Rear Sway Bar for 1990-1997 Accord & 1997-1999 Acura CL
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7th Gear
Joined: Jul 2023
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Rear Sway Bar for 1990-1997 Accord & 1997-1999 Acura CL
As of 2023, there are only two aftermarket sway bars available: ST (Suspension Techniques) and Ultra Racing.
The ST sway bar is 13/16" (21mm), but the design has the bar to crossmember bushings mounted closely together. The creates a lot of bending deflection that negates the increased torsional stiffness. I do not recommend.
The Ultra bar is 3/4" (19mm) and the design mounts in the OE locations.
This bar although smaller in diameter will work as well as the ST bar due to the wider spread between the bushings.
Also, since it follows the OE bends, it will clear OE and aftermarket exhaust pipes.
The Ultra bar includes bushings, but these do not fit the OE Honda straps. You will need to purchase front sway bar bushings for an '87-'91 Honda Civic. These are a bit wider than the strap, but work just fine.
For the end link bushings, only Siberian Bushing currently makes a urethane replacement. You can get a non-urethane polymer in blue color from Mevotech. These are acceptable as well.
The ultra bar will need modified at the end link bushing housings (each end of bar). This needs to be ground and filed to 9/16" wide. They are about .09" oversize as received.
The increase in bar stiffness is diameter of old sway bar to the 4th power compared the new diameter to the 4 power. For example, 14x14x14x14=38416 vs 16x16x16x16=65536. 130321/65536=1.9.
The Ultra bar is 1.9 times more stiff than a CL rear sway.
The large rear sway with urethane bushings is the biggest bang for the buck you can do to make your car handle.
Further handling improvements are made by changing front sway bushings to urethane and changing struts to Koni STR.t. Koni and KYB are the only performance struts available for old Accords as of 2023.
The ST sway bar is 13/16" (21mm), but the design has the bar to crossmember bushings mounted closely together. The creates a lot of bending deflection that negates the increased torsional stiffness. I do not recommend.
The Ultra bar is 3/4" (19mm) and the design mounts in the OE locations.
This bar although smaller in diameter will work as well as the ST bar due to the wider spread between the bushings.
Also, since it follows the OE bends, it will clear OE and aftermarket exhaust pipes.
The Ultra bar includes bushings, but these do not fit the OE Honda straps. You will need to purchase front sway bar bushings for an '87-'91 Honda Civic. These are a bit wider than the strap, but work just fine.
For the end link bushings, only Siberian Bushing currently makes a urethane replacement. You can get a non-urethane polymer in blue color from Mevotech. These are acceptable as well.
The ultra bar will need modified at the end link bushing housings (each end of bar). This needs to be ground and filed to 9/16" wide. They are about .09" oversize as received.
The increase in bar stiffness is diameter of old sway bar to the 4th power compared the new diameter to the 4 power. For example, 14x14x14x14=38416 vs 16x16x16x16=65536. 130321/65536=1.9.
The Ultra bar is 1.9 times more stiff than a CL rear sway.
The large rear sway with urethane bushings is the biggest bang for the buck you can do to make your car handle.
Further handling improvements are made by changing front sway bushings to urethane and changing struts to Koni STR.t. Koni and KYB are the only performance struts available for old Accords as of 2023.
Last edited by bry593; Aug 8, 2023 at 12:36 PM.
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 7
Likes: 2
Correction to the above post:
"The increase in bar stiffness is diameter of old sway bar to the 4th power compared the new diameter to the 4 power. For example, 16x16x16x16=65536 vs 19x19x19x19=130321. 130321/65536=2.0.
The Ultra bar is 2 times more stiff than a CL rear sway."
Mods, feel free to fix the original post and delete this one if you like.
"The increase in bar stiffness is diameter of old sway bar to the 4th power compared the new diameter to the 4 power. For example, 16x16x16x16=65536 vs 19x19x19x19=130321. 130321/65536=2.0.
The Ultra bar is 2 times more stiff than a CL rear sway."
Mods, feel free to fix the original post and delete this one if you like.
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