Whiteline rear swaybar install and review UPDATED AGAIN installed lateral locks on swaybar

I never knew about the swaybar pre-load. Does not having this dialed in make the car less predictable? Could it benefit having more or less pre-load?

Cscott_xGen said:

I never knew about the swaybar pre-load. Does not having this dialed in make the car less predictable? Could it benefit having more or less pre-load?

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As far as swaybars go, any preload is bad. If there’s any preload on the swaybar, it will be twisted even though the car is going down a straight flat road. The swaybar should only twist when the vehicle is cornering. It is meant to resist the roll of the vehicle, if it’s preloaded it’s essentially trying to roll the vehicle while going straight.

While having a preloaded swaybar won’t make the car unpredictable, the cornering state will be different turning left than turning right. It will resist roll more in one way than the other.

I did everything you said and can still hear some type of noise. I have a feeling it has to do with the bushing that I had on the other side of the threaded end link. It was slightly damaged so that when I put it on the lower part, over the metal rod, it wouldn't really rotate/spin. And holy crap was that a pain to get the holes to line up again.. that didn't seem right. Makes me think the end links are too short?

infiniteraiders said:

I did everything you said and can still hear some type of noise. I have a feeling it has to do with the bushing that I had on the other side of the threaded end link. It was slightly damaged so that when I put it on the lower part, over the metal rod, it wouldn't really rotate/spin. And holy crap was that a pain to get the holes to line up again.. that didn't seem right. Makes me think the end links are too short?

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The endlinks at their shortest adjustment are already longer than the stock endlinks. When trying to line up the holes, is the link just tight to move around in the U channel of the control arm? Or are you fighting the spring tension of the swaybar? Remember that you need to be lining up the holes with the weight of the vehicle on the suspension, not at full droop. Otherwise, yes it’ll be very difficult to align those holes.

L8apex said:

The endlinks at their shortest adjustment are already longer than the stock endlinks. When trying to line up the holes, is the link just tight to move around in the U channel of the control arm? Or are you fighting the spring tension of the swaybar? Remember that you need to be lining up the holes with the weight of the vehicle on the suspension, not at full droop. Otherwise, yes it’ll be very difficult to align those holes.

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It was a bit of both since I had the rear of the car up on jack stands. But once it was back on the ground, I went back and tightened all the bolts/nuts.

Thanks for all the valuable advice from all those that have posted. Just installed the WL 22mm Rear bar. on my 2017 Sport Touring. I backed the rear up on Rhino ramps and worked in driveway. I took off the stock bar with the end links attached. they were tight as hell, but I have lots of tools. I used a long handle hex wrench and a long handle wrench. I placed the allen key/ hex wrench on ground and stood on it then I used a second wrench as an extension on top the first one to create a makeshift breaker bar. That was the easy side. The other end link lost the center threads where the allen key goes and came off half way and then would only spin and got stuck. Stumped me for about 15 minutes. Then I used a locking bird beak plier on inner thread (that more or less passes through the bar so are not important,) and my air gun to pop it off the rest of the way.
Next PITA was getting the thicker bar in. I tried prying the exhaust out of the way, finally what worked was jacking the car up on one side a bit. The arm that holds the coil spring lowered enough to get the bar in. Thanks again to one that suggested taking it out as a unit and putting it back as a unit (with end links attached).
Finally, I tried to catch all 6 bolts and make sure it lined up before tightening up. Once everything lined up, I decided to remove the lower end link bolts to make sure the brackets seated properly. Then reinstalled them. I had to use a prybar to lift the bar to allow the bolt to go in easily.
MISC: I used the entire packet of grease in the bushings, half of which smushed out during installing the bar. (maybe should have applied it after the bar was spooned in?!)
Since the end link to sway bar bolts were on hell tight, I used some blue lock tite reinstalling them.
And finally, the WL bar comes light grey, so I sprayed it Black for super stealth. It looks hell stock
Hope this helps - sorry I did not take any pics with my greasy hands.

infiniteraiders said:

I did everything you said and can still hear some type of noise. I have a feeling it has to do with the bushing that I had on the other side of the threaded end link. It was slightly damaged so that when I put it on the lower part, over the metal rod, it wouldn't really rotate/spin. And holy crap was that a pain to get the holes to line up again.. that didn't seem right. Makes me think the end links are too short?

Click to expand...

Just thought about something that I’d share with you and the community. I’ve checked your swaybar install, I’ve checked my swaybar install, and found nothing loose. I’m starting to think the noise is coming from elsewhere. Imagine that the front and rear subframes (which house all the suspension) are independent of each other (which they are). And they are held together by the car’s chassis, which in a perfect world, would be 100% stiff, but realistically has some flex in it. Now by making the roll resistance stiffer by upgrading swaybars, the front and rear subframes are fighting each other and the chassis is trying to keep everything straight.

I have a feeling the noise is coming from the hatchback latch area. Of the Civic chassis, the hatch has the furthest point from the hinge to the hatch, so any kind of twist in the chassis would move the hatch side to side. In fact, the coupe and sedan trunks don’t even hinge the same way as the hatch and would be affected even less.

I not sure, just throwing it out there, maybe get some feedback. I’m sure the CTR chassis is stiffer than the regular hatchback, but I wonder if there’s a bolt on part (like the trunk bars in the DC2 Type R) that could help with chassis stiffness.

L8apex said:

Just thought about something that I’d share with you and the community. I’ve checked your swaybar install, I’ve checked my swaybar install, and found nothing loose. I’m starting to think the noise is coming from elsewhere. Imagine that the front and rear subframes (which house all the suspension) are independent of each other (which they are). And they are held together by the car’s chassis, which in a perfect world, would be 100% stiff, but realistically has some flex in it. Now by making the roll resistance stiffer by upgrading swaybars, the front and rear subframes are fighting each other and the chassis is trying to keep everything straight.

I have a feeling the noise is coming from the hatchback latch area. Of the Civic chassis, the hatch has the furthest point from the hinge to the hatch, so any kind of twist in the chassis would move the hatch side to side. In fact, the coupe and sedan trunks don’t even hinge the same way as the hatch and would be affected even less.

I not sure, just throwing it out there, maybe get some feedback. I’m sure the CTR chassis is stiffer than the regular hatchback, but I wonder if there’s a bolt on part (like the trunk bars in the DC2 Type R) that could help with chassis stiffness.

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Hmm.. good point. I was thinking I may have under greased the rubber mounts. But now I'm wondering if a chassis brace kit would help.. like something from Ultra Racing.

L8apex said:

Sorry for the blurry pic but that’s how the top and bottom of the link should look. The washers don’t come with the kit, I got them from Home Depot. I just used them so the hardware doesn’t mess up the powdecoat on the bar.

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What type of washers did you get at Home Depot? Are they nylon? or metal? Sorry, it's hard to tell from the picture. Also, is that a lateral brace on the SB at the inside of the bushing/clamp? Does it make a noticeable difference?

cekIV said:

What type of washers did you get at Home Depot? Are they nylon? or metal? Sorry, it's hard to tell from the picture. Also, is that a lateral brace on the SB at the inside of the bushing/clamp? Does it make a noticeable difference?

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The washers are metal. The lateral locks can be on either side of the bushing. As long as they are both either inboard or outboard. In theory, you could even have one on each side of one bushing. Is there a noticeable difference? No. They don’t add to the stiffness or the action of the swaybar. They only keep it centered.

Finally installed the whiteline RSB w/ endlinks and i must say due to this thread, it was a breeze! Those famous last words of “this wont take long” before you end up spending 5 hours on a short project never came true lol All the trial and errors prior to this are much appreciated and thanks OP for the detailed responses. Trickiest part for me was pulling the bar out but that only took 5 mins of fiddling around with it. Lubed up those bushings and no weird noises thus far

Looked through this thread and have installed the Whiteline 22mm rear sway bar and white line rear end links correctly as far as I can tell. Daily driving though, the car has terrible clunking in the rear at low speeds and It seems to be getting worse. I’ve checked and everything is still tight (marked bolts with paint at install) Anyone have ideas to get rid of the clunking?

something is either probably loose. Or you need to not set it to the more aggressive setting. Having installed and re-installed the rear sway bar on my 2 civics 4+ times. I know...

I'll be doing the rear bar soon and wanted to see if any of you needed to unbolt the LCA to put the new bar on the car. I was checking out Edge Autosports excellent YouTube video and they did that, but I'd prefer not to as I know from past experience with another car that it can be a PITA to line the bolt holes back up.

No need to move the LCA.

progress technology has a good pdf write up.