do you do just the fronts or the back too?

 

I'd agree. The front bar is too stiff for ordinary use. Biggest detriment to handling (on the JDM cars anyway) is that the bump stops on all four shock absorber shafts are far too long, and restrict upward motion of the wheels. Next problem is that the roll stiffness is far too stiff in the front compared to the rear. Removing the front bar helps a little, but there is then a bit too much body roll. A big rear bar would fix it. (And I mean something like a 28 mm hollow bar instead of the weak little 3/4" one!) Difficult to fit. So I've arrived at a compromise, with no front bar and some Tein 330 lb/in (6 kg/mm) 10" 66 mm i.d. rear springs. (At 145 mm of available travel in the springs, these are right on the limit, and very nearly coil-bind at full travel. Eibach 1000.250.0350 have 152 mm and would be safer.)

These rears are just a little stiff when the car is unladen, but with any weight in the rear the ride and handling are great.

 

Replacing the OEM original sway bar end links on our GE8 with the Moog version today (along with struts, springs, tie rod ends). What a difference in quality. The Moog rubber boot is much more contained in the housing, so theoretically it is less prone to tearing, they have grease fittings, have a fitting to make install and removal much easier, and the rod is a larger diameter. Fantastic all around. I may need to add a Progress RSB after this. Will be interesting to see how it drives.

 

Did this for our daughter Fit. Try using the hex key and 14mm box wrench, but when the hex key started to strip out, got my small vise grip, clamp down on the rubber boot and went to town with my cordless impact. A couple of quick squeeze on the trigger and that nut was off. Did the same for the remaining three nuts. Like everyone else, I went with the Moog links. Put some never seize on the threads and another couple of quick squeeze on the impact trigger and the nuts were back on. Took out the grease gun and gave each fitting 4 pumps of grease.

 

The end links came off relatively easily. I brushed the exposed threads with a brass brush to knock down some of the rust, then squirted Kroil on the threads and let soak overnight. Moog links are really great, went together easily and expecting these to last a long time. Nice upgrade from stock for a very inexpensive price.

 

Just ordered Moog end links for mine. Didn't totally strip one of the hex, but it's close to going, so went ahead and looked them up. Super glad Moog has one for our car. Their problem solver product line is always great for DIYers.

 

I've done this twice on two fits. If you're in a rust state you may need a wheel cut off tool. Both sides of my front sway bar links needed to be cut. Another option maybe a dremel to cut down the threads before you remove the nut.

 

Great DIY! So much pain for such an easy process. Getting the old ones off sucked. I did one side with the allen key, a wrench, and a rubber mallet. Took me like 2 hours to get the old one off, 5 mins to put the new one on. On the other side I went straight to the vise grips on the back side so I could use a break bar on the front. Much easier and much less time. Would recommend just skipping the allen key and gong straight for vise grips. Maybe it's also time I invest in a cordless impact... Anyway, first time in 2 years my fit hasn't clunked when I turn or hit a bump, kinda crazy, just pure blissful silence while driving. The Moog replacements are great.

 

@mnguyen1224: Glad it worked out. Thanks for the follow-up. It is valuable.

 

As the links are U/S anyway, I always break off the link arm from the ball joints, then it is easy to attach mole / locking grips to the whole ball joint, I then unscrew the nut as much as I can, then cut behind the nut with a Dremel. I now only use a hex key to refit the new parts. It is much quicker if you just plan to use a cutting tool in the first place rather then wasting time trying to undo the nut. The next time I do some of these links I shall try cutting the bolt as close to the nut as possible as a first step.

 

I know this is an old thread but I learned a lot from it and replaced the links with new Moog parts on my 2009 today. I bought this car w/165,000 miles three weeks ago with a noisy wheel bearing.

I had the LF wheel bearing replaced this week by a shop I (used) to trust but the rattling, tapping & knocking noises on bumpy pavement was not something I could live with. The shop that did the wheel bearing and hub for $370 this week quoted me $925 for "new struts that will fix the noise". Thing is that the front suspension still seemed controlled and well damped and I'm pretty sure the struts were replaced at some point. I have no service records. The struts have still have stickers on them that don't look OEM and they have virtually no corrosion. With the ride and damping still seeming good I thought maybe the strut bearings or mounts were rattly and knocking so I was going to start there then found this thread when searching "noisy struts Honda Fit".

On a scale of 10 this was a 1 or 2 and only took maybe 90 minutes including getting car up and tools together. I was surprised how easily the nuts on the first one came off. The threads were pretty clean before I sprayed penetrant then went right at them. Once I read the thread again and saw the need to have both wheels off the ground in order not to fight the sway bar pushing the link up the first link came out easily and was replaced quickly. The other side took half the time of the first. The old links had boots that were open to the elements and obviously in need of replacing once I got a good look at them. No more noise!

 

Thank you for the detailed instructions. Knowing the tools needed is really helpful so i could buy whatever i didn't have in my toolbox in advance.

I apologize if it's been shared before, but i wanted to register to comment on this which made my life so much easier. I bought a crowfoot wrench thinking that would help but it the bottom nut was so tight it was slipping. Tried with a normal 14 wrench and would not budge. I happened to have my 1/4" impact driver so figured I'd try. Had to use an impact wobble adapter on the bottom to clear the brake caliper. It loosened all nuts on both sides very easily. No need to use an Allen wrench in my case. Just hit it with the impact driver, the bottoms on both ends loosened up enough so i could finish the rest with the 14 wrench. The tops came off all the way. Another trick that helped was using a 5mm hex socket and socket wrench instead of an Allen wrench. I know not everyone owns an impact...look for deals on 1/4" ones. I paid $99 for my Makita and it's got enough power to loosen lug nuts plus this type of work...but even a cheap electric/plug-in one from Harbor Freight would save you a lot of time.

I was mentally preparing myself to spend hours in the heat fighting with this and busting my knuckles but when i saw how i was able to do both sides in 30 minutes i wanted to share and hopefully help others. If it wasn't for all i learned reading this post, it would have taken me way longer plus multiple trips to AutoZone.