A solution to the swaybar hitting the exhaust problem

[Duesta]

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:



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:





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



All sweet!!

[roar]

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

[Q_ball]

nice write up Duesta! :P

[Duesta]

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

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.

[rollin_high]

but its just going to wear away in time?

[roar]

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

[e240]

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.

[Duesta]

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.

[ECU-MAN]

Awosme Idea

[Dxs]

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

[Turps]

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?

[Duesta]

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.