tnobori1

Well since so many people have helped me with good information on this site, I decided to do a DIY on the '09 sway bar upgrade originally posted by Ballinger. I am not very mechanical, but this was a pretty straight forward install. Start to finish took me about 80 minutes (a lot of which was spent trying to get the old bar out from behind the exhaust pipes, etc).

Parts:
Rear Sway Bar, PN 52300-sja-a11
Rear Sway Bushing, PN 52306-sja-a11
Total price was $59.32 from oemacuraparts.com



Tools:
14 mm deep socket
14 mm wrench
5 mm hex wrench
tire iron
jack and jack-stands


First, jack the car up, put the stands in place, and remove the rear wheels.

Locate the stabilizer link behind the rotor. It's a self-locking nut, so place the hex wrench in the middle and prop it against something solid to keep it from moving; then start loosening the nut with a 14 mm open-end wrench. I recommend doing this first because the link moves around a lot if you remove the brackets holding the bushings first.



Next, remove the two bolts holding the bushing in place.




The bar should now be hanging freely on the exhaust. Because of where I placed my jack-stands, it took me a bit to move things around to get the bar out from under the car.


Place the new bar in and reverse the process.
Note: Make sure you have the FR -> on the new bushings pointing towards the front of the car.


That's it! Enjoy a $60/60-90 minute mod that makes a nice and noticeable impact.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Nice work, lets hear more about the "noticeable impact"

tnobori1

Like the other thread says, I mostly just notice that it tracks a bit flatter. I can take corners a bit faster and feel a little more planted. Kinda hard to quantify something like this, but for $60, it's a no-brainer!

getakey

Careful on Vasco - are they still patrolling like crazy?

tnobori1

YES!!!! The whole road is a double fine zone, and the construction areas are quadruple fine zones! I got a speeding ticket in the MDX a while back, but luckily it was a county citation from an Alco sherrif so it was $100 and it does not go on my driving record! Let's call it a cheap lesson learned!

Zelaya

iTrader: (1)

nice write up tnobori1.

Excused my ignorance but what's the advantage on installing 09 sway bar with the one our vehicle already has.

tnobori1

Thanks! The 2.5G sways are stiffer. Ballinger was the first to document the use of this sway bar on the '05-'08. Here is the link to the original thread.

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-tires-wheels-suspension-92/d-006-2009-sway-bar-update-05-08-parts-list-prices-715573/

Zelaya

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info tnobori1. Have you notice a big improvement on a normal driving or only on corner. Let me know as I may consider this upgrade considering is not expensive.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Right on.

23109VC

I second this. I did this cheap mod and while the change was not night/day, I do think it was noticeable and made the car feel like it took corners better.... worth $60 for SURE.

thephantom

Sways will only help with cornering, not straight-away driving. You can get the ASPEC suspension to help with your ride overall.

vtr1000sp2

tnobori1, when you ordered the parts, did you order only 1 quantity of the bushing or 2?

thephantom

You need two bushings.

vtr1000sp2

Thought so, thanks for confirming.

tnobori1

Yes, I'm sorry, you need two of them!

Zelaya

iTrader: (1)

Do you did a alignment after the install?

vtr1000sp2

Time(s) when you need an alignment:

- height change
- tire change (if you the new tires reveal a pull)
- suspension component change

Think that's about it.