On installing strut tower braces

So yesterday my front and rear tower braces arrive with my lower rear tie brace and I need some assurance before I try to put those bad boys on.
 
From what I understand:
 
I'll need to jack the car so the pressure is off the chassis
Pull out the three nuts where it's going to go, on both sides... so 6 nuts. THAT'S A LOT OF NUTS
Put mount on, reinstall nuts.
Once both mounts are in place, I'm ready to put the bar in.
Attach the bolt onto the mount.......the bolt will screw into the bar.
Screw in the bar.
Screw in the other bolt onto the other side of the bar.
Take the bolt I just screwed in and attach it to the other mount.
 
So now the assembly is in place. Now to tighten it!
 
AND HERE'S WHAT I NEED HELP ON
 
Since the actual tower brace bar is screwed in, I'm assuming I can twist the bar to tighten it. However, I can tighten it either way...the bar will either be pulling on the mounts or pushing on the mounts. I assume I'll want to pull. So I twist the thing hard until it's very tight, and then lock it in with the nuts (that were already screwed onto the bolt before I screwed on the bar)
 
RIGHT?
 


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You're most of the way there. 

First loosen the nuts with your breaker bar so you are not pulling the car hard while on the jack. 
Jack up the car
Put the bar together and tighten it all the way, but not tightly.  One of the mounts is a left-hand thread.
Remove the 6 nuts.
Put one mount on the studs and put the 3 nuts on to hold it in place ..... nothing is getting tightened yet.
Now, hold the free mount so it is upright like the one held onto the car and
   turn the bar until the mount fits over the studs on the opposite side.
Fit the bar so it fits all studs without inward or outward pressure .... remember, this is a brace, not a spring.
Tighten the adjustment locking nuts.
Tighten the 6 nuts evenly .... be careful not to pull the car off of the jack.
Tighten the mount bolts.
Take the car off of the jack.
Repeat for the rear.
Enjoy your new bars!


EDIT:  The adjustment that you mentioned in your post is only so that the same bar can be used for many applications.  It is not for preloading.

Thank you very much, that makes a lot of sense.

My experience with car repair is limited, despite my background in engineering and mechanicals.

No problem!!!  Are you a Mechanical Engineering student?  I'm a Mechanical Engineer ...... and also named Aaron!  I learned that MacLeod is an Aaron too!!!  He's the audio god!

I installed the front and rear tower braces, but not the rear lower tie bar. However, the tower bars make a huge difference. The chassis doesn't flex around corners anymore it is pretty straight and solid.

Stock suspension to tower bars, highly worth it.

Sways do a ton more than the tower bars.  Get some!  You'll love them.  Also, increasing the strength of the rear swaybar more than the front decreases understeer.

Aaron is the best/first name in the books!

I'm actually a computer engineering student; a mix of mechanical engineering and computer science.

I wanna do the physical aspect of computers, either robotics or embedded systems.


My future job could be anything from making alarm clocks to missiles.

Im looking to buy the greddy grex triple bar strut tower bars ($120 free shipping)
and am looking to possibly buy some sways to go along with the bar...
 
i was told to go for rear sways before i do front sways  is this how i should attack it?
 
also if i get rear sways, what exactly do i need for the install.... i see links, bushings, bars, etc... gets confusing...
 
what size sways should i get?
should i try to stay with greddy?
 
looking to get a quality part without the quality name price....

lol hobbin...im also a computer engineering technology student...and i like the physical parts like assembly/disassembly...or physical parts...i dont like programming tho...

quote:

ORIGINAL: winndogg34

Im looking to buy the greddy grex triple bar strut tower bars ($120 free shipping)
and am looking to possibly buy some sways to go along with the bar...

i was told to go for rear sways before i do front sways  is this how i should attack it?

also if i get rear sways, what exactly do i need for the install.... i see links, bushings, bars, etc... gets confusing...

what size sways should i get?
should i try to stay with greddy?

looking to get a quality part without the quality name price....

Quality cost $$.  If you get an aftermarket sway, it will come with matched bushings.  End links get reused.  If you want to, you can buy upgraded endlinks, but it''s not necessary for your car.  (I need to because the way my car is underneath, the upgraded sways put the endlinks at a tough angle .... but for the meantime, I am using OEM too.)  If you decide to go the CL-S/TL-S rear sway route, you will need the bar, bushings and bushing brackets from the model that fits your car .... gotta research, but I''m pretty sure that the same generation range would fit fine.  The Acura bar is much cheaper than aftermarket, but it''s only the rear.  For the best handling, you should get a matched set of bars.  I had the Comptechs.  A front and rear sway set will run about $300.

quote:

ORIGINAL: winndogg34  i was told to go for rear sways before i do front sways  is this how i should attack it?

also if i get rear sways, what exactly do i need for the install.... i see links, bushings, bars, etc... gets confusing...

 
I beefed up my rear sway bar by going w/ an ''04 TL, from an Acura dealer, and left the front alone.  Very neutral handling.
 
For the rear, you''ll need brackets and bushings according to the diameter of the sway bar.  Chances are, if you buy the bar from a dealer they''ll have the bushing/brackets too.  If you live where rust happens, you may as well save yourself some grief and spend the money for new end links right away.  They''re almost impossible to get off, due to the allen-wrench bolts.  When I saw that I was getting nowhere, I got out my sawzall w/ a metal-cutting blade and sawed through the end link threads.  That''s on a ''98, but I''d guess yours are similar.  Sorry I can''t help you with choosing a sway bar.  My stock sway bar is supposedly a 17mm diameter, and replaced it w/ a 22mm, so I''d suggest something in that range- 22mm- 24mm.

I believe that the Progress bar is the largest at 27mm, but I could be wrong.  After all, I don''t even own a Honda!!!