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I have bought myself a gymkhana front stabilizer. It came with the bushings. But when trying them in my original brackets, this is what it looks like :
I have no recollection of how my originals were since this is too long ago and I'm currently using poly on my bar. They seem to be too large and will not let the bracket sit flat on the frame and they seem to small in the side. Are they meant to be crushed or are these off ?
Those are off a bit. Just hacksaw a small section of the bushing so that it sits flush with the frame…I had to to that once on a front sway bar bushing..not the C3
assuming the inside diameter is correct for the bar install two longer bolts to compress the bushing. remove one of the bolts and install the short bolt and tighten. remove the second long bolt and replace with short bolt and tighten
I have bought myself a gymkhana front stabilizer. It came with the bushings. But when trying them in my original brackets, this is what it looks like :
I have no recollection of how my originals were since this is too long ago and I'm currently using poly on my bar. They seem to be too large and will not let the bracket sit flat on the frame and they seem to small in the side. Are they meant to be crushed or are these off ?
Thanks
The bushings are OK as-is and made that way on purpose. Do not cut them.
They are designed to firmly grip the bar and not allow any relative movement. Like all OEM bushings, the material designed to twist and not slide as the suspension deflects.
The stock bolts are probably not long enough to reach. Temporarily use longer bolts to draw the bracket in place then replace them with the originals. Have the car at it's normal ride height when doing the final torquing.
The factory use a special compression tool the push the brackets in place instead of switching bolts as done in the field.
Seems to be a lot of debate about whether the bushings should grip teh bar or not.
I took out my 79 shop manual and, although not a lot of info on the bar, it says to mount it so that it hangs loose in the center bushings. Then connect the end links and torque them down and then torque the center links.
So in a way I deduct that the bushings should grip the bar to some extent.
Seems to be a lot of debate about whether the bushings should grip teh bar or not.
I took out my 79 shop manual and, although not a lot of info on the bar, it says to mount it so that it hangs loose in the center bushings. Then connect the end links and torque them down and then torque the center links.
So in a way I deduct that the bushings should grip the bar to some extent.
Rubber yes, poly no.
Those that say it doesn't matter with rubber don't understand how OEM bushings work.
I was about to ask the same question as the OP, but this thread was helpful. I also noticed that my bracket looks different than the one belonging to the OP. Besides the fact that my bracket doesn't have the lip to keep the bushing centered, the gap between the bracket and the frame appear to be even larger. I was able to get one screw in, but the other needs to be at least a half inch longer.
I'm going to temporarily try the longer screws until the bushing compresses a bit. Should I also buy the correct brackets with the lip?
Gymkhana front stabilizer bushing question
