Question for anyone who's used them .. THMotorsports took my order for the Progress rear bar. Order tracking is pretty unsophisticated. Any idea roughly how long they take to prepare for ship? Says 4-5 business days (USPS ground) but also says item is "in stock, may ship from manufacturer" so that time would be ahead of that.

Not worried, just trying to figure out when to follow up. Very excited!

 

I've never ordered from them, but sort of know a guy who works for them from some parts trading we did. He's only an employee, but is trustworthy. They do a bunch of business with the Subaru community especially locally around Chicago. Never heard anything bad about them. You'll get your stuff

 

Yes that's where I ordered mine. The part came without worries. I think a lot of online companies don't keep everything in stock, sometimes they just have the manufacturer drop ship the component.

 

Yeah, I don't mind that. I was just curious. If a few more days pass and no update to the order status, maybe I'll inquire. I don't expect Amazon-level shipping speed, I just would like to know the status beyond "you paid for it" Thanks!!

 

Looked up my order and I ordered on 1/8 and got the Fedex tracking number on 1/22. Like you said, it's not "prime" but it did arrive

 

 

Mine is still in the box, waiting for a non cold or snow filled day to install :/

 

I can understand the snow, but, it's such a quick/easy/straightforward install, if it's cold, just bundle up - it really takes little time and is a perfect fit to the car. I'm pleased with mine

 

Why bother doing car mods when it's unpleasant? It's a hobby, it's supposed to be enjoyable!

 

This is an optional add on, and I can wait until im not fighting a cold wind on my hands or damp ground cause it wont stop raining every 2 days here. I never installed this kind of part before, so its going to take me longer then usual. Long term forecast looks good for thursday install

 

It's literally a 4 bolt install process and should take about 15m to do, especially if you have a ramp.

 

Well it finally came!! and I did it at about 50 degrees. Like many people I could not easily get at the 3rd bolt on the right side, so we are going with 2bolts only either side (3rd must be a backup right?? err)

Install not difficult. Will report back.

My package was heavily damaged and most of the mounting hardware bits had taken the opportunity to escape their cardboard prison during the 5 week journey to me. I went to Lowes where the contractors have taken all (ALL) the nuts out of their respective packages to test-screw them before buying, then left them all in a big pile in the drawer, and I found 4 that fit the bolts. Should work, right?

 

I had to scratch my head until I checked your profile and you have a GE. The GK version only has 2 bolts.

I'd contact Progressive and explain what happened. I'm sure they'd send the correct hardware free of charge if you explained what happened with the packaging. Can you be sure the bolts you picked are the correct grade? Are they stainless steel to prevent rusting etc?

 

I am def installing this tomorrow, along with all the other mods I have queued up. Any details on the 'difficult' bolt fitment ?

 

Here are the instructions for the GK: https://www.progressauto.com/ecom/download/62.1063.pdf

As you can see, it's really quite easy.

Ignore the "difficult" bolt fitment, as that comment is for 2nd gens where they have to remove the spring for install.

 

I think you can do it on the GE without removing the springs. Probably just need to push the rubber aside with a BAS (big xxx screwdriver). But, to do that I will need to jack up the car to drop the suspension down (I did the initial install on ramps).

 

FINALLY done. Took me a while since i could not jack the car high enough to raise the jackstands up... and I was not comfortable crawling under the car test fitting.

I ended up removing the rear wheels and fit the bolts in each side, and got them started while i tightened them in turn. I initially had it upsidedown, which became obvious as i aligned the bar to the car better,


Just a quick trip around the block and things seem fine, nothing coming loose , etc. I'l wait to tonight when i drive on the nwe fog lights / horns to really take some corners.

 

Time for a review! I'm not going to start a new thread. There's too many "Progress Sway Bar" threads as it is

You can easily, immediately tell the difference having added this part to a GE Fit. In the real world, where this pops up is in low and medium-speed curves. There's less body roll and the car turns more confidently both in and out of turns.

Think about how much the stock "twist beam" suspension must twist out of the factory, if adding a bar makes this much of a difference. How many inches does the rear beam deform, anyway? And it's not all good news with the bar, either. By encouraging you to drive faster, it reveals other flaws in the simplistic suspension setup, like jerking the rear about during quick L-R-L transitions. I'm not sure what's going on there.

I don't feel like the bar makes any difference, unfortunately, in my primary complaint: The nervous, bouncy feeling of the car at high (70+) freeway speeds. I'm beginning to suspect that's dampers which are too soft out of the factory; and I'm not willing to experiment with those.

The downside of the bar is also very obvious. Because the twist-beam suspension links both sides of the car, ANY improvement that reduces motion and thus improves handling will, almost by definition, make the ride worse. In this case, go over a bump with one wheel, and now you feel it strongly distributed to both sides of the car. You're driving along on a smooth road, listening to your tunes, and then you go over a manhole cover and Mr. Suspension goes "WHAM, hi there, just making sure you are awake up there!"

All said and done, I will leave it on probably for quite a while. Because ...

 

... the Wife likes it. Her review: "The ride is much firmer. But I have a lot more control now."

Happy wife, happy life. Yes?

And Wife is your typical "not a car person". She will listen politely to me talk about suspension geometry for a while, then gently remind me "you know I don't care about any of this, right .. ?" So, when she notices a positive difference from a component, it's probably staying on.

 

Wondering if anyone has installed the progress rear sway bar around an HKS aftermarket muffler #32016-KH001 for the GK5. Seems like it should fit but want to make sure before ordering. Thanks for any help!