i have all stock suspension, not lowered. no rims, no nothing.

i was wondering if getting the comptech sways will help in the handling?

minimal? or does it make a real difference?

also stainless brake lines?

 

Sways make REAL BIG difference... Add low profile 235/40/18 on 18"light rim with Z rated tires ( Toyo T1-S, Yoko ES100, Nitto 555) and you get a killer combo...

 

sway affect the handling the most

 

They miss spoke ...the answer would be H*** Yes.
As far as handling - it made the biggest improvement of any one single mode for me. And you can install yourself in a couple hours.

 

is it posible to do it without lifting the car?

i have no way to lift the car. stock height.

i know the rear might be possible.

 

I did it with a floor jack - lifted one corner on the front - put on the front sway bar, then did the same for the back. My car is lowered so I couldn't have done it without the floor jack. If you can slide under your car and move around you should be able to do it.

Floor jack
Poor mans jack - drive one set of tires up on the curb
...

 

Keep in mind that if you're going to upgrade sways.. upgrade your tires. The sways affect the handling so much that the stock tires do not provide the grip necessary. Don't get me wrong... the tires will grip... but I have read horror stories on here and on ACL.com about people either losing control or almost losing it b/c the stock tires couldn't provide the grip necessary.

Just something to think about....

 

thats if you drive hard right?

cause im not planing to drive hard, well at least until i improve my suspension.

but for now i want something that will reapond more presicly to my turns. i had a eclipse and after the sways oh my god, the car felt like it was screaming to me to take the corner at 40mph.

it felt so much better, just made me more confident to drive my car. overall.

i just want to get the sways. nothing eles for now.

its ok right? nothing gonna go weird on me right?

 

You'll be fine... the only time you'll hear your tires squeeling is if you're turning in hard.

 

You'd have to be driving fairly hard to get into problems with the stock tires. I dove into some corners pretty hard with the stock tires and didn't have problems (ideal conditions, dry surface, warm day, no loose gravel....)...

If you do want to push it then by all means upgrade your tires.

 

are the bars really that easy to install?

i installed a cai and the comptech exhuast and exhuast was really simple, but the cai was ok.

is it easier?

i mean its just unloosing bolts and rebolting them right?

 

Definitely worth doing even if you have everything else stock and you drive aggressively on corners. Out of the factory, they set up the cars to have understeer so people don't get into trouble. The car will push or bury the front end before the rear end comes around and spins you out. The sways make the car more neutral around corners. The car actually feels lighter and more nimble.

You'll know what I mean when you get all 4 wheels to squeal instead of just the front two when you're pushing it.

Istallation is pretty straightforward if you have any mechanical sense. I'f you've done your headers, you should be able to do the sways. Best done on jackstands or ramps.

 

Speaking of Comptech Sways, what's a good price? I'm noticing of course on acura-tl.com, they're going for $299. Any other thoughts on where to purchase for perhaps cheaper?

BTW, there is no mention of a 2003 TL-S version of the Sway Bar (at least here on acura-tl.com) Only goes to 2002. Is there an actual '03 fitted version?

Finally, are there any issues when it comes to a "poor" installation of the Sway Bars (besides them falling off -- heh)? Things such as squeaking, etc.?

Danny

 

Well, there's a group-buy on acl.com and the sways are $296... so I honestly don't think you'll get much cheaper. You also have to keep in mind that Comptech stuff sells for similar prices everywhere b/c they kind of have a say in pricing.

2003 = 2002... so just buy the sways for the 2002 and you'll be fine.

Yes, there are issues from a poor installation... noises such as clunking and squeeking can occur.

 

Ijust got them...but haven't really felt the difference...since the rear is not connected yet when we swaped them out, I found that my connector had snapped on my stock sways.....now i'm just waiting for the dealer to fix it this wednesday....can't wait till it's done!

 

were the bolts hard to take off? the exhuast bolts were a ***** god damn.

 

Nope, of course it will vary based on age of car and road conditions, but mine were very easy.

Follow the FAQ instructions for installing them, if you decide to do it I can add a few things that will save you some significant time.

 

His name is Dean and he's a great guy to talk to and to work with. Since I'm in CA, they were drop shipped direct from Comptech and I had them the next day. Great service.

As long as you follow the instructions, there shouldn't be any squeaking problems. Just wrap the bar with the supplied teflon tape per instructions and you should be good to go.

 

Allout - that's the Group-Buy I was talking about (I know Dean... good guy)... however, we are not allowed to post links to items like that on here which is why I didn't..... and why I had to remove yours. And FYI... his price is no longer at that number... it's up to $296.

 

Thanks for the heads up Juniorbean. Would it help if I plead ignorance?

 

Do the sways make the ride rougher?

 

not the comptech

 

Thought I'd bump this old thread back to the top, since I'm pretty close to making a decision on the purchase of sway bars. I can get 'em for about $309 plus CA tax (so about $330). However, the shop I'm ordering from claims 2.5 to 3 hours of installation at $60 an hour. I'm fine with $100 for an installation, but not $180 (which in my experience, when they say 2.5 to 3 hours, they mean 3 hours). So my question is how long would it take an auto shop to install sways? How long have the users here at acura-tl.com taken to install their sways themselves? For those who took it in, how long did it take?

Danny

 

Danny, while I don't have the Comptech sways (yet) I have installed sway bars on previous cars I have owned.

It shouldn't take the shop more than an hour - especially if they have a lift.

You could do it in about two hours yourself, without a lift.

http://www.acura-tl.com/faq/faq.php#9c

 

I say do it yourself. Extremely simple if you have the work area to jack up your car. All it takes is a few hours at most and some wrenches. Nothing beats the satisfaction of installing the parts yourself.

I've had my sways on for a few months now and oh boy, does the body roll just disappear!!! Now I'm trying to justify getting new tires cuz the stock ones really don't like to stick to the road.

 

For anyone riding on stock MXM4's, changing those for Z rated tires is the best handling upgrade you can do without a doubt.

You wouldn't see Karl Lewis sprinting in deck shoes now would you?

 

Yeah, I'm pretty much gonna do this installation myself. Hopefully it won't take me very long, and the instructions look pretty good. Heck, all I need to do is jack the car up and have a couple wrenches handy. How much easier can it get?

Anyway, I'll probably order the Comptech Sways from a local dealer some time next week ...

Danny

 

i need WD40 too. spray all the nuts with that otherwise u will have fun with trying to get them off

 

what's the most effective one time suspension mod:

1) sways

or

2) springs

???

 

i would say it depends peter, but as my track buddy said once, the spring and shocks are most valuable. in fact, my friend hardly noticed an improvement when adding the last step: sways
however, his car is different and the sways were not made by comptech. from what everyone is saying here, i think i am just about ready to go for it.

 

Neither IMO.

Probably shocks is the best investment to improve handling.

 

best one time handling mod:

tires

 

True.

I guess I should have written "suspension" and not "handling" improvement.

 

Buy the sways from this site. It took me about an hour (no lift) to install them, took my time. If you have a lift it shouldn't even take an hour. It was a good do it youself job.

 

How does a fully CT modded (suspension-wise) TL-S handle .. w/ the CT sways/springs ?

compared to stock?

How's the ride.. is it rougher .. more rattles?

 

i dont know if im a retard or something, but it definitely didnt take me an hour to do my install. for me the biggest problem was the endlink nuts which took forever to take off. they were just so tightly welded on. Plus, if you've done it before, then you can do it within the hour. First time, it can be a bit confusing

 

Those would take awhile except I took an air ratchet with the allen head screw and took them off with the air ratchet... major time saver, most people do it the opposite by hand an you don't have much room to turn the nuts.

I started to do the same thing and decided that would take forever only being able to turn them an 1/8th turn each time and went the other route .... off in seconds.

 

I have Comptech sways, springs, headers, and the Neuspeed strut bar.

The Comptech sways only made a slight improvement. Save your money and replace the rubber bushings with polyuethene.

The Comptech front sway bar is the same as the stock sway bar.


The springs did make the car look better getting rid of the gap.

 

Point of order: What do you mean by, "Save your money and replace the rubber bushings with polyuethene."? Just looking for clarification since I intend on purchasing the Comptech Sways.

Danny

 

The OEM sway bars have rubber bushings, if you replace those rubber bushing with polyurthene busings. The polyurthene bushings are hard plastic instead of soft rubber. The polyurthene will help to reduce flex of the OEM bars.

Comptech uses stock rubber bushings for the front and polyurthene for the rear. When using polyurthene be sure to wrap the sway bar with plenty of teflon tape. This helps to prevent annoying squeaks.

Like I said I have Comptech sway, springs, headers, Neuspeed strut bar, Mugen low temp thermostat, radaitor cap, fan switch, and tint.

The springs and tint were by far the best investments. The others don't add very much and I would not spend the money to do it again.

If you can replace the rear rubber bushings on the OEM sways with polyurthene for about $20 bucks then that would be the way that I would go.

Just my opinion.