ND MX-5 Flyin' Miata Sway Bar Installation
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- If you're only going to do one thing to your ND, this is what it should be. Sway bars are used to make your car corner flatter and react faster by keeping the body (and all the weight) under control. Ours are set up for neutral handling and are adjustable so you can tailor the handling of your Miata to your own driving style.
In this video, Kyle installs a set of our adjustable ND sway bars into a 2019 MX5 Miata.
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INDEX
Intro/Overview 0:16
Front Disassembly 0:45
Removing the Stock Front Sway Bar 6:55
FM Front Sway Bar Installation 8:42
Front Grease and Assembly 9:46
Rear Sway Bar Removal/Disassembly 17:22
FM Rear Grease/Install Assembly 18:21
Outro 20:06
Flyin' Miata is the world leader in Miata performance. We offer a wide range of parts for all years of the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
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Useful Tip: Reinstall the 2 radiator hose bolts before installing the new sway bar bushings/bracket which allows for much-needed extra room.
Thank you
Did the job with a friend who is also completely inexperienced in about 3.5 hours. I literally went to Harbor Freight yesterday and bought a jack and tools last night. That's how much we don't know what we're doing.
Only hiccups, we snapped one of the plastic clips holding the power steering wires. Also, that bolt on top of the radiator hose is super difficult to put back in. Other than that, no parts left over. Car works like a charm.
Thanks so much for the great video!
I hate you. Fought with it for 2 hours....then said F it. Im going to cut it. I need and angle grinder anyway
Probably the best instructional video I have ever seen. This is the guy to watch if you have never done this before and need clear details on how to do this swap out! Excellent job bro ! It's not rushed, and extremely WELL EXPLAINED ! I would feel confident doing this myself using this video ! You took the fear out of screwing this up!
GREAT VIDEO !
This video was super helpful. I just completed the install with just jack stands. A couple tricks I found which helped me:
- Unbolt the sway bar from the mounts before trying to remove the rear radiator hose bolt. This let me get my hand in there and made it much easier. Same goes for putting in the new sway bar: Bolt in the rear hose bolt before bolting in the sway bar brackets.
- Before trying to remove the sway bar, use a flat head and pry the metal bracket off of the bushing. This gives a lot more room for squeezing it through the gaps and the metal won't scrape
This is exactly what I did. Way easier.
Came to say this
Destructive tip: Cut out the passenger side sway bushing. Use a narrow flat heavy steel scraper to wedge in between glued on surface of the bar and bushing; spray brake cleaner onto the glued surface as you pry up to "eat away" the glue, use heavy forces to pry that sucker off. Much better than trying to clear that gdam glued on bushing!
Even with this excellent tutorial it was a nightmare of a job. 4 hours of clanging banging around the subframe and radiator, screaming wife and kids. Wouldn't wish this install on my worst enemies. Used to be sway bar was a cheap and easy mod. On NDs put in some race springs/shocks/coilovers and call it a day, they do the same thing as sway bar.
Sorry you had such a rough time, it's definitely not a fun job!
Some new tips for anyone struggling. The power steering cables can be tricky, slide that red tab outward, then use a flat head to press down in the area where that red tab was, mine made a click sound and then I could easily slide the connector off. Don't pull on the cables, if it's not coming off get a flashlight and look closer to where you need to press with a flat head screwdriver.
The clip holding the power steering wire harness on the top is a pain. In the video they already had it removed. I broke mine off after 30 minutes of prying it with a flat head. Then I noticed that if you look on the other end of where the clip attaches to the power steering frame, there is a hole, so if you don't want to break it off, you could maybe use a thin drill bit or something that will fit and then tap with a hammer to hopefully get that clip to pop out. I'll just have to ziptie mine back through that hole since I broke the clip.
Go to Amazon and order upgraded plastic retainer clips. Search for Rexka retainer clip mx-5. They're like $12 for a 30 pack. These are the little plastic pop out clips but easier to pop out. You may break many of yours trying to take them out or find that some are missing so it's nice to have these extra ones.
Open your hood and take off your front bumper if you're working outside on jack stands, this will make everything easier to see in daylight.
Unfortunately, this video is edited where they speed up when he's sliding in the new bar, so it's impossible to see exactly how he's doing it. I wish they didn't speed up those very important parts. Pulling the stock bar out and sliding the new one in can require many attempts. If you get frustrated then take a break and try again, don't rush it and watch the other end of the bar because it can scratch your fender and damage clips/wires. Don't worry if it takes you an extra day to figure it out. I ended up pulling the entire bar out from the passenger side to try again.
As others have said, get that rear radiator bolt on before adding the bushings and brackets on the new bar. I ziptied the bar to the upper control arm to keep it out of the way
For the swaybar bracket, the upper nut requires a thinner and slightly angled box wrench. A ratchet type wrench is too thick to fit there. Make sure you have a regular thin one, preferably where the head is angled a bit too.
If an end link is stuck on the swaybar even though you removed the nut, get your floor jack and carefully jack up on your control arm to compress it upward until you can wiggle the end link bolt easily from the swaybar.
Thanks for the tips!
Thanks, excellent instructions. I used them to install a Progress sway bar in a 2020 ND today. One comment or rather suggestion; reinstall that difficult bolt on the solid cooling hose right after you get the bar in place but before you secure it rather than after. You only need that pipe out of the way to snake the bar in, once it's in but before it's secured that pesky rear bolt is a snap to reinstall.
For those that have trouble bolting/unbolting the rear radiator bracket bolt, go for it from the engine bay, use a long extension, straight down, it was SUPER easy. To bolt it back in, just use tissue paper on the nut and socket to keep the bolt in place and wiggle it in after installing the front radiator bracket bolt. This is on a RHD version btw, pretty sure it's the same for LHD.
If your products are half as good as your videos, then I’m buying from you!
Seriously great job; camera angles, audio/video quality, pace, information.
We appreciate it!
Did it today. It took about 6 hours. Kyle makes it look so easy to fish out the sway and slide the next one in. I definitely a recommended 2-person job. My kit did not come with a packet of grease so I had to use lithium grease. Probably not gonna last as long.
Used this method to replace my front sway bar yesterday! Thank you for the video, it was super helpful! Was able to get the car up on a lift at a local DIY garage - I would highly recommend looking for one of these shops! I can't imagine trying to do this with the car on jack stands. It took me (not a mechanic, but rather handy and my work involves some weekly-wrenching) about three hours start to finish. Tear-down was on the order of two hours and install/reassembly about one hour.
A note on the coolant hard line - getting the front bolt is easy, but I was not able to get the rear bolt off until I removed the passenger side sway bar mount to give myself more room. If you struggle with the rear bolt, simply proceed with the tear-down and come back to it once you're trying to phenagle the bar around.
On the driver side, I kept hitting what I believe is a grounding point for many of the front end electronics. I'd recommend unbolting that, as it did look rather fragile. It was simply about 8 leads into a plastic clip that was bolted onto a metal mount. A quick little addition that could save headaches down the road.
I struggled most of course squeezing the factory bushing between the subframe and the body (as noted in the video). Some soapy water helped squeeze through - a trick I would highly encourage using.
Thanks for the kind words and helpful advice for those that need it!
This is great! I've been holding off buy a set as I've heard horror stories about installing the front bar.
Let us know if there if you have any other questions we can help with!
The horror stories are all true
Thanks so much FM for the professional, clear and concise instructions. Pretty much followed it exactly with no fuss. I ended up cutting the plastic straps holding the electric steering harness then zip-tying back. As advised by others, I put back the rear radiator hose bracket bolt first before the right swaybar mount. Took 4 hrs f+r on jack stands and a bit of swearing to get the front bars in and out. Getting front bar out was not that bad in the end, soap on the right rubber bush helped. New bar in was a bit more of a struggle, like a big Tetris game, luck of positioning the bar to get it over the chassis rail, swing around and then over both steering rods.
Fantastic instructions. Just finished the job on jack stands. 6 hours. Followed these instructions all along the way. Lube bushing on old sway and comes out without much trouble at all (follow video guidance).
Also strongly recommend having ratcheting type wrenches with pivoting head. Will be especially valuable for the most difficult to reach bolt. Do NOT use this sort of wrench on top bold of sway bushing bracket. Open end wrench only!
Don’t be too intimidated by this job. Really not that bad.
This definitely helped me out. Rear took me about 15 minutes. Front took about 5.5 hours and still ended up cutting the front bar out. Lol. I'm happy with the end result though. The car feels much more stable through corners.
hahahahaha 😢
I just finished taking out the front sway bar. Really really challenging. I trimmed the rubber on the old bar to make it easier for it to come out
Very useful to watch you work. The music is pretty bad, like being stuck on 'hold' on the phone. I wish that there were a way to turn it off and still hear your voice.
Wow, so much better than the previous instructions. Keep the great videos coming!!
I just completed this job. What a PITA, but I got it done. the old bushings were really being a bitch so I just cut the bushing in half to make it less thick and It came right out. That is the only other thing I would offer. also, when you are putting the new one in, tighten down the back bolt for the coolant pipe before you lock down the sway bar.
Did my install today with little drama thanks to this excellent video. Would recommend getting a set of short stubby box wrenches: 10, 12, and 14mm. Cutting the stock bar with an angle grinder will also save frustration.
Having the right tools makes everything easier. Glad the video helped!
Thank you for this video. We were fighting this install forever until we saw how easy it was once you dropped the radiator - one we did that, it took about 5 minutes to get it through.
I remember when Kyle did the anti-sway bars on my 2016 ND -- I turned my back for about 20min thinking that he'd be hours, and the old bar was already out and the new one already in. And now I know how he did it!
Amazing video. Couldn’t do it without this vid. The most painful part of the install is wiggling the sway bar out and that lower hose radiator bolt
For now I'm sticking with my 05 NB MSM with less than 30k. FM's how to video's are helpful. Thanks👍
Thanks a lot for this video. I installed my H&R (Sorry not Flyin'Miata, I live in France) sway bars following your explanations and it went well. This video is very clear with all the needed details.
Glad we could help!
I just did this install great video! Would also recommend detached the abs sensor from the upper control arm as it is in way when your tightening down the nuts on the top of the swat bar brace also disconnect the other end of the water temp sensor for ND1 it has two connections its in the way when your trying to remove/install the sway bar
I installed the whiteline front and rear swaybars thanks to this tutorial. I struggled a bit more than in the video. For the front I think the geometry of the bar is slightly different, or maybe slightly bigger. I had to unscrew the 3 screws of the electrical steering assist motor to be able to rotate it to make way for the bar. I also had to unscrew the steering ball joints to be able to put the bar into position before attaching it.
We can't guarantee this exact method will work with any sway bar except the FM bar we sell, but hopefully the video helped you out with a few bits!
@@FlyinMiataVideo Yes it was very helpful. Thanks guys! Unfortunately there is no whiteline tutorial 😞
Can you explain with screws you removed on the steering assist? I'm currently struggling with Whiteline.
@@jono5402 You can see 2 screws circled in red on this picture: castelnajac-open-data.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pictures/whiteline.jpg. There should be another one which we can't see on the picture. You can see the whiteline in position as well (green arrow). I don't remember why I had to do this, but it must have helped to put it in position. Also worth mentioning my car is left-hand drive. Might not be relevant for right-hand drive.
While you have the sway bar out its a great time to install the PACO sway bar supports, very easy without the sway bar in the way.
Remove the liners, unbolt the radiator hose and passenger aide radiator mounts, next and most critical step CUT the old sway bar, new sway bar will slide right In. Put it all back Together. Don’t forget your reinforcement brackets
Very well done clearly explained. I think I can handle the rear bar. I'll be bringing my ND2 to you all to have the front bar done, though. :-)
Fantastic instructions! Thank you very much.
Great video guys, made my install a breeze
Thanks! Glad we could help!
Big thanks for this, was a big help today...... (in Ireland) 👌
Glad we could help!
I don't know why they don't do this right at the factory.
Great video. Like others I've heard horror stories about the front install - this didn't look so bad at all. I've a 124 Spider so I need to take a look at see what's the same and what's different. Pretty sure the intercooler pipes will be in the way if nothing else.
Awesome video, really helpful. Inspired me to do the install myself. Thank you.
That's the whole point! Glad we could help.
I have a Gen 3 Mazda 3.. I installed a front bar on mine.. wish doing something like this was an option. It was a major PITA.. have to lower the front subframe.. disconnect the exhaust before the 2nd cat and pull it out from under the car..
That sounds like a big install for a sway bar. And here we thought the ND was a pain compared to other Miatas!
Miata Master Mechanic, i like that...
Helpful video, thanks a lot!
This is really a terrific video. Thanks so much you guys for putting out such great stuff. Can I use your lift?
do you even lift, bru?
I know this was done like 2 yrs ago, but I just watched this for a second time.
Those collars you put on in an angle to prevent the bar from moving, is this required on all sway bars or just FM sway bars?
If just FM sway bars, why?
Would it be better to load the bar to ride height before placing on the collars/locks?
I also noticed you did not use any LocTite, is it not required?
Thank you!
Greeting
I’ve purchased Strut Tower Bars, QNDA-56-490 and QNDA-56-49X, for my 2019 MX-5 ND; however INSTALLATIONS AND USER’S INSTRUCTIONS manual doesn’t help!
Can you share with me a link from your channel how to install them?
Thanks appreciated
Thank you for this video !
Hope it helps!
What is the method for removing the coolant temp sensor plug? Is it a depressible type of pin? Also, what settings would be closest to the feel of the stock sway bar, the middle on the front and back?
These are awesome. Just such a shame they are hard to come by in Europe. If you don't want to spend a fortune on shipping and taxes that is.
I can follow these steps for any of the front and rear sway bars offered for the ND yeah?
If i cut the old one off do i still have to detach the radiator and harness etc?
Brilliant video. I have a (maybe) stupid question. Battery is disconnected. Steering lock is automatically on. How could you move the wheels? How could you disable the steering lock without having the ACC/ignition on?
Fun fact - the ND doesn't have a steering lock.
Why did Mazda allow so much body roll in the ND1or 2 ?
No need to reenforce the front subframe??
For a street car? Probably not. If you are running sticky tires and driving the car hard, you may want to look into one of our sway bar reinforcement kit
flyinmiata.com/products/stage-2-front-sway-bar-mount-reinforcement-kit-for-nd
Have you guys come up with a fix for the AC pipe breaking due to modifying the suspension? When you do, I'll mod my suspension and buy it from you.
This is not a common problem that we have experienced, please reach out to our customer support team, they should be able to give you more information.
Great video on the install. I'm have a 18 124 Spider Abarth. Are the bars for the ND miata the same as the 124?
They are the same, but installation will vary a bit from this guide.
Great video!!!
Thank you!!
Awesome video. You make me wanna buy that power tool.
Great Video, but I have one question why would you replace the OE sway bar of a ND II 30AE when the car comes with a sway bar on both front and rear..
All Miatas come with both front and rear sway bars. Check out our other video on sway bar theory, you'll learn why you might want to change them out.
Short answer is, aftermarket bars are beefier with less “spring” action, keeping the car flatter with less flex
Is there any reason that you didn't install the braces while doing this installation? I'm debating on how much the braces are going to be needed when I upgrade to your sway bar set for my 2020 Club. It will be driven in a spirited fashion on the street primarily through back mountain roads in the twisties. Great instructional video though and is the simplest method that I've seen to do the swap.
We didn't have them available at the time we shot this, unfortunately.
The braces are one of those parts that are easy to install and help prevent a bad failure mode. It's good insurance.
That makes sense. I'm planning on adding those in with the order when I make it. Thank you for the response.
@@FlyinMiataVideo It doesn't look like those would be too difficult to add after the fact. Do you agree?
How much room do you need next to the car to remove the front swaybar? I have a smaller space and don't want run out of space when the car is on jack stands and pulled apart.
We would plan on having the length of the sway bar on one side at a minimum.
What about cutting the OEM sway bar to get it out? Would it be easier?
if you had no need for it, you could do that. Just be careful not to cut or burn any of the close plastics or wiring.
Do the bushings need to be regreased? If so, about how often? I know we add drive our cars differently and for a different number of miles per year.
It depends on how and where the car is driven. Cars driven in dirty/salty/really wet conditions will likely need to have the bushings cleaned and re-greased a lot more often than a pristine museum example. The short answer is that if they start making noise or just look dirty, it’s time to clean and re-grease. Just like changing any other fluid or grease on a vehicle, it never hurts the car to refresh it sooner than later.
is the rear sway bar just hanging around with no center locking?
Sway bars have to be free to rotate in their bushings - it's a fundamental part of their design. If you anchor them in the middle they become a torsion bar spring.
The shop cut the front one. Coolant line got pinched.
Don't go to that shop again. 😂
How well centered does the swaybar have to be before securing it? Mine is like 1/8 of an inch off. If it's not perfect will it affect how it performs? Does it self-adjust side-to-side once the car is on the ground and driving?
Our ND sway bars include collars that prevent the sway bar from moving from left to right very much (they're installed on either side of the sway bar bushings). The sway bar needs to be pretty well-centered before the collars are installed because the sway bar won't move left-right after that.
1/8" away from perfectly centered is probably OK. Aiming for as close to perfectly centered is ideal.
that seems like way to much work to change a sway bar, arent u suppoed to tighten the endlinks with the car on the ground with weight on it?
The sway bar upgrade makes a huge difference in the handling. If you aren't comfortable with the install, give us a call, we might be able to recommend a shop that can do it for you. The old bushing style end links need to be tightened at ride height in-place with the weight of the car on them. The newer ND ball joint end-links (and our aftermarket end-links) do not require this and can be tightened immediately after installing the sway bar.
@@FlyinMiataVideo i just got it in after 4 hours of trying to duplicate your step by step instructions. but on jackstands.... cant feel my lower back but its in
@@protocolpalpatine A lift definitely makes the job easier. Hope your back is better!
I didn't hear any cursing.
Good lord. Awesome instructions... but hell no! 😅🤣😅🤣
Angle grinder, cut, remove. Karcepts bar. Total time for job. 45min
What is the diff between the 3 holes on front and back bars?
Stiffness.
Hole 1 Hole 2 Hole 3
Front 383 lb/in 454 lb/in 546 lb/in
Rear 119 lb/in 154 lb/in 207 lb/in
thanks!
Should new end links also be replaced at same time?
End links are fairly easy to swap out, so don't necessarily need to be swapped out at the same time as the sway bar install. This bar will work fine with stock end links, tho you may want to look into adjustable end links if your car is lowered, or if your stock end links are damaged and need replacing.
14:14, got totally lost here. What are you trying to put back in here?
Lower radiator hose pipe mount 14:02
I would have bought the Flyin'Miata sway bars set if the video came out a year ago.
Hello, I have a 2016 ND Club with Bilsteins and stock springs. Do you still recommend the middle hole on the sway bars for the stock setup for best settings. I was thinking middle hole in the front and outer hole in the rear for a little understeer bias. Thoughts? Just trying to get rid of the horrible body roll mainly.
The middle holes are where we recommend to start to give a fairly neutral handling balance. This can vary slightly from car to car depending on the alignment and how the rest of the suspension is set up. The sway bar settings are very easy to change, so feel free to experiment to get the handling characteristics that you prefer!
How is the front bar taking people 8 hours? Lol. I'll probably regret saying that when mine arrive but it doesn't seem bad if you follow this vid
Dumb question, why can't you just cut the old bushing out, because that is what causes the most obstruction
Never mind, it doesn't work.....The bushing is stuck to the bar, which doesn't make sense to me.....F it. Im going to cut the bar. On that note, why is the bushing fused to the bar, and doesn't spin freely like the replacement bar?
How much different is the ride with the new parts ?
The effect on ride quality is minimal. The car will follow the camber of the road a little more closely, but these are not monster bars - the suspension will still be free to move.
Just finished these. On the shakedown drive, I did not notice any significant effect on ride quality. I think you'd have to drive them side by side to notice.
How much if you install them for me on a 2020 MX5 - Parts and labor? :)
Unfortunately, we are no longer doing customer installs. If you have any questions or need any help, give us a call 970-464-5600 or drop us an email at support@flyinmiata.com and we will be happy to help.
Is this even possible to do on jack stands? The rear seems easy but the front... Dam. I really don't want to pay a shop over $400 to install the front one.
I am about to do it in the AM with four jackstands. Worse case scenario is it takes a lot longer than you'd expect...I'm gonna do it following this video and just take my time as I dont have power tools. I'm wondering how I'm gonna torque down the brackets knowing a torque wrench wont fit
@@georgebugarin1078 How did this go bro? I'm going to attempt this tomorrow myself.
@@BestCaseHypothesis took me a leisurely 4.5 hours on jackstands with a 45 minute lunch break. The hardest part was putting the passenger side radiator hose rear bolt back on. The FM sway bar is so thick that I couldn't lift the bar high enough to comfortably screw the bolt back in. I did all by feel. However the sir in the video does remove the skid plate and I forgot to do that, but that seems to help. It's very rewarding to do and it's not that hard. Just follow the video.
I'm very pleased with the result. Ride quality is the same with the stock bilsteins but i can hold the cars nose in the turn without as much worry about losing tire contact. Coilovers still needed cause the bilsteins are still soft and hard at the same time.
I also did it on jack stands. No problem. The hardest parts for me were the power steering wiring clips (I broke one, but not in a bad way), and the oft-mentioned rear radiator hose bolt. Removed the extra bracing, same as the video, to do that one. My torque wrench did fit on the lower bracket bolts and the end link bolts. The upper bracket bolts I had to guesstimate.
Yeah,great.There are videos on CZcams, they cut off (!) the original sway bar.
What's the use of replacing d existing functional sway bars?
Adjustability and higher levels of roll stiffness.
uhh... ya ... im just leaving mine stock hahah screw that!!
@Fennix205 The front bar is certainly a hassle, but the rear bar is very simple. The reduced body roll is absolutely worth it!
Ugh not looking forwards to doing this in an unheated garage.. might just pay someone to do it. Or wait a few months
Thankfully I have a Toyota. 25 minutes to remove