I bought c6 z51 sway bars from Cultrag for my 99 vert. Also got Moog end links. The end links is what started this whole process. I had the oem plastic ones and they were toast, and I just turned 30k miles. So thats the back story.

I intended to install both myself. Did the rear with no issue. But the front, after getting the car up on 4 layers of 2x12, I just didn't have the room to operate, so I decided to have it done by a garage.

First question: why is the sway bar supposed to be installed at ride height? I thought i had read that is was so the bar wouldn't get preloaded. Now i'm wondering if it has to do with clearance issues with the radiator fans

Second question: The sway bar rotates within the bushings, thats why we grease them. So how is it possible to preload the sway bar?

After instructing the garage that this had to be done on a drive-on lift, so the car would be at ride height, they went ahead and did the opposite. They lifted on a rotary lift at the 4 designated spots. They removed the old bar, links and bushings

Then the guy calls and says that they can't install it because it will interfere with radiator fans. I go there to see for myself. the way he is doing it, which i'm convinced is wrong, the bar will hit. he had the links already attached and when rotating the bar up to attach at the bushings, there is interference.

I told him to put it on the drive-on lift, like i originally told him, and everything will be ok.

He agreed but says that if he does that, the car can never again be lifted at the 4 designated spots because the sway bar will rotate and hit the radiator fans. I told him I thought he was wrong.

What say you all?

Dave (my head hurts)

 

I swapped mine out for C5 Z06 bars on a rotary lift without having the suspension under load. Parts fit perfectly. The key is swapping out with the same configuration as the original bars.

Did the guy try flipping the bar around and ensuring the end links are as vertical as possible?

 

I changed mine on rhino ramps. Mine is close to the radiator but I haven’t had any issues so far

edit: it’s close to the cooling fan, not the radiator

 

This video from Froggy may be helpful.

 

Mine were done on a drive on lift with no issues at all. The new bar went right on just like the old bar, and fit with no issues. My car is usually put on a drive on lift, so I'm not sure what would happen if you put it on a standard lift. However, I'm not looking to ever find out. I would find a different shop if the one you brought it to didn't follow your instructions. To me that says a ton about the shop if they can't follow the instructions that you give them.

 

***UPDATE***
What's the saying? "All's well that ends well" They had a rookie put in the bar initially. When they moved to the drive-on lift, another tech took over. Neither of them, or the shop owner, could realize that the bar need to be swapped end for end. I don't know if these bars were marked as to driver side and passenger side, but they should be.
The way they were trying to do it, the bar was coming off the top end of the link and aiming up, where it should be aiming down. and in doing that the link was not mostly vertical, as it should be, but all contorted.

Kind of scary that my son had to google and Youtube some pictures to show them how it was supposed to be.

Dave

 

Agree

 

Glad to hear that it turned out well in the end.

I agree 100%. I wouldn't even trust those clowns with an oil change after this.