Hi
Just put on a new exhaust system. When I lowerd the sway bar the lower control arm on the rear suspenshion it dropped (about 1/4 of an inch) on both sides after I loosened the bottom sway bar bolt. Do I have an alignment problem now and was this supposed to happen?

Drove it after and seemed fine.

Thanks ahead for any answers...
__________________
Got an 07 now..

 

I assume all you did was loosen the sway bar to get the new exhaust in there, then you bolted the sway bar back up.

If that's all you did, then the alignment shouldn't be affected at all.

Bob

 

Yes.. thats all I did. Did not take it out. That drop in the control arm scared me.

Thanks for the reply

 

read this reply
http://www.corvettemechanic.com/foru...read.php?t=718

 

Take a look at this thread about swapping to Z51 sway bars.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1045925

If you look at the pictures in the first post you can see the small links on the end of the bars that connect them to the suspension with some rubber bushings.

In the second picture you can see the thin sheet metal support that wraps around the rubber bushing that holds the sway bar to the frame.

Neither of those fittings have anything at all to do toe or camber of your front or rear wheels.

The sway bar actually kind of floats in those rubber bushings. The only time it does its thing is during cornering. When cornering and the weight shifts to the outside of the turn, the body leans and the outside wheels are pushed up because the suspension is being loaded on that side. All the sway bars do is react to the outside wheels being pushed up - they twist to put a down force on the wheels on the inside of the turn to try to keep them in contact with the road surface.

So.....those rather flimsy sheet metal fittings that hold those rubber bushings in place do not do anything that would affect the toe-in/out or camber of your wheels. The end links simply attach to the suspension on each side so when one wheel is pushe up, the sway bar will push the other side down - and they also have absolutely nothing to do with the alignment of your wheels.

However, if it makes you feel better, go get an alignment. The factory alignment is notoriously bad anyway, so it's not a bad idea to get one if it will make you more comfortable.

Bob

 

Thanks Bob thats the best explanation I've recieved yet great research.
Jim

 

New car...sway bar bushings are tight...torsional friction in the bushings resists (only slightly) the control arm dropping when car is jacked up. When you loosened the sway bar brackets, the last bit of resistance from the sway bar bushings was relieved, and the control arms dropped the final 1/4".

Here's a tip...I wouldn't fully torque the sway bar brackets until the weight of the car is back on the suspension, i.e. the car is on the ground at normal ride height. If you torque the sway bar brackets when the control arms are down, the sway bar bushings will have a constant torsional preload on them once the car is on the ground.

As beezeye says, alignment is unaffected by the sway bar.

 

thanks another great answer
Jim