Installed the Rear Anti-Sway bar tonight
 

Got around to installing the Progress Technology rear anti-sway bar tonight.
Check out my gallery for the before and after pics.:smile:

So did you take it for a drive? What do you think of it? Did you feel the difference? Enquiring minds want to know...so I'll ask. :lol: :rof: :nuts:

Love the ramps!!:thumb:

Sorry I forgot to mention the details of the install process.
The install was very easy in my opinion. Took about an hour total.
Unfortunately as I was just finishing up, it got real dark and started to rain.
I decided to wait until tomorrow to do the test run. I will post my results.

WOW!!

I'm not doubting or slamming but its only 4 bolts. Took me about ten minutes. I think most here who've done it were about the same. All you should have had to do was crawl under and bolt it up. With the ramps it should have been a breaze.

Did you do other stuff too?

Do the bolts go into existing holes?

Yes, the holes are there from the factory. The install kit has 2 narrow plates with 2 welded nuts on each plate. They slide into the rear suspension housing and the bolts for the sway bar secure to them.

Therein lies the problem. Those damn plates can be a little tricky...especially if you don't have very nimble fingers...and I've got some arthritis starting up, so it was a little tougher for me than some others. :lol:

Installed mine without use of ramps or jacking up.. was quite simple.

The important thing though is that its done and your HHR will handle MUCH better!

Thanks for the pics bigallis1! I've been talking to Brad at neverenoughauto and will be ordering mine on Monday :thumb: I mentioned that he should stop by here as we have a few folks who may be interested in ordering the sway bar. He said he would check us out as they are looking to add another site as being a supporting vendor.

You need a torque wrench to do this right? 45 lbs if I remember correctly?


Goose

Yes Goose...it's 45 lbs.

I've got install pictures from Mike at SoCal that he had posted on his site that he has allowed me to use for a how to. I'll post them in that section if they are not already there...along with my Deb How-To. :smile:

Took me about an hour as well, mainly because one of the bolts did not want to go into the plate properly. I ended up having to swap bolts around in order for it to install properly.

That was also the first time I had been under a vehicle in over 20 years, so I spent some time checking out the undercarriage :lol:

Only thing different I did from Mike's was added Loctite (Blue) to the bolt threads.

Does this bar help an HHR that has the standard soft ride suspension?

If you're talking about the stock suspension and not what comes on the 2LT, yes it does. I've got a 1LT and it definitely improved the ride...better cornering and less body roll on the highways in the wind. Definitely an inexpensive mod that I would recommend to any HHR owner.

That is where I got mine. Great company to deal with. The sad part is I just have not gotten around to putting ot on yet. Bad me. :red: :red: :red:

Shame on you nfboy...you need to get out there and pop that baby on. I noticed we haven't seen bigallis today...must be out there enjoying his new sway bar. :smile:

:cool: When I installed mine I didn't have a torque wrench, so I just put lock-tite on the bolts and tightened them as much as I could. I figured you can't make them any tighter than tight! What exactly is the need to use a torque wrench in this instance anyway. :confused:

I would venture to guess that the reason for the torque wrench is so that the bolts are all tightened exactly the same. Having one tightened more than another could affect the handling and that's the reason for the sway bar in the first place. A torque wrench is a great, relatively inexpensive tool to purchase and comes in handy for a myriad of things...especially when you're pulling your wheels and tires off. You want them balanced as evenly as possible too so you get the best wear and ride as well. :thumb:

:smile: Well, I see your point Deb, but since I tightened them all as much as I could I don't figure there can be that much difference between them. As far as having other uses for a torque wrench, in my case at least, I'm long past the age where I'm inclined to do any mechanical work on the car myself. ;) I wouldn't even mess with the wheels unless I had a flat. The dealer, or tire store, does any tire rotating these days. :roll:

I bought mine around Xmas. I had many excuses for not installing:

too cold
too much snow
no way to get the ass of the car in the air
no torque wrench

Well all my excuses have been gone for a while now. I bought a hydraulic jack, axel stands and a torque wrench sometime ago. It is warm now and no snow. Flies yes but no snow. So after borrowing some ramps from my father and after the embarassment of actually admitting here that I had not installed, well I just finished putting it on. Simple install. Took 20 minutes.

Have not test drove yet. That will be tomorrow.

Did you end up just backing it up some Rhino Ramps or something like that?


Goose

Got to take the HHR out for a test drive w/anti-sway bar installed.
I did not do any aggressive manouvers (mrs. bigallis1 with me) but what I did do I could tell some difference. Will report more when I can do some aggressive manouvers.

Yes I did. That gave me plenty of room to manouver around and get something under there with me to balance the bar on while getting the first side bolted on.

I went to my dad's house to get my old trusty metal ramp. He had just given them to a friend of his.:roll:

So That6s what I get for not using them for a few years......
Bought some plastic ones at ADAP or Auto Zone or what ever the low end parts store is these days. They worked fine. I just could not fit beneath the car to put the Antisway bar on like some folks can:red: I've gone a few cheeseburgers to far:lol:
Anyway, a short easy job putting the swaybar on. A BIG difference in handling! I felt safer immediately.

http://www.pbase.com/harpozep/image/61086854/large.jpg

Nice pic of the Rhino Ramps...that doesn't look like a CT plate to me.....is that a MA plate?

I have the gray Rhino Ramps...I bought them at Walmart a couple of years ago before the price of them went crazy


This sway bar must be popular...I just placed my order with Brad at neverenoughauto and he said that they were out of stock...would probably be getting some in a few weeks. Fine with me as I'll be traveling for a bit anyways and would not have time to install it. Placed the order and look forward to installing it when I get some time



Goose

I think I'll try the ramp idea, because what I found after wrestling with my recently delivered Progress bar is that the holes don't quite line up after I have 3 bolts in. They are not truly off but they do require precision in getting the angle of the bolt correct enough to thread onto the hidden nut of the inside plate. I was trying the jack stand method in the enclosed instructions and that made the springs droop too much. When I let the HHr rest on the floor thus easy the tension I could NOT get the 4th nut on. I've got the ramps so I'll try that. If that fails I have a friend who has a full lift in his home garage like that shown in Socal Mike's pics. So far this has been a RPITA job...so a word of warning to those who have not done it yet that, the folks who haven't been troubled with the install must have had a lot "Shop luck" going on.

My SB arrived earlier this week, hopefully it will be installed over the weekend.

Another alternative to ramps is the one side up on the curb thing. I use the neighbors driveway as a starting point and get the ride side up on the curb and I can get under it with plenty of room.

Okay, the ramps make it completely easy to do this. Indeed it took me the 10 minutes the smart guys brag about. Here's a couple of added tips:

1. Ramps are key because it cures the spring sag issue AND lets you visually line up the holes. You are flying blind with the bolt plates that slide inside and under the existing spring plate holes. Also any tension is balanced with the car flat on the ramps. It's ludicrous and boneheaded that Progress says to jack the car since the springs unload.

2. So that you don't fight the weight of the sway bar hang or tether the bar to the axle bar (probably not the official term). There are plenty of holes to use. I hung a couple of C-clamps adjuster side down an facing engine forward...but you could zip tie or even use some twine or speaker wire or S-hooks. The idea here is to not fight the weight of the bar...it's pretty hefty...feels like 30-40 lbs. Anyway with it hanging/floating you can more freely move the mounting plates/holes into position.

3. Of the 2 holes on the HHR the forward hole is bigger and more movable, so mount that bolt first finger tight, then do the rear hole which will require a bit more exactness as the hole is not as big. It probably won't be a problem since the bar is not un der any opposing side forces. Conversely you could mount the forward hole on the opposing side first, but I didn't have a problem doing one side then the other. In any case remeber to leave the bolts loose so you can move the bar.

4. Working the other side like the first will still present some exactness with the final bolt on the rearward side, so with the HHR on ramps slide right under the hole under it so you can see through the hole to line up the bolt with the plate. Because you've left things loose you'll have plenty of play and forgiveness.

5. Tighten it up to 45 foot pounds... Remove any bar to axle hangers and enjoy! You can feel this mod right away, I have a 2LT Premiere Edition that has a factory bar of some sort under there but the Progress definitely adds something that is missing.

um, hate to say but i'm just a girl that has NO IDEA what all these mods are that you refer to :( so, what is a anti-sway bar, where does it go, what does it look like, what does it do (anti-sway, huh?)
heehee

I will send you a PM.

:confused: :confused:
The box mine arrived in states that it is only 15 lbs. (according to UPS label).

http://progressauto.com/store/produc...roducts_id=397

I found this link for a sway bar for the Cobalt/HHR. Is this the correct one to purchase?

One of my concerns with my 1LT HHR is the amount of roll in the corners.

thats the one...

The stock "axle" linkage looks pretty stout. Does it really allow that much sway such that a bolt-on anti-sway bar makes a difference?

Surprisingly, there is a fair amount of flex in that stout looking axle linkage.

It does move quite a bit, especially in the corners...I also noticed it with crosswinds.

When I added the sway bar to my 1LT, it was instantly noticeable in both cornering and straight line driving.

Was wondering where you or any of you others got the sway bars. Would like to get them myself.