For those of you who are upgrading your rear sway bar please read

[JonnyRotten]

I've seen a lot of questions/comments around people upgrading their RSB.
The one comment that seems to be popping up every once and awhile is about whether or not the reinforcement plates for the LCA that comes with the Progress 22mm and 24mm bar are necessary.
Well here's what might happen if you don't use them:

 

[Tak]

@JonnyRotten
Good information. How about Eibach sway bar kit? I don't seem to see the Eibach sway bar kit includes the reinforcement plate.

 

[BWill9886]

@JonnyRotten
Good information. How about Eibach sway bar kit? I don't seem to see the Eibach sway bar kit includes the reinforcement plate.

It's smaller and not stiff enough to warrant it.

Just for clarifications sake, the 22mm Progress bar does not come with the reinforcement plates.

You are also not supposed to run the OEM endlinks as they are incredibly weak and known to also break with these bars. Moogs are recommended.

 

[Nomar06]

This was a common issue with the 8thgens. All rear sway upgrades should use a reinforcement bracket.

 

[Tak]

@Nomar06, @BWill9886
Thanks.
What if I choose the upgrade with Si rear sway bar for my LX?
From another site, it indicates that we can use 2014 Si rear sway bar for 2012-13 with the following.
52300-TR7-A51 Rear Stabilizer Bar $52.05
93401-10020-008 x 4 Stabilizer Holder Bolts (You can reuse your old ones. I just prefer new bolts on new parts) $1.10 ea
52306-TR7-A51 x 2 Bushing $12.75 ea
52308-TR7-A00 x 2 Bushing Holder $2.33 ea
52317-TR7-A01 Right Bracket $10.67
52318-TR7-A01 Left Bracket $9.72
93404-10030-08 x 4 Bracket Bolts with Washers $1.13 ea
90212-SA5-003 x 2 End Link Self Locking Nut (Again, you can reuse your old ones) $0.57 ea
Shinetsu Grease for the bushings.

It does not show we need endlink. However, I suspect we also need endlink to avoid the similar issue of above. What do you think?

Thank you

 

[JonnyRotten]

It's smaller and not stiff enough to warrant it.

Just for clarifications sake, the 22mm Progress bar does not come with the reinforcement plates.

You are also not supposed to run the OEM endlinks as they are incredibly weak and known to also break with these bars. Moogs are recommended.

@BWill9886 the Progress 24mm RSB comes with new adjustable end links.
Personally I like the Moog links better so I have a set of both front and rear on order to use with my new RSB.

 

[Sinub]

Good thing I'm on a 19mm Eibach sway bar.

 

[JakeDBP]

I've seen a lot of questions/comments around people upgrading their RSB.
The one comment that seems to be popping up every once and awhile is about whether or not the reinforcement plates for the LCA that comes with the Progress 22mm and 24mm bar are necessary.
Well here's what might happen if you don't use them:

View attachment 51485 View attachment 51486

Ouchies.

 

[Nix]

It's smaller and not stiff enough to warrant it.

Just for clarifications sake, the 22mm Progress bar does not come with the reinforcement plates.

You are also not supposed to run the OEM endlinks as they are incredibly weak and known to also break with these bars. Moogs are recommended.

The progress 22mm bar was coming with the plates last I knew. Did you order recently and not receive plates? If you didn't I would shoot a message to Progress. As a last resort redshift motorsports should have the plates available separately. Im pretty sure this issue is why Progress started including the plates with every order.


The OEM endlinks are plenty strong. These images should reinforce that if anything. The weak link has been proven to be the mounting point on the lower control arm, not the end link. If the link was the weak point it would have broken. The Moogs are not recommended. I only suggest them as an upgrade to the OEM end link if they are very rusty and will be hard to remove. If your end links are new-ish and in good shape I would use them. If you live in the northeast and everything under your car is a rusted hell then replacing the end links is most likely easier than trying to reuse anything. OEMs or Moogs are fine. The moog end links are stiffer and thicker but this also adds to the effect of the rear sway bar. Same as adding higher durometer bushings.


I have yet to see an image or report of a broken OEM end link with either a 22mm or 24mm bar.

 

[Nix]

@Nomar06, @BWill9886
Thanks.
What if I choose the upgrade with Si rear sway bar for my LX?
From another site, it indicates that we can use 2014 Si rear sway bar for 2012-13 with the following.
52300-TR7-A51 Rear Stabilizer Bar $52.05
93401-10020-008 x 4 Stabilizer Holder Bolts (You can reuse your old ones. I just prefer new bolts on new parts) $1.10 ea
52306-TR7-A51 x 2 Bushing $12.75 ea
52308-TR7-A00 x 2 Bushing Holder $2.33 ea
52317-TR7-A01 Right Bracket $10.67
52318-TR7-A01 Left Bracket $9.72
93404-10030-08 x 4 Bracket Bolts with Washers $1.13 ea
90212-SA5-003 x 2 End Link Self Locking Nut (Again, you can reuse your old ones) $0.57 ea
Shinetsu Grease for the bushings.

It does not show we need endlink. However, I suspect we also need endlink to avoid the similar issue of above. What do you think?

Thank you

You don't need the end link. The end link did not cause that failure. You need the reinforcement plates. Stock end links are fine. At a minimum you should get new end link nuts. They should be a one time use item but are most likely "ok" to reuse once or twice. They have a slightly ovalized shape to help lock them in place. They are like $0.60 though so a few new ones shouldn't kill you. DO get the plates. Forget heavier endlnks unless your stock ones are shot. I suspect they aren't.

 

[SlySi]

My 22mms RSB came with plates and three options for reinforcement

1 - 1 bolt
2- 1 drill hole and add another bolt (included)
3- weld plate

 

[BWill9886]

@BWill9886 the Progress 24mm RSB comes with new adjustable end links.
Personally I like the Moog links better so I have a set of both front and rear on order to use with my new RSB.

I'm aware, but I should have added that. I agree with you on preferring the Moogs, as people have had issues with the Progress end links not holding their settings.

The progress 22mm bar was coming with the plates last I knew. Did you order recently and not receive plates? If you didn't I would shoot a message to Progress. As a last resort redshift motorsports should have the plates available separately. Im pretty sure this issue is why Progress started including the plates with every order.


The OEM endlinks are plenty strong. These images should reinforce that if anything. The weak link has been proven to be the mounting point on the lower control arm, not the end link. If the link was the weak point it would have broken. The Moogs are not recommended. I only suggest them as an upgrade to the OEM end link if they are very rusty and will be hard to remove. If your end links are new-ish and in good shape I would use them. If you live in the northeast and everything under your car is a rusted hell then replacing the end links is most likely easier than trying to reuse anything. OEMs or Moogs are fine. The moog end links are stiffer and thicker but this also adds to the effect of the rear sway bar. Same as adding higher durometer bushings.


I have yet to see an image or report of a broken OEM end link with either a 22mm or 24mm bar.

I did not receive plates. I didn't do anything about it, as their instructions (at the time at least which was a year or so ago) only mentioned using them for the 24mm. I'll take a look again though.

I don't doubt the the main problem is the bracket, but I am just sharing what has been expressed on the other site. There was at least one person claiming a snapped end link and a picture of a pretty bent end link from another owner. These could have been incorrect installs, but there's more to add.

I also tried the OEMs first (as the Moogs weren't in yet) and got some nice contact noise and excessive movement. Multiple checks revealed everything was installed as correctly as could be. Others have expressed the same and I'm just sharing what we have experienced.

 

[littleshak]

I just installed my progress 24mm rsb and my lower control arm looked different than the one above where the end link attaches. I don't know if it's because it's an si or if they changed it for the '15s, but it's doubled up. I still put the reinforcing plate on but couldn't get the second bolt hole drilled because of the angle.

 

[JonnyRotten]

^^ is that your car in the picture @littleshak because it looks like you have two bolts on the reinforcement bracket.

 

[littleshak]

^^ is that your car in the picture @littleshak because it looks like you have two bolts on the reinforcement bracket.

Yes that is my car. The nut on the right is the for the end link. The hole for the second bolt is behind the end link.

 

[JonnyRotten]

Yes that is my car. The nut on the right is the for the end link. The hole for the second bolt is behind the end link.

So what's the nut on the left below the end link?

 

[littleshak]

So what's the nut on the left below the end link?

That the one holding the reinforcement plate in place.

 

[littleshak]

 

[dyl]

It looks like the endlink is sitting on the washer of the plate nut?

 

[littleshak]

It looks like the endlink is sitting on the washer of the plate nut?

It is but the picture makes it look worse than it is. There's no pressure on it, it's just the rubber boot overlapping.