How To: Progress 22mm Rear Swaybar Installation

How come you didn't go with the AWR swaybar?? Just wondering. I know its 21.5 compared to Progress 22mm.

bigger size and less problems reported on the forums. Mostly due to tge end links. Plus its cheaper
 
True, but the irony is that they don't seem to work with anything designed for the Protege. Everyone has problems with them.
I think it's just because most people don't know how to install them correctly (including myself). Like I said above I think if you line up everything correctly and have both sides even (which is very difficult) I'm sure they wouldn't make any noise.
How come you didn't go with the AWR swaybar?? Just wondering. I know its 21.5 compared to Progress 22mm.
The AWR is a weird shape and requires mounting brackets in its own right. I've also read that it alone caused noise so AWR bar + AWR endlinks must be crazy loud. The Progress is the exact same design as the stock bar, just bigger. Like you said it is also 22 mm which is thicker than the AWR. That 0.5 mm must do something, LOL!
 
I think it's just because most people don't know how to install them correctly (including myself). Like I said above I think if you line up everything correctly and have both sides even (which is very difficult) I'm sure they wouldn't make any noise.

it doesn't matter how good you are at getting them lined up the same, the nature of the design makes them noisy. the advantage they offer is adjustability and no deflection at big loads. for daily driving, nothing is available yet that can match the stock endlinks. for me, that one advantage for the progress or mazdaspeed rear bars.
 
So which would you guys say is a better setup with the Progress bar: Mazdaspeed OEM endlinks or stock P5 endlinks?
 
Stick with the P5 endlinks. I'm not sure but the MSP endlinks may be too long to use with the Progress bar. IMO, only get the MSP endlinks if you plan on using the MSP Racing Beat rear swaybar.
 
thanks magnum. btw, how's ur turbo setup holding up?
Eh, the P5 is going through oil like crazy right now and puffing out a little blue smoke (see my thread for that) so she's running but not all that great.

In topic with this thread however, I just noticed today that one of my swaybar brackets has completely sheared! I guess I had the preload on the endlinks a little too high. Looks like I will be running without a rear swaybar again for a while. From the looks of it, one of the bolts came loose and the extra play in the swaybar caused the bracket to deform and ultimately fail.
 
I have the AWR adjustable endlinks.

I was able to fab up another bracket. It's a lot weaker but let's see how long it'll hold - at least until I can get a new one from Progress.
 
Progress swaybar length??

Could any of you Progress rear swaybar owners comment on the length of the bar in comparison to the stock (ES) bar. I dug up these two picks, but it's still hard to tell. In one pic it looks the same just thicker and in the other pick it looks longer as well. The reason I'm asking is because I had to buy some shorter miata sized endlinks to get rid of my clunking and a longer bar such as AWR would probably not work well with them.
 

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I have the AWR adjustable endlinks.

I was able to fab up another bracket. It's a lot weaker but let's see how long it'll hold - at least until I can get a new one from Progress.
How'd you contact Progress? My bracket snapped. My wife called after taking a corner hard and said there was a clank and then she heard pieces fall. I assumed it was the AWR endlink, but when I checked, I found the bracket was broken.
 
anyone with the 22mm sway bar notice any oversteering?, i took a hard corner on the way to the mall and i wasnt expecting to lose the backend so easily, maybe its the crappy stock dunlop tires i have on right now
 
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Weird. I still seem to have a understeer although it does feel like the back end kind of wants to kick out. It hasn't yet although I really haven't had the opportunity to push it lately.
 
anyone with the 22mm sway bar notice any oversteering?, i took a hard corner on the way to the mall and i wasnt expecting to lose the backend so easily, maybe its the crappy stock dunlop tires i have on right now
I think the car would roll over before the rear would ever slide out on mine. Never felt a bit of that, not even with my ***INSERT SARCASM HERE*** "bad Nexen N3000 tires" as they have been rated in another thread. LOL. bad is 500 or 600 for a big named brand that performs no better & has worse tread life. Have at it.............NO on the understeer with maxspeed/illuminas/progress rr sway/awr trailing links/bad N3000s at any speed ever even in wet. YES, I could probably force it to with unrealistic maniac steering input. Who couldn't.
 
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A stiffer rear bar will lead to oversteer. The reason your car wont it because those Nexen's are SO goddamn bad that they have ZERO grip and the front ends up snowplowing WAY before the back even gets a chance to break free.
 
Just 2 14mm nuts, and 2 14mm bolts here. Very easy. Pic 3

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yeah, super easy. until you snap the nut off the inside of the rear crossmember and have to have the entire crossmember replaced in order to finish your sway install. le sigh.
 
when my nuts snapped, i cut them off and put a bolt through the hole.

wait.... oh, nevermind.
 
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