Suspension Techniques Swaybars

Price Paid:  $320.00 from Rutgers Performance

Year / Model Reviewed:
1991 Mustang LX 5.0

Summary:
I bought spring and swaybar kit for my Mustang about 5 years ago. Front bar went on OK but the rear required drilling holes and purchasing new hardware. The holes were not the right size and they forgot to tap them. Through the years the springs have continued to sag and now my car is 1 1/2" lower than when I first but them on. I would not recommend any Suspension Techniques parts.

Similar Products Used:
All types of suspension products from various makers.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
1994 Accord LX

Summary:
Went from a stock (hollow) front bar and no rear bar to solid front and rear. Huge improvement. Used to roll and mush. Now very tight and precise handling, no roll. Almost matches my former 1978 Lancia Beta in cornering. Installation instructions are weak and incorrect for the rear bar. Used the factory manual to figure out rear bar installation on the trailing arms required no drilling since the LX uses the same trailing arms as the EX and already has the necessary mounting holes. Had to remove the exhaust flex coupler pipe to get the front bar on, but not too difficult. Highly recommended, most effective suspension upgrade I've ever made. Put Bridgestone Pontenza 950 tires on and its a great combination.

Strengths:
Outstanding handling. Improved overall smoother ride (maybe the better quality bushings?).

Weaknesses:
Installation instructions are weak and probably wrong for some rear bar installations (drilling probably not required).

Similar Products Used:
Lame hollow OEM front bar.

Price Paid:  $158.00 from Auto Innovations

Year / Model Reviewed:
96 Accord

Summary:
Like others, I too had a problem with fitment and muffler pipe clearence. Other than this, handling was MUCH better than the stock sway bars it replaced. I would buy them again.

Strengths:
Much improved body roll, created a bit more oversteer. Bushing were a bit noisy until break in.

Weaknesses:
Did not care much for the mounting system and hardware. The rear bar uses blocks that drop it down from the body. I prefer that they design it to use factory locations with better hardware. If testing proved that the blocks improved handling they could make it look cleaner.

Similar Products Used:
Neuspeed and Jackson Racing.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1995 Honda Civic EX

Summary:
Suspension techniques sway bar kit. I was a little disappointed with the quality of the kit. First, the rear sway-bar should install without having to drill out any holes in the frame. This is a minor detail, but they should have used bolts and mounts that use existing holes. Second, the front sway bar uses blocks to distance the bar away from the chassis. The blocks did not have a step milled into them to sit flat against the mounting location. The stock sway-bar bushings straps are staggered so the Suspension techniques block that utilizes the same mounting locations should accommodate the staggered mounting heights. Also, the front sway bar hit the catalectic converter heat shield going over heavy dips in the road. This maybe because my car is lowered about 1.8 inches, but still the bar should not hit at all. The next notable point is that the front sway-bar does not reach far enough forward so the end-links require some force in compressing the assembly to get the bolt on. I think all the problems with the front sway bar can be remedied if it was relocated ½ inch forward from its current position. This would require Suspension techniques to re-engineer that lame mounting block they use. A simple work around is to cut the front lip off the catalectic converter heat shield and have custom end-links made so that the force of the sway bar is distributed evenly on the surface of the end-link bushings. I also had a step milled into the mounting blocks so that they would sit flat against the chassis. The performance of the sway bars is good, but could be a little stiffer in the front. My current setup is, Eibach sportline springs, energy suspension polyurethane bushings, whole chassis, Tokico HP shocks (blue), rolling on 16x7 rims (not sure on tire specs). The car handles pretty well, however, I would not buy Suspension techniques sway bars again just because of the problems I have mentioned. If you can live with sub-par fitment then by all means go with Suspension techniques otherwise I recommend going with another brand.

Strengths:
Improves handling

Weaknesses:
Attention paid to details, fitment is not the best

Similar Products Used:
Addco, whiteline, eibach

Price Paid:  $150.00 from used, from classifie

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1995 Honda Accord LX V6 Sedan

Summary:
Very good bang for the buck upgrade. I am using the sway bars with a stock suspension. As expected, the car is much more responsive now, making it feel "smaller". It seems to be more planted now, since the inside tires don't lighten up so much during steady state cornering. It still predominantly understeers, but I have yet to try autocrossing with them, so I don't know how loose the tail end will get under braking or off-throttle turning.

Strengths:
In my opinion, Suspension Techniques has provided the correct stiffness/balance for these swaybars. The included hardware and polyurethane bushings are very robust, and seem like they will not have any problems in the long run. The rear bar utilizes the subframe-to-frame mounting points, which seem to be more solid than the stock mounting points.

Weaknesses:
The instructions are horrible, but you can get by if you're mechanically inclined. Also, the rear bar had clearance issues with my stock exhaust pipe. I ended up going to a local muffler shop... they heated the pipe up till it was red hot, and used a prybar to bend it until it had about an inch of clearance. That only cost me $25.

Similar Products Used:
With the stock suspension, the car used to roll so much in autocrosses that I'd wear out half of the lettering on my sidewalls. Hopefully these bars will prevent that from happening... prematurely rep