If they have technical data, which I would expect them to, then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Let's hope so, but you better call soon. I suspect they are more interested in closing down and selling out their inventory than answering questions about one of their parts that is causing damage to cars. Then again, maybe they don't care anymore now that they are going out of business. Whatever you learn please pass it on.

 

Just a bit of a reality check, I did the math. There will be roughly 100,000 TSXs on the road at the end of 2007. We have 2 people with this issue constituting .002% of the future population. I think we all should liberally (only time I'll use that word ) apply lithium grease to prevent any binding between the bushings and the bar. This should eliminate concerns around side to side movement of the bar. Just a thought.

 

from 15mm to:
18mm = increase of 107% (means 207% stiffness of the original)
19mm = 157% (257% of original)
20mm = 216%
21mm = 284%
22mm = 363%
23mm = 453%
24mm = 555%

 

Oops! I left the camera in the trunk again!

 

aarong, this is for you:

 

I have a question regarding the poly bushings. Does anyone know of a way to keep the grease in the area between the bushing and the bar, without having to get a new set of bushings with the zerk fitting? ie: Can I take a sharp utility knife and cut tiny channels/grooves on the inside fo the bushing, to allow a small area for grease to sit? If I recall correctly, the simple ES poly bushings have no channels in there at all for grease, and it likely gets squeezed out in a hurry with the forces the bar puts on the area.

 

Why not just take the bolts off every once and awhile to open the bushing up and make sure you get the greese in there?

 

Thanks Aaron for quoting what any of us could've pulled off Whiteline's site.
Sadly it's useless since no-one knows if the bars are the same material, solid or hollow, wall thickness (if hollow), nor bent in the same position, to the same degree as the OEM.
I've emailed Whiteline and await to see if they reply.

 

The channels on my zerk fitted RSB bushings are about the width of a utility knife blade and are complete around the circumference. I'd be too afraid of messing the bushing up. I mean, taking the bushing off 2x per year should suffice (waiting for Dr. JTso to chime in). On top of that and making sure you torque the bolts correctly.

 

That is what i would have done. I wouldn't think you'd need to do it more than 2 times a year and i don't see that being a problem.

Regarding what PJS said about the differences in the bar, i measured the angles of the bar and they were bent in the same manor however, i don't know if the bar is solid or "hollow." You could probably just drop the bar and be able to tell the difference though....lol. I would assume it is solid....

JTso will clear things up

 

Personally, I strictly use silicone grease for all poly D-bushings. I installed a set on my 98 Civic and I didn't have to re-grease after 7+ years. Same for my truck after 4 years, the Prelude after 3 years. I reapplied the grease for the TSX simply because switching swaybar. The bushings with the grooves inside are the best as it retain the grease better for longer service interval. The non-groove bushings tend to squeeze out the grease when the swaybar slides on the bushings. The Progress bar uses flanges on the swaybar to keep it from sliding or limiting the slide movement, and it uses D-bushings with the inner grooves. The Progress is a better design bar IMO.

 

Anyone have a part number for the Energy Suspension D-bushings that replace the 22mm ones normally recommended for the Comptech bar, but that HAVE GROOVES?

Or do we have to go with the modify-the-zerk-fitting-bushings-to-fit approach? I'm not concerned with having the zerk fittings, but want the grooves, if possible.

 

Edit (damn rule): This is the type of bushing I want. If anyone is selling the Progress bushings separate (long-shot, I know), let me know!

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...1&postcount=49

 

Just contact Progress and ask for their 22mm bushings.

 

Click here for an option Summit Racing

The only modifications I had to do to these was hone the the bolt holes closer to the bushing by about 1/8 each side and then make the washer look like a D so they could be closer to the bushing too.

 

your 100,000 count only counts for the tsx'es on the road, and does not take into account the number of tsx'es with the comptech rsb mod?

i'm not even sure if the number of comptech rsb modded tsx'es can be attained...

dammit. i have the comptech rsb in my trunk ready for installation too. decisions, decisions...

 

i was thinking of that too regarding the numbers.

in the poll within the other thread, there are a total of 25 comptech rear sway bar users, 2 of which incurred damage. 8% of users suffered damaged w/ modified competch bars. that's a pretty small sample to judge on, and doesn't even begin to account for other variables such as year of car, other mods, driving style, etc...

still, the fact that this COULD happen makes me really wary of installing my progress bar. but like others have said, i guess that's the nature of modding. you do it at your own risk. even if progress came on here and explained all their research and affirmed that their bar won't break the mounts, who can really say if it will/won't happen?

maybe i'll buy the a-spec suspension and do that first. haha.

 

But the RSB makes such a difference! It really drives like a different car... I couldn't beleive it after I drove it last night after it was installed.... you stay FLAT I love it.

 

As with everything, it is just an estimate. I just posted that up to save people the trouble of dlding the whiteline PDF.

 

the poll was created for informational purposes. i wouldn't consider those numbers as the deciding factor to a go/no go decision for a comptech rsb install, although it has caught my attention.

remember, the poll only figures in members of acurazine. who knows how many owners worldwide are rsb-upgraded, has/has not experienced issues, and are not familiar with acurazine and/or have not participated in the poll...

having said that. the discussion here has made me become more aware of the potential problems. this thread is great, and as long as members continue to express their opinions/experience, we'll all find fixes (other than the ones already discussed here).

 

^

to add to my post above. i'd like to hear the experiences of the owners in singapore. i know we do have a good number here, and from past pics, threads, it seems as if they do track the car on an occasional basis.

 

Ah! Okay, fair dinkums.
Still no news from the others yet.
Must also clarify that the Swift numbers are against the Euro R OEM bar, which we suspect is stiffer than the TSX/Accord CL9's.
So, it skewiffs the position slightly since I would expect the others to come back with numbers compared to the CL9's.

 

I was looking at it as an overall failure rate of that specific part on the car, regardless of modification or not. Even so, I think it is pretty reasonable to say that if you keep that bushing liberally greased, you should have no reason to have this issue.

 

The EuroR oem bar is 14mm.

 

I thought it was 15mm, like the TSX's, and it was the Accord 2.4's that were 14mm?

 

The European Accord, Australian Accord Euro CL9s and EuroR CL7 have 14mm bars. Not sure about the TSX. I thought the TSX had a 14mm as well but everyone reports 15mm.

The USDM and AUDM Accords are not a CL series though...

 

The TSX has 15mm RSB. Note part #4 bushing size from the link.

 

ah. gotcha.

 

And finally.... here it is!

I wonder what's that hole on the right of the top bolt for....

 

I had this happen to me a little while ago...
Find an welder that handles industrial work... thats what I did.
I just showed them how the RSB was supported and they took it over from there...

Either that or find a place that welds roll-cages or specializes in 4x4/off-road welding.

The place that I took it to had a sign out front that said "Welding no job too small". :P

 

drkangel348: Out of curiousity, what did that cost you? It might help everyone looking at the RSB from a cost-effectiveness standpoint, factor everything into the equation better.

aarong: Do you really think the rubber hose will prevent the RSB from shifting at all? Rubber is inherently very soft and pliable -- I'd think that w/ the forces required to move a RSB, that the rubber would just compress/flex and not really do anything. Just wondering...

 

Well, you just do what you can. If you use plastic, it will crack/shatter and if you use metal, it will cut into your bushing.

 

What's the name of the place you took it to?

 

That's kind of like looking at the incidence of lung cancer in the population, not differentiating between smoker and non-smoker, and concluding that just a few won't kill ya. I agree with your overall assertion though, that the probability of this happening seems to be low, based only on the people on this board. However, it seems to be somewhat of a pain in the ass to get fixed, if you are unlucky enough to have it break on you, so the risk is not insignificant.

 

I think it gets more insignificant if you do routine greasing on it.

 

My

I crawled under today to take a look. With great relief I discovered no cracking or spiderwebbing or any other evidence of impending failure. I decided to re-lube the ES bushings. When I took the bushings off I noticed that they were slightly worn on the inside, like they've been rubbing against the swaybar. There were even remnants of polyurethane on the swaybar itself. I cleaned off the bar and wrapped it with teflon tape this time. I still had some of the lube that came with the bushings so I again coated the inner surface of the bushings with lube. This is when I noticed that this lube is not very slippery. When I got some on my fingers and rubbed them together it felt very "tacky" and "gummy". It certainly didn't feel like it would allow the bar to slide back and forth through the bushing or allow it to rotate easily within the bushing. I reassembled everything and, so far, no squishing noise. But, I'm wondering if the next time I lube the bushings I should use lithium grease.

If the swaybar is not allowed to move freely within the bushings could it impose a torque on the mount that would, after a period of time, cause failure? I'm wondering if we're barking up the wrong tree. It may not be the swaybar or the bushings but the lack of proper lubrication between the two. Just a thought.

 

That was the same thing I experienced wiht the white lithium grease. I switch to high temperature lithium grease (gray in colour) and it was all good with no clunking for a looooong while.

It could be. That also means my RSB with the locking kit will have more stress.

 

I suspect side to side movement isn't as important as letting it rotate inside the bushing.

 

35$


I took it to a welder in Garden Grove called D.S.G. Metal Fab, they specialize in military and commercial welding and are repair specialists.

The address is:
12850 Western Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92841
(714) 697-7077