[Image](Note: This is NOT the MR2 kit)

Installing Suspension Techniques Anti-Sway Bars on a MkII

Tools Required

Suggested Items

Materials Needed

Time Required

I performed the installation over a two day period, but a good do-it-yourselfer should be able to finish it in under a day.

Disclaimer

This document is meant as a guide on installation. Read all the included instructions and safety precautions of your new parts. I cannot assume any responsibility for any possible damage caused by following this guide.

Installation of Rear Bar

Using your socket wrench (or your tire iron), loosen the lug nuts (don't remove yet!) on the rear tires so that you will be able to remove them after the car has been raised.

Raising the car

Some people prefer using 4 jack stands at each corner of the car when working under it, however, in this case I decided to only use 2 stands as the car did not have to be raised very high.

Using your floor jack, position it under the center of the rear suspension bridge just to the right of the three bolts for the engine mount and jack up the rear of the car. You may wish to insert a large piece of wood between the jack and the suspension cross-member to prevent damage but be very careful as this wood could shift.

Lift the car high enough that the tires are just off the ground or high enough so that your jack stands will fit under the car just before the rear tires. Position your two jack stands forward of the rear wheels under the metal flange that runs the entire length of both sides of the car. If you look at the flange ends, you'll notice a set of V-shaped cuts at either end which indicates the two spots where the jack should go. (Between the V's)

Once you have the car raised, remove the lug nuts and the wheels and if you don't have suitable blocks to insert under the car in case the jacks fail, put the wheels under the car. In either case, make sure you have some sort of backup system in case the jacks move or fail.

Removing the Stock Bar

First, remove the nuts from the ends of the OEM stabilizer links using the 5mm hexagon wrench and your 14mm wrench. Insert the hex wrench into the end of the stud and use something to brace against the rotation of the stud when you turn the nut using the 14mm wrench. In my case, I just used a long handled wrench braced against the various suspension pieces. NOTE: Beware not to damage the flexible brake line.

Now for the hard part, in order to remove the rear bar, you have to remove the two bushings or cushions which are held in place with brackets attached to the rear suspension bridge (crossmember). The problem here is that the bolt, holding the front of this bracket in place, is positioned on the top of the crossmember and you cannot get at it without lowering the crossmember. The rear bolts on these brackets are not a problem though as they are clear of the crossmember.

The shop manual shows the complete removable of the crossmember, however, the instructions from S.T. suggests that it's possible to "lower" the crossmember without removing it, and it is indeed possible to do this.

First you'll need to support the crossmember's weight before you unscrew the bolts. Using your floor jack, position it under the crossmember and raise it up until it's tight. As my floor jack only has a 14.5" lift, I had to insert a length of 2x4 wood between the jack and the crossmember.

Using your 17mm socket wrench, unscrew the two bolts at the front (towards the front of the car) about 5-7 turns but be careful not to remove them. Do the same with the rear bolts. The S.T. instructions suggest removing the rear bolts completely, however I found that they could be loosened just enough to get at the cushions without removing them.

Using your 12mm socket (or wrench), remove the nuts on the rear of the cushion brackets. Now carefully lower the crossmember some and using your 12mm open-ended wrench, start to unscrew the front bolts. It's possible to remove the rear of the brackets without completely unbolting the front of the brackets. You may have to lower the crossmember a bit more as I did in order to get the front bolts on the brackets out far enough to get the rear studs out of the holes.

Once you have the rear bracket studs free, you should be able to move the cushions on the bar sideways so that the bar is able to slide out through the rear of the brackets. Carefully thread the end of the bar over the exhaust pipe and out from under the car.

Installing the New Bar

Lay the new rear bar on the ground next to the stock bar so that you can position the new hiperthane (red) bushings on the new bar. You'll also get a good idea of just how much bigger the S.T. bars are in relation to the stock ones. Using the "clean" spots on the old bar as markers, lubricate the INSIDE of the new bushings with the lithium or silicone grease and slip them onto the new bar. NOTE: Be sure to use a lot of grease on the bushings. I didn't and I've since had to remove the bar and clean/re-grease it.

Thread the new bar over the exhaust pipe, slip it between the rear of the cushion brackets and position the bushings in their brackets. Insert the rear studs of the brackets into the holes and screw down the front bolts on the brackets. Install the nuts on the rear studs. The bracket bolts should be torqued to 14 ft-lb. (19 N-m) but I was unable to use it on the front bolts, so I just winged it :-)

Carefully raise the suspension crossmember and tighten the bolts. These bolts need to be torqued to 83 ft-lb (113 N-m)

Connect the ends of the stabilizer link bars to one of the holes in the end of the sway-bar. There are two holes provided and using the front hole (closest to the end of the bar) favors understeer whereas the second hole favors oversteer. As the 91 model has a tendency to oversteer at the limit, I used the hole nearest the end of the bar to favor understeer and hopefully make the car more neutral. I have not yet tried the other position and I've been very happy with the understeer setting. Torque the nuts on the ends of the bar to 36 ft-lb (49 N-m).

Check your work, install your tires and finger tighten the lug nuts. Remove your wooden blocks (if used) and remove your jack stands with the floor jack under the rear crossmember. Lower the car.

Torque the lug nuts on the rear tires to 76 ft-lb using a star pattern when moving from lug to lug.

You are now ready to start on the front bar. NOTE: The S.T. instructions warn against driving the car until the front bar is installed as they are a tuned set.

Installation of Front Bar

Raising the car

I found that the hardest thing of this part of the installation was getting the front of the car off the ground due to limited ground clearance. What I ended up doing was placing my floor jack behind the front wheel so that the handle was able to move up and down in the wheel-well space while the lift was under the front crossmember (the recommended lift point). It should also be possible to lift the car on each side using the floor jack near the points where the jack stands go, but be careful about possible sideways movement.

Removing the Stock Bar

Once you have the car up on the jack stands and your wooden safety blocks in place, you have to remove the front splash pan. The splash pan is held in place with several bolts mostly along the edges of the pan. There is however one bolt in the center of the crossmember which needs to be removed for the pan to drop free of the car.

Now that the splash pan is removed, you'll see the front anti-sway bar and the bushing brackets. Using your 5mm hexagon (allen) wrench, insert it into the studs on the end of the stabilizer links and remove the nut from the stud using the 14mm open-ended wrench. Like the rear studs, I had to brace the allen wrench using one of my long handled wrenches to initially break the nut loose.

Using your 12mm socket, remove the two bolts from the bushing brackets. You'll have to either support the sway bar with your free hand or the floor jack while you remove the last bolt on the last bracket as the bar will fall free.

Installing the New Bar

Now that you have the front sway bar removed, you might want to take some time to inspect the bushing bracket bolt holes for cracking. It has been reported by at least one person on the MR2 Interest mailing list that they found cracks in this area.

Before installing the new bushings on the sway bar, test fit the new bushings in the new brackets. If the top of the bushing sticks out of the bracket more than 1/16", S.T. suggests that you grind down the top of the bushing until it's within this range. I did not have to perform this step.

Lubricate the INSIDE of the new hiperthane (red) bushings with the moly grease and slip them on the new sway bar. Using the new bolts and brackets provided with the S.T. sway bar, install the front sway bar and torque the bracket bolts to 14 ft-lb (19 N-m).

Connect the ends of the bar to the stabilizer link studs and install the nuts. Torque the nuts to 47 ft-lb (64 N-m). Unlike the rear bar, there is only one set of holes for the stabilizer links to connect to and therefore the front bar is not adjustable.

Check you work, re-install the splash pan, install the tires and hand tighten the lug nuts. Remove your wooden safety blocks, and lower the car with the floor jack.

Torque the lug nuts on the front tires to 76 ft-lb using a star pattern when moving from lug to lug.

Conclusion

Installing the Suspension Techniques anti-swaybars will dramatically reduce the amount of body roll through corners. Although the MR2 has far less body roll as compared to most cars, this modification will be very noticeable as the car will stay flat through corners allowing the contact patch of the tires to maintain maximum area (i.e.. More traction)

Enjoy!

Geoff Seeley

Manufacturer and Part Numbers

Suspension Techniques
13546 Vintage Place  
Chino, CA USA        
91710                
                     
Phone: (714) 465-1020
Fax  : (714) 591-5121



Front bar Part No.: 1-078A
 Rear bar Part No.: 2-078A
I ordered my sway-bar kit through Options Auto Salon and their part number for the kit (front/rear) is ST-S-078A.

Last Update: Saturday 15-Jun-96 19:12:07