but if fitment issues occur with the cobb i am sure i would be more than happy getting a cusco. but thanks for the update.

It's been about 2k+ miles since install and I want to make a clarification.

 

The noise that I thought to be the 'Cusco clunk' is actually the exhaust pipe or a bit of the exhaust shielding that I may not have cut away enough of instantly tapping against the front sway bar when I start the engine.

 

When getting a few routine things done at the dealer, I spoke with the tech while my car was on a lift. I explained that since the FSB was installed, when I start the car, occassionally (50% of times) there is a popping or clunking sound that sounds like it is coming from under the hood. It sounds like the louder version of someone cracking a knuckle. This brief contact which causes the noise is apparently due to the engine torquing the exhaust enough when the car is started (on occassion), and that the limited clearance allows the contact.

 

I had the tech check the endlinks for the FSB and RSB and he said they were in fine shape; he also tightened them tighter than spec.

 

*I have still had absolutely no noises of any kind when the car is in motion.

beautiful i cant wait till mine are done

LONG TERM UPDATE: It's been about 10k miles since install of the Cusco F/R sway bars + AVO RSB mounting brackets on the 2.5i.

 

I took the car to the dealer today for an oil/air filter change, and asked to have the tech closely check all the sway bar endlinks and look at how the FSB was positioned.

 

Everything was/is totally fine. Endlinks are in great shape, and I've pushed the car very hard around turns since installing the sways last spring. So, this is another post confirming that OEM endlinks work great with larger aftermarket sways and hard driving, as long as the bar-ends of the sways fit reasonably well.

 

The previously mentioned 'clunk' noise now happens even less often... maybe, at most, 25% of times I start the car. There continues to be no noise coming from the sway bars while driving, going over bumps, etc... Also, I haven't regreased the sway bar bushings since install and they make no noise and still look fine.

 

2.5i owners... go do F/R sway bars (at your own risk, I assume no responsibility for your actions blah blah blah)! They make an incredible difference. Turn-in is always there, understeer is gone, and upon traction loss the breakaway is usually neutral unless you use the throttle to cause oversteer. Just go get a high-powered ceramic grinding tool (~$40), spend 10 minutes cuttin up the heat shield as previously described, and you're basically ready to fit the FSB of your choice.