My last thread informing users here of something they should avoid went very well so I thought I'd do another one similar. This isn't so much to steer you away, but to inform you of a serious quality issue.
Previously, Explicit-Speed Performance had the only aftermarket traction bar available for our Accords. At least that was specifically marketed to us, anyway. A lot of people wanted it, but there was the ever-present waiting period that came with purchasing ESP products that not everyone was willing to put up with. Others were just plain cheap. I've purchased a 3-point front strut bar from them and I can speak firsthand about the waiting period and the canned response you would get if you ever inquired about it. You can't knock the quality of their stuff, though. It's Grade A, top notch, unbreakable, quality stuff.
The next little bit is just me trying to rationalize buying cheap stuff so if you don't care, move on to the pictures.
I was fooling around in the junkyard one day a few years ago and noticed that the 4th generation Prelude and 5th generation Accord had a conventional front engine mount not dissimilar to that found on the rear. Instead of two pass-through bolts, it used one. This would tell the average person that the link was potentially much stronger than the CB Accord's "dog bone" style mount. In addition, the through bolt was very close to the crossmember mounting surface so more rigidity was found in placement as well.
Think about the rear mounts available for these cars. The DX/LX 5-speed rear mount is short and because the through bolt is much closer to the rigid surface it mounts to, more movement is transferred through to the chassis instead of being lost in the dampening effect created by the height of the mount. As the EX was supposed to offer more refinement, Honda wanted noticeably less vibrations from the engine to be felt by the driver and/or passengers. By extending the height of the mount there becomes more dampening material between the through bolt that engine forces are acting on and the flat mounting surface of the control arm. This allows the body of the mount to dampen more of the vibrations than it could otherwise.
I wanted to recreate this on the front crossmember by using one of the previously-mentioned mounts. I found that I could not attach them to the CB crossmember by bolting the on, so I chose a different route. I bought a generic traction bar off of eBay to weld a plate to that would accept the 5th generation Accord front mount. I had zero intentions of going through the wait time and cost associated with buying an ESP bar only to grind the coating off and weld more stuff on it. But, I noticed the quality of the rod ends that were included with the cheap bar I received and I shelved the idea for about 2 years.
Here we are in 2015 and ESP is no longer a company that manufactures parts for us. I've decided to revisit the idea of using this traction bar on my car and I've put some work into it. I've braced a couple of the tabs and ground and redone a couple of welds. For this reason alone I recommend buying an ESP traction bar or making your own. If you find a used one for sale and you've been thinking about it, get it. Anyway, the major issue I've had to resolve with this project is the rod ends. Below are a couple of pictures comparing the rod ends that come with the generic traction bar and the ones I purchased from Barnes 4WD.
Do you see the size of that thing!!! It's massive! Unless you need more range of motion in a rod end, then you really want to select one with a body that has the same thickness as the thread diameter. This application requires less than 15 degrees of travel so the added thickness is more than welcome. These are chromoly pieces that are designed to be used in custom 4-link rock crawler and drag race rear end suspensions. They're up to the task of anything a FWD Honda could throw at it. If not, you stand a very good chance of one of these cheap rod ends breaking at the point where the threads meet the body. That could be catastrophic! At the very least it could just bend a little adding caster to the front suspension unevenly making the front end less predictable and causing uneven tire wear.
Bottom line:
Don't buy this traction bar. But if you did already, or you plan to make the necessary corrections needed to get this one up to snuff for usage on a public road, please go bet better rod ends. Much better rod ends. They cost me about $75 for the set of four with four jam nuts. Their measurements are 1/2-inch hole with a 5/8-18 threaded section.
Previously, Explicit-Speed Performance had the only aftermarket traction bar available for our Accords. At least that was specifically marketed to us, anyway. A lot of people wanted it, but there was the ever-present waiting period that came with purchasing ESP products that not everyone was willing to put up with. Others were just plain cheap. I've purchased a 3-point front strut bar from them and I can speak firsthand about the waiting period and the canned response you would get if you ever inquired about it. You can't knock the quality of their stuff, though. It's Grade A, top notch, unbreakable, quality stuff.
The next little bit is just me trying to rationalize buying cheap stuff so if you don't care, move on to the pictures.
I was fooling around in the junkyard one day a few years ago and noticed that the 4th generation Prelude and 5th generation Accord had a conventional front engine mount not dissimilar to that found on the rear. Instead of two pass-through bolts, it used one. This would tell the average person that the link was potentially much stronger than the CB Accord's "dog bone" style mount. In addition, the through bolt was very close to the crossmember mounting surface so more rigidity was found in placement as well.
Think about the rear mounts available for these cars. The DX/LX 5-speed rear mount is short and because the through bolt is much closer to the rigid surface it mounts to, more movement is transferred through to the chassis instead of being lost in the dampening effect created by the height of the mount. As the EX was supposed to offer more refinement, Honda wanted noticeably less vibrations from the engine to be felt by the driver and/or passengers. By extending the height of the mount there becomes more dampening material between the through bolt that engine forces are acting on and the flat mounting surface of the control arm. This allows the body of the mount to dampen more of the vibrations than it could otherwise.
I wanted to recreate this on the front crossmember by using one of the previously-mentioned mounts. I found that I could not attach them to the CB crossmember by bolting the on, so I chose a different route. I bought a generic traction bar off of eBay to weld a plate to that would accept the 5th generation Accord front mount. I had zero intentions of going through the wait time and cost associated with buying an ESP bar only to grind the coating off and weld more stuff on it. But, I noticed the quality of the rod ends that were included with the cheap bar I received and I shelved the idea for about 2 years.
Here we are in 2015 and ESP is no longer a company that manufactures parts for us. I've decided to revisit the idea of using this traction bar on my car and I've put some work into it. I've braced a couple of the tabs and ground and redone a couple of welds. For this reason alone I recommend buying an ESP traction bar or making your own. If you find a used one for sale and you've been thinking about it, get it. Anyway, the major issue I've had to resolve with this project is the rod ends. Below are a couple of pictures comparing the rod ends that come with the generic traction bar and the ones I purchased from Barnes 4WD.
Do you see the size of that thing!!! It's massive! Unless you need more range of motion in a rod end, then you really want to select one with a body that has the same thickness as the thread diameter. This application requires less than 15 degrees of travel so the added thickness is more than welcome. These are chromoly pieces that are designed to be used in custom 4-link rock crawler and drag race rear end suspensions. They're up to the task of anything a FWD Honda could throw at it. If not, you stand a very good chance of one of these cheap rod ends breaking at the point where the threads meet the body. That could be catastrophic! At the very least it could just bend a little adding caster to the front suspension unevenly making the front end less predictable and causing uneven tire wear.
Bottom line:
Don't buy this traction bar. But if you did already, or you plan to make the necessary corrections needed to get this one up to snuff for usage on a public road, please go bet better rod ends. Much better rod ends. They cost me about $75 for the set of four with four jam nuts. Their measurements are 1/2-inch hole with a 5/8-18 threaded section.
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