So here's the deal...I have a beatiful pair of h-sport comp swaybars sitting in my garage. I bought them and 2 weeks later my financial status changed for the worse. I am once again a middle school teacher so you now know how little I make. I know there are a few good shops/people around who install swaybars but what I don't know is what would be a fair price for the install. I live in central NC so keep that in mind. What would be a fair price for installing both? I could do the rear myself but would rather have someone who knows exactly what they are doing.

Thanks

Sorry I haven't had a lot of time to post lately but I have been reading.

 

someone said it should only be an hour install so i would assume an hour labor charge would be fair

but then again, i'm a cheap bastid, and i think that engine swaps should only be a hour labor charge.

dont believe anything i say.

 

Got a quote from Bay Bridge Motors for 2-3 hours worth of work.. @$80/hr - %10 NorCal MINI discount so $72. Not sure if that's the going rate, but that is in the Bay Area, so I expect it would be cheaper in other parts of the country.

 

rafthos,
For the rear sway bar it is about one hour to 1.5 hours depending on who does the install. There are DIY instructions on NAM.

Why do you have a "Pair" of H-sport bars? Are you planning to install the front sway bar? Generally the stock front sway bar is plenty stiff. If you install the upgrade you will get more stiffness (although it is adjustable) and probably more understeer which the MINI has plenty of already. Most of us add only the rear sway bar and adjust stiffness to tune in or out understeer depending on our driving style and needs.

Those who install both bars are generally using the MINI for heavy track use. Is that why have are installing both? If so then that is fine. Soft setting on the front and soft to mid setting in the back for starters and then tune it up.
Installation for both bars more like 3 hours at $80 to $90 per hour.

 

Invite some people over from NAM to your house and have a little "garage" day. People can come and change their brake fluiod, rotate their tires, install sway bars, change plugs, etc. What I've found is that most people know how to do at least one of those things so getting together a group of four or five various people together to help eachother out would benefit everyone. Order some pizza and enjoy the company!

 

At Steve's Auto clinic the going rate is 250 for the set and takes about 3 hrs . The front is the real issue as you have to drop the front sub frame.
Randy
Team M7
www.m7tuning.com

 

$250 for both sounds like a deal to me.

I paid that much just for the front. Front requires more work.

 

I would recommend doing just the rear on your own or with your
MINI buddies... just take your time. First timers should be able
to do it within 3 hours.

On my car there was so much silicon foam on the chassis protruding
into the swaybar opening that the aftermarket swaybar would rub it
when I checked clearance while the car was on jacks. I had to
trim a lot of that silicon off . If you have someone doing the install
for you and you ask them for the most economical price, they may
half-butt the work.

Considereing that the Hsport swaybar is MUCH thicker, you may need to
do the same if your chassis was built kind of sloppy like mine.

 

60 rear
120 front

 

Sell your front bar to a track freak, and use the proceeds to install the rear. For everyday driving and occasional lite track, that's all you'll need. Best suspension mod ever. Jimbo

 

We charge one hour ($65) for the installation of the rear bar. For the front, we charge your first born: I hate that job.

 

I performed this install just two weeks ago. Having a stock MC suspension meant that the front bar was required as well.

The rear bar was easy. It takes little more than a 16mm socket, a 13 mm socket and a 21 mm socket (wrench or adjustable.) I didn't have a 16 mm socket but a 5/8th works great (0.629 vs 0.625). From loosening the wheel lugs to tightening them again took less than an hour. I'd say the difficulty was two wrenchs out of five, but only if you haven't crawled under the car before.

The front took 6 hours and I would never do it again without a lift and a set of air-tools. There are 14 16mm x 4" bolts that have to be removed. That was a lot of threads to spin thru. The 4 18mm bolts that hold the bar in can not be accessed with any normal ratchet. Any they require a tremendous amount of effort to loosen. Then they didn't spin out. I was able to move them an eighth of a turn at a time. It was laborious and tiring. Once free, it takes patience and strength to remove the old bar. I had a crow bar between the subframe and the body to gain enough clearance to move the bar out but it still took a lot of maneuvering. I had the car a foot off the floor but it wasn't enough. If I didn't have the creeper, I would have given up after the first 6 bolts.

If you have the MCS or SS+ suspension, don't bother with the front. It's too much effort. The car is completely flat in the turns and very balanced with proper air pressure. With it soft in the front and middle on the rear, the car is very sensitive to rear tire pressure and had to be adjusted down such that the pressures are staggered (17" ES100s with 33f and 30r). I like the feel on the street but it took a while to find the right autox pressures. Before the bars, it was 39/37.5. After, it was 38/33.5. But it's far less forgiving to jerky controls. You need to be smooth. Keeping the stock bar would result in less balance but it should be more forgiving.

Good luck getting them installed. Do the rear bar and then decide what to do with the front.

 

its a really easy install.

chris

took me 1 hour to do it.

 

I have triplets. Which one do you want Eric?

On second thought AGoKart, do you make coastal calls? Have you thought about front bar parties? It has made Randy famous.