Steeda Front Sway Bar! It is awesome. Transforms the car into what it should be.

[Anton]

Comparing the picture Steeda has of their pump with mine, it appears our pumps are facing different ways. Mine, has the cable pointing down towards the bar, and theirs 90 degree offset, pointing parallel to the bar.

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[markboris]

Got a reply from Steeda:

They will send me spacers, bolts and washer for adjusting the cooling pump bracket.
Instructions:

They will not be updating the bar design:

Now to go back to my shop and see if they re-consider this install...

Just like I said what I would do, alter the location of that pump bracket.

Hey, if your shop doesn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t have any problem helping you install it at my place. Having a lift makes this job a bit easier. It would be a two hour drive for you though.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Got a reply from Steeda:



They will send me spacers, bolts and washer for adjusting the cooling pump bracket.
Instructions:


They will not be updating the bar design:


The first picture shows the spacers installed between bracket and subframe:

The second picture shows where to install extra cable tie to prevent harness rub:

Now to go back to my shop and see if they re-consider this install...

Hmm, do they realize your motor mounts and cradle are different than their GT because of the different front motor design? I know they bought a GT but do they also have an AWD Premium for testing? You can try what they send you but it might not fit if they're using their GT for this.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I got my pair of bars installed on my ‘21 GT-PE yesterday. The rear bar was more difficult than the front because of interference from the cabling leading out of the back of the main pack. 5 hours to do the install including pulling all the tools out and putting them away. Since my metric stuff was for JIS cars (they use 8-10-12-14-17-19-21-24mm) for the most part, I did not have an 18mm combination wrench so I muddled through with an adjustable open end wrench, which slowed things down. I bought one today since I figure I’ll need it again. ??

Rear underpanel removed:

Clamp for rear power cable reinstalled:

Close-up of clamp:

End links installed on stiffest position on each side of the rear suspension:

I left the bars and end links blue since my car is blue. ??

 

[Electric Goat]

@mkhuffman

NIce. How does it ride?

 

[mkhuffman]

@mkhuffman

NIce. How does it ride?

I think a lot better. I hated the side to side waffling more than the bounce, because it made the bounce feel uncontrolled and unstable. Now when it bounces, it feels controlled and predictable. It also seems to be smoother especially over uneven surfaces.

But this is not necessarily a bounce solution for those who have a big bounce complaint. I have never experienced the harmonic bounce others complain about. It may just be the roads I drove on. But when I passed a white GT yesterday, I noticed that car seemed to be bouncing when I didn't notice mine bouncing. Maybe it looks more apparent outside and mine was bouncing the same. Or more likely it was because my car was loaded down with vacation stuff, jammed full.

 

[Anton]

I emailed Steeda my photos (same ones from this thread) showing the pump location on their car and mine are different. Their response

Looking at all the pictures, I still think the longer bolts and spacers will fix this problem.

The spacers will move the pump forward on the car(past the sway bar) to allow more clearance for the sway bar.

I'll wait for the parts they sent me and then will probably take up @markboris on his offer.

 

[mkhuffman]

I am really interested in the first successful non-GT installation! I am sure it will make a significant improvement, and I wonder how it will help with smoothness. The GT is already stiffer than the other models, so the change will be more dramatic.

Who will be the first?

 

[Anton]

Another thing Steeda just sent over to me were instructions to make sure that the bar bracket is slid as far back as possible to allow clearance for pump.

 

[tannerk89]

I am really interested in the first successful non-GT installation! I am sure it will make a significant improvement, and I wonder how it will help with smoothness. The GT is already stiffer than the other models, so the change will be more dramatic.

Who will be the first?

Finally had my car back over a weekend to get mine installed. I have a premium 4X. So maybe the first non GT, on this thread at least. I did the install by myself so very few pics during the install. No problems at all on the fron aside from getting the 85ft-lbs on the lower bolt of the end links, my longer torque wrench wouldn’t fit in the wheel well so I had to use one that was very difficult to put enough leverage on.

Holy crap. This made such an incredible difference, along with the rear bar. I am truly blown away, the car feels so much more planted and confident. I was only able to do a short test drive in the dark tonight, but it really was dramatically better. I would say definitely smoother but will find out more with some more driving. With some new tires, probably Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4’s I think it will be a really fun drive.

I opted to go with the medium setting on both bars due to the narrower premium tires and feedback from you guys that got yours installed on your GTs. I might go stiffer on the front, but I’ll probably wait for the new tires for that change.

 

[kennethjk]

Finally had my car back over a weekend to get mine installed. I have a premium 4X. So maybe the first non GT, on this thread at least. I did the install by myself so very few pics during the install. No problems at all on the fron aside from getting the 85ft-lbs on the lower bolt of the end links, my longer torque wrench wouldn’t fit in the wheel well so I had to use one that was very difficult to put enough leverage on.

Holy crap. This made such an incredible difference, along with the rear bar. I am truly blown away, the car feels so much more planted and confident. I was only able to do a short test drive in the dark tonight, but it really was dramatically better. I would say definitely smoother but will find out more with some more driving. With some new tires, probably Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4’s I think it will be a really fun drive.

I opted to go with the medium setting on both bars due to the narrower premium tires and feedback from you guys that got yours installed on your GTs. I might go stiffer on the front, but I’ll probably wait for the new tires for that change.

Can’t wait to hear more

I put the rear on my premium but haven’t done the front yet. Did you have any issues installing the front ?

 

[tannerk89]

Can’t wait to hear more

I put the rear on my premium but haven’t done the front yet. Did you have any issues installing the front ?

The front was much easier than the rear. Access to the fastening points was better because they’re all from the side of the car instead of underneath and no real obstructions when removing the OE bar.

 

[kennethjk]

The front was much easier than the rear. Access to the fastening points was better because they’re all from the side of the car instead of underneath and no real obstructions when removing the OE bar.

One person had an issue with the front installation but I forget which car he had.

 

[21st Century Pony]

I just installed the Steeda rear bar today, and plan to install the front bar maybe next weekend.

The rear bar made a significant positive difference. I used the middle settings (I plan to keep the OEM wheels and tires). WIth my AWD Extended Battery, the car feels noticeably more precise, especially on sweeping curves. I actually drove to a friend's house in Herndon for dinner, then made a complete tour around the Washington Beltway to feel out the new rear bar. That was about 130 miles total with the new bar. So far, I am happy I spent the money and the effort.

My install was not hard, albeit I took my time. I used my ProRamps to raise the rear of the car and after I removed the OEM rear bar, I did have to take one rear wheel off to weasel the new bar in (I jacked the suspension arm up on the rear right wheel with a heavy jack, just enough to pull the wheel off while the car sat on the ramps). IMHO one wheel does have to come off to get the new bar in... no other components need to be disconnected.

Although today I happened to work alone, I think a helper would have made things go faster at one point: while weaseling the really heavy Steeda bar into position in from the side. The two danger points to watch and maneuver around carefully seem to be the orange battery / rear motor power electric connector, and right behind it the black coolant hose + elbow for the battery. Both are almost midway in the center.

Three points to help the next DIY installer:
- the OEM bar's steel bushing mounting clamps have long ears that hold the bolts, and these OEM steel clamps are press-fitted onto the OEM rubber bushings. Those clamp ears will prevent the OEM bar from moving out easily. The OEM bar will sneak right out once you press those two steel clamps off the OEM bushings while the bar is still generally in place, already unbolted and loose. I used a large channel lock wrench to lever the steel clamps off... slow & steady and they will pop off. NOTE: the Steeda clamps do not hold the Steeda replacement bushings rigidly, so this is not a problem when mounting the Steeda bar - it goes in "naked" and the split bushings and steel clamps easily slip on after it is all in place.
- The Steeda bar has subtle bends in its end sections. The bends position the endlink mounting points slightly pointing to the front of the car. Putting the bar in the other way will force you to "rinse, repeat" to get it in position correctly.
- Looking from the front to the rear of the car (on my AWD / Extended Battery model anyway), the only bolt that was a bit troublesome was the upper bolt on the right (passenger side) bushing, both to come out and to snug it back up. Several mounting points on the battery case make it tricky to get just the right socket in there... I had to switch between a deep socket and a short socket on a teeny-tiny extension to make it all work. All the other bolts came out and then snugged back up without problems, including the endlink bolts. NOTE: when snugging the endlink bolts back up, I used a Torx 30 socket on a small ratchet to spin the endlink bolt tight while holding the endlink nut in place with a box 18mm wrench... then I snugged up the 18mm nut more with an open-ended wrench until it was really snug, and finally I torqued it with a torque wrench to the specified force... at that point, the 18mm nut was so snugged up it didn't need any assist from the Torx 30 socket to hold the bolt in pace.

Per MarkBoris's commentary, I undid the endlink nuts 1st, then undid the bushing mounts last on the OEM bar, and then half-threaded the new Steeda bushing mounts in as the 1st step on the new bar to hold the bar in place while I then half-secured the endlink bolts. Then, I snugged up the four bushing bolts, and finally secured the endlink bolts.

I did order the fancy bushing grease from Joe in Oregon, per another suggestion. IMHO, it's a worthwhile addition.

Hope this is useful info.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Finally had my car back over a weekend to get mine installed. I have a premium 4X. So maybe the first non GT, on this thread at least. I did the install by myself so very few pics during the install. No problems at all on the fron aside from getting the 85ft-lbs on the lower bolt of the end links, my longer torque wrench wouldn’t fit in the wheel well so I had to use one that was very difficult to put enough leverage on.

Holy crap. This made such an incredible difference, along with the rear bar. I am truly blown away, the car feels so much more planted and confident. I was only able to do a short test drive in the dark tonight, but it really was dramatically better. I would say definitely smoother but will find out more with some more driving. With some new tires, probably Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4’s I think it will be a really fun drive.

I opted to go with the medium setting on both bars due to the narrower premium tires and feedback from you guys that got yours installed on your GTs. I might go stiffer on the front, but I’ll probably wait for the new tires for that change.

Can you speak about whether or not the front bar fit or put stress on the water pump connector?

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