[XtremeRevolution]

How-To: Install 2011-2016 Cruze Ultra Racing Rear Lower Bar​

Overview:
The UR rear lower chassis bar is a quick and simple upgrade that reduces body flex on the Gen1 Cruze during cornering maneuvers and improves ride stability and comfort.

Tools Required:
- 10mm socket (if Eco trim)
- 18mm socket
- Ratchet
- 6-10" socket extension
- Torque wrench (This one is ~$40 on Amazon.com)
- Optional: breaker bar

Parts Required:
- Gen1 Cruze Ultra Racing Rear Lower Chassis Bar ($120 shipped on BadNewsRacing.net)

Procedure:
Raise the rear of the vehicle enough that you can slide in from the back all the way to the fuel tank. I used ramps for this as it provided me more ground clearance and was far quicker and easier.

If you have a Cruze Eco, you'll have a deflector that will be in the way. Remove the 10mm plastic nuts holding the deflector on. There should be 6 nuts.

Next, locate and remove the center and rear-most bolts on the rear axle brackets.

Fit the UR lower bar over where the bolts were removed, and lightly thread the bolts back in.

Tighten the bolts to 66lb-ft + 45 degrees (about 1/8 of a turn). A breaker bar makes this easier. That's it!

If you have a Cruze Eco, re-fit the deflector, lightly tightening the plastic nuts (they will strip easily and don't need to be very tight).

To complement this rear lower bar, be sure to check out the Ultra Racing front strut tower bar and rear strut tower bar as well. Both will improve handling through chassis rigidity, ride stability, and ride comfort.

 

[ChevyGuy]

Tighten the bolts to 66lb-ft + 45 degrees (about 1/8 of a turn).

Sounds TTY bolts. Do you want to re-torque them that much on a re-use?

It looks like Chevy did a good job on the rustproofing, but the bolts - not so much. Might not be a bad idea to replace them.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Sounds TTY bolts. Do you want to re-torque them that much on a re-use?

It looks like Chevy did a good job on the rustproofing, but the bolts - not so much. Might not be a bad idea to replace them.

That's the torque spec for them according to GM and they're pretty large bolts.

There are 4 of them holding each axle bracket. So I don't think it will be too big of an issue to reuse them, but I'll look into replacements.

I sprayed that whole area over with some AMSOIL MPHD to get a corrosion protection layer on it for a year or two. Not bad for a 5 year old car.

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV using Tapatalk

 

[MP81]

I wonder what the difference in effectiveness is between this and a rear sway bar. I think both would produce too much oversteer, at least for my wife (I would be fine with that - my Cobalt has a 1.25" rear swaybar), but this would certainly be an easier install. I'm assuming there aren't any clearance issues if one has the Z-link?

I was looking at these the other day because I cannot leave anything stock. The STB and this look like a pretty decent setup - though one wonders how much the STB does. My Cobalt's is nothing more than ornamental as its plenty stiff there from the factory.

 

[jmlo96]

I'm glad I found this thread. I had ordered this but thought they forgot the bolts.

All in all, I'm very impressed with the difference this bar makes. Its like the front and and the rear end are on speaking terms again. The ride feels a little more settled in the rear as well.

 

[MP81]

Well, this'll be going on soon:

Going to attempt doing it without lifting the car. Probably won't happen, but I'm lazy.

 

[MP81]

Installed ours today. Was able to do it without too much extra hassle with the car on the ground.

The aeroshield was a bit of a bitch to get back on, but other than that, pretty easy.

Will be interesting to see how it improves handling.

EDIT: Yup, definitely noticeable! I dig it.

 

[PAChevyCruze]

I installed mine a few weeks ago. Not a real big difference in handling that I noticed. But, I got the bar for $61 + $10 s/h off of Amazon. Brand new. I fell into that deal, since after I got mine, it went up to $110. lol :go: