DIY: Acura TL AWD rear sway bar to Crosstour upgrade

53598 Views 79 Replies 27 Participants Last post by skylize, 27 d ago

tlarimer

Discussion Starter · Jan 11, 2014

9

This will cover removing the 2011 Crosstour AWD rear sway bar and replacing it with one from a 2011 Acura TL AWD. I believe this will work on Crosstour's 2010-2012, 2WD and AWD, I completed this on my own 2011 Crosstour AWD.

2011 Crosstour AWD rear sway bar size is 15MM:

2011 Acura TL AWD rear sway bar is 20MM:

Parts and tools needed to complete the job:
Acura TL AWD rear sway bar P/N 52300-TK5-A02
Acura TL AWD rear sway bar bushings P/N 52306-TK5-A01 x2
14MM wrench
5MM allen wrench
12MM socket
silicone grease

Start cleaning the threads of the endlinks. Then place 14mm wrench onto endlink bolt, then insert 5mm endlink stud and remove nut from endlink.

Slide endlink stud out of rear sway bar and repeat on the other side.

Using 12mm socket to reach the 4 bolts, 2 per side, holding the d-link brackets/rear sway bar bushings and loosen them, I left mine in the bracket and let the swat bar drop, then moved to the other side.

Now remove the swaybar, it took a little rotating, but it comes out without having to remove anything, I didn't even jack up the car.

Rear sway bars side by side comparison:

Install new rear sway bar bushings onto new rear sway bar, I used a dab of silicone grease on each one to make sure it doesn't squeak. Make sure to install the new bushings in the same direction and orientation as the old one, making note of the factory cut opening.

Next slide the new rear sway bar in place, slide the d-link brackets over the rear sway bar bushings and attach it using the 4 12mm bolts, torque to OEM specs.

Now reattach the endlinks and torque to OEM specs.

That's it, you're done. The total cost of this upgrade was:
Parts $75.44
Shipping $10.95
Total $86.39

Car feels much better on the road and in corners, this was my major complaint and I believe the car should have come with this bigger rear sway bar from the factory.

Hope this helps somebody out.

Tim

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friedrice19

· #2 · Jan 12, 2014 (Edited)

Very nice Write-up tlarimer,

Does the ride any stiffer to you? Does the car experience any sudden oversteer? Any noticeable decrease in traction?

tlarimer

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 12, 2014

friedrice19 said:
Very nice Write-up tlarimer,

Does the ride any stiffer to you? Does the car experience any sudden oversteer? Any noticeable decrease in traction?

I haven't noticed any adverse effects from installing so far. Did not change the stiffness of the ride, still feels smooth and now more balanced through the corners, it's more like driving my 07 Civic Si now.

I will put it through the wringer next weekend when I take it on a 2000 mile road trip from So. Cali to Western Wyoming and back.

XDreamMachinaX

· #4 · Feb 8, 2014

Wow, nice DIY. Thanks for the write-up.

How did the trip go? Any squeaks? Problems?

So, you did this with your CT parked, not on a ramp or anything?

tlarimer

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 8, 2014

XDreamMachinaX said:
Wow, nice DIY. Thanks for the write-up.

How did the trip go? Any squeaks? Problems?

So, you did this with your CT parked, not on a ramp or anything?

The trip was awesome, the CT handled better than I could hope for, especially since I had two adults, two kids and two full size boxers inside and a loaded thule cargo bag on the roof.

No squeaks or problems so far.

I did this with the CT parked, no ramps or jacks, just on the floor of the garage. Total install time including taking pictures was 1 hr.

friedrice19

· #6 · Mar 12, 2014

Thanks to Tim, I now have a new beefer sway bar in my CT's rear.
On my shakedown drive through the neighborhood. My car dramatically doesn't roll as much! It is like a new car. In addition to it not rolling as much, I feel the car changes direction with more authority and quickness now. I feel like my body is the center of the car! Simply so fun to drive now. I didn't feel any undue oversteer. Oddly enough, I felt the car absorb bumps better. Maybe because there was less roll associated with primary and secondary motion after hitting a pothole on one side of the car. Who knows? Ride firmness is unchanged. I didn't notice any decrease in traction. I was taking some hard 90 degree turns, too.

He is right, I never had to jack the car up. No squeaks. I applied silicone grease (Shin-Etsu grease) to the inside of the bushings. Hope it lasts a while.

However, the thicker sway bar does hit a cross member at 2 points in the rear (a few inch inboard from the bushings), one on each side, but it doesn't bother me because the cross member has another layer of steel with about 2 mm gap beneath it. Besides, the sway rotates, it doesn't shift up or down. So it is not a deal breaker.

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L8Apex

· #7 · Mar 12, 2014

So, when are you folks going to autocross your CT's?

BigVeh

· #8 · Mar 19, 2014

Hello friends! I would like upgrade my CT too! But I could not buy the 011 Acura TL AWD rear sway bar in Russia, could you help my to buy the sway bar and bar bushings and send it to Russia? I will prepay you to your credit card or something like that.
Thanks.

krausmc

· #9 · Apr 6, 2014

Tlarimer, thank you for putting those pics together. Installed the TL sway bar and bushings today on my 2010. Went pretty smooth, hardest part was freeing up some bolts. Like others said, made a noticeable improvement to the handling. Appreciate you sharing the DIY school lesson!

BigVeh

· #10 · May 6, 2014

Hi! I installed the TL RSB too, and acura TL links! The links is longer than CT links and sway bar with it look better.

Justice

· #11 · May 8, 2014

I'm definitely doing this mod! It would be awesome if the CT handled a little more like the TL.

tlarimer

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 8, 2014

Glad this is helping some folks out, I did this mod for function. This is not a DD vehicle for me, It gets driven on roadtrips from CA to WY and CA to MN. I have no plans to auto X this vehicle, thats what my 07 Civic Si is for.

wdbutrym

· #13 · May 9, 2014

tlarimer said:
The total cost of this upgrade was:

Parts $75.44

Shipping $10.95

Total $86.39

Can you tell us where you bought the parts for this cost? I have not been able to find any place that sells them this low.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

BigVeh

· #14 · May 9, 2014

wdbutrym said:
Can you tell us where you bought the parts for this cost? I have not been able to find any place that sells them this low.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

I bought it by ebay! $50 for all!

tlarimer

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 9, 2014

I got mine at acuraoemparts.com(delray acura), however it appears that Acura/Honda dealers have caught on to what we are doing and has jacked the price up, Acura list is $88.75 and dealer price is $112.31. Glad I got in when I did.

GL84

· #16 · Jun 7, 2014

Does anyone know if this can be done on a 2013/14 CT?

Justice

· #17 · Jun 8, 2014

Installed the TL sway bar today and there are no contact points as we're mentioned in a previous post. It took me about 1.5 hours to do this mod with the tools listed in the original post. The change in handling is very dramatic. It is actually pretty incredible. The car is a lot more fun to drive like this. I'm stoked!

Crashmaster

· #18 · Jun 8, 2014

Justice said:
Installed the TL sway bar today and there are no contact points as we're mentioned in a previous post. It took me about 1.5 hours to do this mod with the tools listed in the original post. The change in handling is very dramatic. It is actually pretty incredible. The car is a lot more fun to drive like this. I'm stoked!

I was a little concerned about the 'hitting in two places'. Are these the only parts you used to complete the job?

Parts and tools needed to complete the job:
Acura TL AWD rear sway bar P/N 52300-TK5-A02
Acura TL AWD rear sway bar bushings P/N 52306-TK5-A01 x2
What grease did you use on the bushings? Just a Shmear?

rchill

· #19 · Jun 9, 2014

Great summary. I have a 2012 fwd 4cylinder CT. I noticed that Acura TL base rear sway bar (19mm) is also available for about $70 less. Did you go with Acura TL AWD to get benefit of (20mm) sway bar thickness, or was their some other dimensional/clearance reason? Thanks Bob

Justice

· #20 · Jun 10, 2014

Crashmaster said:
I was a little concerned about the 'hitting in two places'. Are these the only parts you used to complete the job?

Parts and tools needed to complete the job:
Acura TL AWD rear sway bar P/N 52300-TK5-A02
Acura TL AWD rear sway bar bushings P/N 52306-TK5-A01 x2
What grease did you use on the bushings? Just a Shmear?

I have a 2011 CT AWD V6, like the original poster, so I don't know if the other poster has a different model or if there are any other factors we don't know about.
I ordered exactly what you have listed above, as that was what the original post listed. I did check the Acura and Honda parts websites, and the Acura part numbers do cross reference with the stock Honda equipment on our cars.
The Acura bar is shaped a little different than the stock Honda bar, but with a little twisting, it goes right where it belongs. I took my stock bar out on the right side of the vehicle and put the new one in the same way.
The new bushings fit right into the Honda stock brackets, and everything bolts right up. Honestly, this was the part I was most worried about, but it was probably the easiest part about it.
What took me the longest was removing the original equipment, as I had never been under the back of the car before that deep.
I used Lucas White Lithium Grease as a lubricant inside the bushings, and put a little too much on to start. After I was finished, I wiped the extra that squeezed out on the bar away, and then after my initial test drive, wiped the rest off the sway bar. I haven't seen any more since then that needs to be removed. The good thing is, I don't hear any squeaking!
Also, the tools listed in the original post are all that is needed as well.
I did use a racketing 12mm wrench rather than a socket to remove the bushing brackets because it was easier for me than using a socket.

A word of advise: if it is possible to leave the bushing brackets attached, as the original post explains, do it!!! I did remove them, and found it difficult to start the bolts back into their threads with such limited room to move around under the car. I probably could have done this easier and faster if I had more experience, but I am not a mechanic, and sometimes I learn my lessons the hard way...

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