A solution to the swaybar hitting the exhaust problem

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

OK this is my first DIY write up, so go easy :P
This simple DIY will show you a method of getting rid of annoying rattles from your newly installed aftermarket swaybar constantly hitting your exhaust pipe.

What do you need:
A set of jack stands, or similar, to keep the car up,
Strong adhesive glue, or heat resistant tape
A rubber piping from something like a top hose.
Scissors or a knife

Ok here’s a pic of that piece of rubber piping that you will need:

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/water...0DSC01965s.JPG

NB: This is only half the pipe, the other half was cut off for fitting onto the swaybar. I neglected to take a photo before I did this DIY.

You can purchase this quite cheaply from Supercheap auto.

Step 1: You will only need half of this pipe. Grab some scissors or a knife and cut it to fit your swaybar. I found it works best to just cut the pipe in half, leaving the bend, so that it fits nicely with the bent bit of your swaybar. Also cut down the middle of the pipe so that it provides an opening for you to sleeve it over the swaybar.

Step 2: Once your car has been elevated on jack stands, open the rubber pipe and sleeve it neatly over the swaybar, under the area where your exhaust usually hits your swaybar like this:

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/water...0DSC01968s.JPG

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/water...0DSC01969s.JPG

Step 3: Use your adhesive glue, or heat resistant tape, and tape around the rubber pipe to keep it from falling off. This step is optional, as the position of the pipe, and shape, makes it hard to fall off to begin with, but one can never be too precautious.

And hey presto! No more rattling and hitting of your swaybar on your exhaust.
Here’s one I prepared earlier :P

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/water...0DSC01971s.JPG

All sweet!! :thumbsup:

interesting...but would you have a problem of the rubber melting or burning up?

nice write up Duesta! :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by roar

interesting...but would you have a problem of the rubber melting or burning up?

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i havent had any problems with the rubber melting. The rubber was originally meant to be used as a top hose for a pulsar or something. Those are meant to resist heat a fair bit in the first place. I also taped it to secure the hose using a high temp resistant tape as well. Been running it for 1000km now with no probs.

but its just going to wear away in time?

yer what i did for my setup was actually physically dent my muffler pipe by about 1/4 inch to provide enough clearance for swarbar mount (coz in my car thats what makes contact)

obviously not the best soln in terms of exhaust gas velocity but yer, it solved the problem

Using cable ties would be less messy than tape and would hold up better as well.

This is a good method of protecting other parts as well, especially brake lines and the bottom of shocks (to prevent stone chips from damaging the nut)

Very common when prepping a rally car.

Good going.

Thanks e240, thats actually a very good idea to use cable ties... if the tape ever comes off, i'll replace it with cable ties.

I just used whatever was close to me, and my bro had heat resistant tape lying around from his DIY motorbike repairs, so i used that.

Awosme Idea

you could even use hose clamps.. only a couple of bucks each

Duesta great write up.

What car is this from and is the aftermarket sway bar a Whiteline kit?

Is it possible the sway bar has been installed upside down?

This is from a DC2 integra, and aftermarket whiteline kit.
It seems to be a common problem amongst dc2 owners, i know many who have the same problem with their dc2's primarily, but also a few others in different cars.

don't think the exhasut would melt the pipe, won't get as hot as the headers.

Good write up.

Isn't that sway bar upside down.....??????

i second that!...........looks like u put it wrong......

Thirded.

This is the same kit mounted on my DA9. No exhaust troubles here (albeit small exhaust in pic :D)

I swear they were trying to confuse me as they stuck the Whiteline sticker upside-down on the swaybar, but correctly on the tie-bar (though, I guess you couldn't do it wrongly on the tie-bar).
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/351...f057d0323e.jpg

Any feedback from orginal guy?

Hey guys, I know this is an old thread, but I just thought I'd update it. I was having the same problem (as i'm sure a lot of people are), and I managed to fix it today with a different method to the one described by OP. My swaybar is a whiteline 22mm one, and my exhaust is a genuine Jasma approved Kakimoto exhaust I imported from Japan, for those who are interested.

Here is where the issue was:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMAGE_069.jpg

What I did to fix the rattle on my EG was as follows:

Step 1

Jack the car up/put it on stands and undo the two bolts to the rear exhaust section as seen here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMAGE_068.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMAGE_072.jpg

Step 2

Take the section off the hangers. This can be a total bastard to do, but if you use a bit of liquid soap it helps the hooks slide off. So you should now have this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMAGE_074.jpg

Step 3

Use exhaust heat wrap like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMAGE_075.jpg

and wrap around the exhaust at the point of contact with the swaybar. Use cable ties to secure the wrap (or hose clamps if you have them handy):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMAGE_076.jpg

Step 4

Do the same to the area of the swaybar that the exhaust is hitting (don't have any pics, sorry).

Step 5

Reinstall and enjoy your new non-rattling exhaust.

Hope this helps guys! If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

price and where did u get the heat wrap from?
supercheap/repco?

will those cable ties last in those heat conditions?

Yeah got the tape from Repco. I think it was about $40. Bit of a rip off when you compare to the stuff you can buy on ebay, but I couldn't be stuffed waiting.

With regards to the cable ties, the heat wrap is supposed to keep heat in, so you should be able to put your hand on the heat wrap and not burn yourself. I'm pretty confident with the couple of layers of wrap that is on there it won't be a problem. When I initially got under my car to take the muffler section off, I could touch the exhaust with my bare hand and it wasn't like "OMG LAVA!!@!" so it should be fine.

Hmmm,I may have to do something like this.I'll wait till I get the coilovers installed and see how it is then.