Turninconcepts
Member
Ok guys. We picked up a 2006 MS6 a couple weeks ago and really like the car so far. We are sponsored by Whiteline for some of our other projects, so we called them up and had them send us a rear bar for the car. I have seen many people on here talk about 4-5 hour install time which sounded rather daunting. Then I got to thinking, I can tear down a Subaru to bare exterior chaiss in 5 hours; how can a rear sway bar take so long?
In our effort to give back to the community I decided to take some pics and do a write up of how to install a whiteline rear sway the "easy" way. All in all it was not too difficult and was performed with simple hand tools with the car on jack stands.
Let's get into it.
1. Jack the car up in the front and rear and put on jack stands.
2. Get under the rear of the car and look around. You will see the bar runs up and over the rear diff. The easier way of removing the bar is to lower the front of the rear diff and slide the bar out that way. To do that you will need to disconnect the driveshaft from the diff and remove the two front diff mounting bolts.
Pic of bar running over top of the rear diff.
These are the two front mounting bolts for the rear diff. Both will be removed. Make sure you support the front of the diff with a jack.
These are the bolts holding the driveshaft to the rear diff. Remove all four. Turn the nut side of them as the bolt side is held in place.
Disconnect the wiring that runs to the rear diff and pop the plastic holders out of their locations.
3. Now that the rear diff is loose you can lower the jack down and slowly let the front of the diff drop. It will not drop very far, but just enough to get the rear bar out. As you lower it, hold on to the driveshaft so that it doesn't drop on your head or hit the ground. You can just let it hang.
4. Now it's time to remove the mounting brackets on the bar and the endlinks. You can use a 14mm socket and ratchet to get the nuts off the sway bar bracket.
Once the brackets are disconnected, remove the lower bolt for the endlinks that runs through the control arm. Sorry, didn't get a picture of this. You want to remove it from the bolt side. The nut is actually welded to the control arm and will not move when the bolt is loosened.
5. Next step is to disconnect the rear shocks and outside bolt for the rear control arms. They are both 17mm hex head nuts and bolts on each end. Disconnect the shock first, then the control arm. Make sure when removing the control bolt you place a jack under the control arm. When the bolt is removed lower the jack slowly so that the spring does not fly would. Now take the spring out for additional clearance.
Shock bolt.
Outer rear control arm bolt.
Rear control arm disconnected and spring removed.
6. Time to remove the bar. Pop the endlinks out of the rear control arms and move them in front of the control arms. You can leave the endlinks connected to the bar for now. Slide the bar forward and out between the rear diff and subframe. It is a tight fit and there will be some tugging, but it will come out. Once you have it passed the rear diff snake it out around the exhaust. I did not disconnect the exhaust, but you can if you want as it would make it a bit easier to get the bar out.
This is the room you have between the rear subframe and rear diff.
In the background you can see the metal angular tab on the rear diff that makes the clearance very tight.
That's it.
You can now remove the endlinks from the bar and transfer them to the whiteline bar.
Reinstallation is the reverse of removal. It will be tough to slip the bar past the rear diff and subframe when you reinstall it. To make it easier have someone pull down on the front of the rear diff. This should allow you to slide it between the two.
Let me know if you have any questions about the install. All in all it took just about 1.5 hours from start to finish.
Tony
In our effort to give back to the community I decided to take some pics and do a write up of how to install a whiteline rear sway the "easy" way. All in all it was not too difficult and was performed with simple hand tools with the car on jack stands.
Let's get into it.
1. Jack the car up in the front and rear and put on jack stands.
2. Get under the rear of the car and look around. You will see the bar runs up and over the rear diff. The easier way of removing the bar is to lower the front of the rear diff and slide the bar out that way. To do that you will need to disconnect the driveshaft from the diff and remove the two front diff mounting bolts.
Pic of bar running over top of the rear diff.
These are the two front mounting bolts for the rear diff. Both will be removed. Make sure you support the front of the diff with a jack.
These are the bolts holding the driveshaft to the rear diff. Remove all four. Turn the nut side of them as the bolt side is held in place.
Disconnect the wiring that runs to the rear diff and pop the plastic holders out of their locations.
3. Now that the rear diff is loose you can lower the jack down and slowly let the front of the diff drop. It will not drop very far, but just enough to get the rear bar out. As you lower it, hold on to the driveshaft so that it doesn't drop on your head or hit the ground. You can just let it hang.
4. Now it's time to remove the mounting brackets on the bar and the endlinks. You can use a 14mm socket and ratchet to get the nuts off the sway bar bracket.
Once the brackets are disconnected, remove the lower bolt for the endlinks that runs through the control arm. Sorry, didn't get a picture of this. You want to remove it from the bolt side. The nut is actually welded to the control arm and will not move when the bolt is loosened.
5. Next step is to disconnect the rear shocks and outside bolt for the rear control arms. They are both 17mm hex head nuts and bolts on each end. Disconnect the shock first, then the control arm. Make sure when removing the control bolt you place a jack under the control arm. When the bolt is removed lower the jack slowly so that the spring does not fly would. Now take the spring out for additional clearance.
Shock bolt.
Outer rear control arm bolt.
Rear control arm disconnected and spring removed.
6. Time to remove the bar. Pop the endlinks out of the rear control arms and move them in front of the control arms. You can leave the endlinks connected to the bar for now. Slide the bar forward and out between the rear diff and subframe. It is a tight fit and there will be some tugging, but it will come out. Once you have it passed the rear diff snake it out around the exhaust. I did not disconnect the exhaust, but you can if you want as it would make it a bit easier to get the bar out.
This is the room you have between the rear subframe and rear diff.
In the background you can see the metal angular tab on the rear diff that makes the clearance very tight.
That's it.
You can now remove the endlinks from the bar and transfer them to the whiteline bar.
Reinstallation is the reverse of removal. It will be tough to slip the bar past the rear diff and subframe when you reinstall it. To make it easier have someone pull down on the front of the rear diff. This should allow you to slide it between the two.
Let me know if you have any questions about the install. All in all it took just about 1.5 hours from start to finish.
Tony
