Me and Boostd4 did the Saner install last night on my car using the instructions graciously emailed to me from depletedUfoot (Thanks, Stuart). He had tech. difficulties uploading the pics (Mac file) and posting, so here goes:

Installed the new Saner Sway Bar on Friday, Aug 1, 2003. Having never installed one before, I was dismayed to find that the new bar came with no instructions. But the factory manual tells how to remove and install the stock version, so off I went. Midway through the process, I discovered I really did need some information. Fortunately, I was able to get hold of Rylan Hazelton of the Go Fast Lab, and he gave me what I needed to finish.

My purpose here is to note some of the details that slowed me down, to spare future installers my confusion. Jack up the front of the car, set on jack stands, remove front wheels, remove splash guard, remove old links, remove old bar -- pretty straight-forward. Took about half hour once jacked up with wheels off. You need a 10 mm box end and a flat screw driver for the splash guard. (Note: those clips are pretty neat. Pry the center post up 2-3 mm, then the whole thing slides out. To replace, remove the center post, push in the rest of the clip, push in the post. Slick.)

To remove the old link, you need a 14 mm box end. You may need a 5 mm Allen wrench to restrain the bolt while removing the nut, but not to break it loose initially. You may leave the links attached to the old bar, since it's all coming out.

The two bushing mounts require a 14 mm socket on a short extension. You will re-use the 4 bolts here, but the rest of the bar and the links can be discarded.

Before installing the new bar, loosely attach the two aluminum clamps which prevent the bar from sliding back and forth once installed. Use the spacing of the old ones as a guide (about 28"). They use a 3/16" Allen wrench. Orient them so that you can tighten the bolts after the bar is installed. (Note: these clamps don't work real well. They loosen and slip, cause noise. I just replaced mine with some heavy rubber -- cut up a old washing machine drain hose -- and hose clamps. More along the lines of the clamp that comes on the factory bar.)

The bushings and bushing mounts go just outside of the clamps. Use either the grease (provided) or wrap some Teflon tape over the bar to prevent squeaking. Once things are ready, raise the bar up into position and loosely install the four bolts. Make sure the ends of the sway bar are above the lower A-arm.

Note: wrestling this 24 lb bar was a little tricky by myself -- an assistant would be helpful, but is not essential.

The new bushing mounts have long slots for vertical adjustment. I found that the mounts have to stay fairly low (see photo) or else the aluminum clamps will interfere with part of the mount's bracket. Once things look good, tighten the mounts, slide the clamps up against the bushing mounts, and tighten them.

 

Now to install the links, you just have to decipher all those parts. Fortunately, they come pre-assembled, so the basic order of parts is there. What you need to know is:
1) the longer bolt goes thru the sway bar;
2) the two steel sleeves will straddle each spherical bearing, and;
3) the bracket that the link will attach to goes between the flat washer and the head of the bolt, on the upper one, and between the flat washer and the nut, on the lower one (see photo).
4) There are self-locking nuts, so no other locking devices are used;
5) The bolt head is a 16 mm, and the nut is a 17 mm.



You may also have noticed that there are three holes in the end of the sway bar. This is the adjustable part of the deal. I'd suggest starting with the end-most hole, as this is the softest setting (which is still 90% stiffer than stock). Rylan suggested that the third hole should be used only for full competition on concrete.

The length of the links is also adjustable. I left them close to where they were as received, because the bar has good clearance around it at that setting. Just be sure to adjust the second one to line up with the hole in the sway bar, so that both front suspensions are at the same height (fully relaxed, in my case).

Note: I've seen others recommend that the suspension should be compressed when installing. I didn't do that, and haven't had any problems. After all, the bar is designed to go up and down with the suspension. I think the important thing is to make sure that both sides are at the same height when the bar is installed (fully relaxed in my case). If you jack up one side more than the other, the bar will work hard to keep that tilt in place.

I had a couple concerns with the kit. First, the bolts attaching the links (especially the lower ones) may bend under use, since they are quite cantilevered and not well supported. Second, the ends of the sway bar were not designed orthogonal to the lower mount, so there is a large angle where the upper bolt goes thru the spherical bearing. I don't know if this is a problem or not. Perhaps a couple things to fix on the next version?

Note 2: Having used this bar nearly 3 months, I'm happy to report that my concerns were not founded -- no sign of bending in either bolt. It's working fine.

Note 3: Others have experienced difficulty getting a good fit when using the 2nd or 3rd holes. I haven't tried that, so haven't had to deal with it. Goes in very nicely on the first hole.

 

You impressed with the bar overall?

 

Installation was fairly straightforward, but it would have been nice if the bar came with instructions and or a simple diagram of what sleeve/collar/washer goes where. The hardware on one of the assemblies didn't match the order on the other one so it was a bit of a guessing game. I hope I got it right!

Also there were a couple of 90 deg. tabs and I couldn't figure out where the hell they went, so I left 'em off....Anyone know where they go?

Driving impressions: More stability, more rigidity, less roll and lots of understeer. It's been raining so I haven't had a chance to push it very much, but I can understeer like a Volvo now if I want to in the wet. The benefit to that now is I can dial in neutral handling or oversteer at will with a blip of the throttle. Question is, will overall corner speed be increased? Hopefully I'll get a chance to test it out this weekend at THill.

Thanks Stuart, Thanks Rylan, Thanks Boostd4!

 

Thanks for posting my stuff, nobody (what a strange sentence). I am still very happy with the Saner. Won my class at autocross last Sunday. What is so amazing is how good a car the S2K is completely stock -- I'm just making minor tweaks to a very good setup. If anything, I'd caution folks not to change it too much.

 

I think you'll really like the bar, especially if you've been using non-stock width performance tires on the track. I drove a friends car with the Saner bar at a local autocross (using Hoosiers) and thought it handled beautifully.

 

I absolutely love the bar. Damn it rocks. Corner speeds and g-loads have increased and the car is both more stable and more forgiving. Definitely the best bang for the buck suspension mod out there. Big thumbs up.

 

Any downfall to going with a front bar only? How does the saner bar compare to the whiteline bar considering the $60 price difference?

Thanks!

 

The Whiteline bar is great. It doesn't have any hardware to stop lateral movement. I had to hose clamp radiator hose to fix that problem. Stopped the movement without causing any noise.

 

test