I'm reading the manual before swapping sway bars. it seems the car must be at normal ride height before torquing the bushings down. I've seen this before in F-body's too.... but it seems the bar should move freely and not affect ride height, but the manual stresses it more than once.

shouldn't the center bar bushings not affect ride height, and the end bushings seem so small that they would move ??? I have to look at it to understand why the ride height thing is so important before torquing the bar down.

 

Maybe it is because the function of the bars is to keep the car on same plane as is sits at normal ride height. When a car goes into a corner the bar tries to keep the car flat and not let the suspension go above ride height or below ride height but flat. Did that make sense?

 

I've swapped out a lot of sway bars and this is a new one on me. with the end links diconnected the bar moves freely up and down anyway, and the stock end links are not adjustable, so what difference could it make? The only thing I am aware of that you need to watch is if you have coilovers and adjustable end links you want to put the car on the ground and settle the suspension before adjusting and connecting the end links to avoid putting any preload into the bar.

On another note, do you have a 1" spacer block between your frame and the bushings on the front of your car? If not, you may want to look into putting one on since you are working on making your sway bars more effective. I can't explain the benefit to the block, but Guldstrand sells them with their poly bushing kits and there is an apparent benefit to changing this geometry. If they say it works I don't doubt it - heres the link:
http://www.guldstrand.com

:seeya


[Modified by vetracer, 3:18 PM 7/30/2003]

 

Just thought of something - Maybe it is to make sure the bar is properly aligned side-to-side? With greased poly bushings it is still possible to move the sway bar laterallyonce it is tightened down, but with factory rubber mounts you could inadvertently have the sway bar off to one side, tighten it down, and it would remain off center? This could cause the sway bar to catch on the frame in the rear.


[Modified by vetracer, 3:24 PM 7/30/2003]

 

:cheers: I just switched to 30mm front and 24mmrear on my 88

I think you will find that with bushings torqued, bar will not move up and down easily. Not difficult to Torque at ride height, just let car down off jack

Here's another, maybe more important consideration if you are moving up to a bigger bar, particularly the 30mm in the front.

The end link bushings on the bigger bar will be further back than on your existing bar.

The vertical links will have to be forced rearward to link up with the bar. This puts them out of the vertical plane and can cause a bind on the lower control arm.

After much searching, I decided to cut the top two "tabs" (ears where the bolt goes through) off the vertical link and move them rearward on the square tube of the vertical link and reweld them. If you move them back so that the rear edge of the tabs lines up with the rear edge of the square tube (approx 1/4") you will have proper alignment.

:seeya

:steering:

 

Jack & all - the sway bar should move relatively freely up & down. A "trick" is to use alignment shim(s) to space the outer sway bar bushing shell away from the frame when you bolt it down. The bushing for the bigger (i.e., 30mm) bar tends to "crush" a bit in the factory shell making the bar very resistent to movement. Space as necessary so it moves up & down freely (not sloppy loose, but moves with only very moderate force). I learned this from a SCCA Nat'l Champion Vette AX'er who learned it from a multi-time champ in Vettes. Since their cars handle like they do, and they've studied this science more than I have, I tend to follow their lead and take advantage of their experience.

As Vetracer said, the factory end links are fixed, so they are only going to be at one height relationship with the lower a-arm, therefore it shouldn't matter where it's sitting when you tighten them - just so they move. Being so tight that they resist movement is partially defeating the function of the shocks and limiting the reactiveness of the suspension as it tries to keep the wheels on the ground. The one inch blocks tend to make the moving end more horizontally in line with the a-arm versus the factory position where the end is a bit more raised. Horizontal is one goal. No preload on either side is the other (unless doing serious corner weighting exercises that go beyond most people's capabilities and/or needs). The only way to achieve zero pre-load at normal weighted ride height is with adjustable end links.

 

If you look at the bend in a smaller, say 28mm front bar like the one that came on my '86 that I relpaced wit a 32mm there is a noticeable lack of bend in the larger bar. That means the sway bar is tilted down toward the end link, and is much more resistant to "bending" as it should which limits the travel of the lower "A" arm and of course everything attached to it like the wheel and tire. Sorta like the folding legs on a table, it hinges and jams.
The blocks prevent this from happening by lowering the front of the sway bar.

Sounds pretty reasonable to me. :yesnod:

 

I guess I'm getting old - I don't see anything on that site about 1" spacer blocks...Do you have a direct link???