pwmin Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 i swapped my wheels and tires tonight and i noticed on the right side, the end of the bar was just at the edge of the bushing (which was how it was when i installed it), but the left side it was inside the bushing and rubbing on my inner fender. that doesnt bother me so much, but it's close to the bracket for the brake hose which worries me. so basically, the ends seem too short and it moved whereas my other bar didnt move, but i did have to grind off part of the ends on the old bar. i know corey, iirc, had a problem with the bar moving. what gives? i painted the inner fender and brake hose bracket a little so i'll check it again. update: see page 3 Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 Not sure what you mean, but is this the new design? Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 I got the new bar. But i'm not going to swap it out lol. I got my current one to work just fine. My problem was that the original addco inner/outer bushings (poly) were not holding the bar in place.... So i'm using original factory brackets with 22mm bushings(for the inners). And the outers i'm using the original style addco bushings. The bar doesn't slide now because of the new tighter inners. But i need to get energy suspension bushings for the outer because it isn't tight there. But i never had a problem with the outer side of the bar rubbing up against anything. I guess i've been lucky. I had a problem with it hitting the alignment arms. So i took an air hammer and chisseled some metal off of the bottom the rear alignment arm and now it doesn't clunk. The only clunking i get in the rear is from the coilovers when i go over huge dips in the road. Which isn't really noticeable. I found the length of the original sway bar to be perfect. If the new one is in fact shorter then its probably a bad thing. But i keep hearing about the bar being too long from people. I don't know what that is about. so you painted it to see where the bar is rubbing???? I think for the ultimate fit with the new sway bar you should use the inner bushings/mounts that came with teh new bar. And get some energy suspension 7/8'' or 22mm outers. That would hold the bar snug. And remember if you are using poly urethane bushings REMEMBER TO FRICKING GREASE THEM. Which alot of people don't. Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 I know exactly what your talking about....I kept the old bar from moving by making brackets.... Pics Here and I also chissled away (used a torch) some of the inner fender... Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 The brackets you made me just fell off. I put them back on but they got all BENT and dinged up. As I drive they move out of place and don't do their purpose. I don't know why. I tried to put them back in place just like you have illustrated in your pictures. But they just fall off. I torx them down just to the point where the head doesn't snap off of the bolt. Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 Also in mine, u only drilled 2 holes in each side. urs have 3 holes on each side. Plus one of the brackets i got wasn't hogged out enough to fit around the sway bar. So I had to hammer and force it on. But it still wouldn't go in all the way. Thoise factors might have contributed to the brackets not staying on. But since i put my own 22mm bushings on the bar; it holds up fine. It could be better with newer outer bushings. Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 Use locktight..... It works for me.....roughly 5-6K miles and still on there. I put in on the end of the bolts...where it touches teh car. Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 When you guys say inner fender??? do you mean the alignment arms?? Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 lock tight eh. why didn't i think of that. I might try that. Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 no, the inner metal fender... On this pic HERE you can see where i torched away part of it....right by the top of the pic...by the threads. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 Couldn't you just weld a little collar to the bar like the factory one so it doesn't slide? That would see a bit more reliable than bolt-on brackets. Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 you don't want to weld a collar, I asked my welding instructor about that in teh spring. He said that would weaken the sway bar drastically. Iasked the same EXACT question about the factory collar. Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 idk why i don't have that inner metal fender? Maybe I do but i've never had to torch anything there. hmm. I had to take a air chisel and take a piece of metal out where you adjust the rear toe. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted October 6, 2005 Report Posted October 6, 2005 you don't want to weld a collar, I asked my welding instructor about that in teh spring. He said that would weaken the sway bar drastically. Iasked the same EXACT question about the factory collar. Considering you would just tack weld it no more than 2" from the end, I don't really see what that would hurt. The torsioning forces should be between the 2 bends that make up the center part anyway. There should be absolutely no torsional forces at the ends. Besides, like you've noticed, the factory collar is welded on so GM evidently didn't think a weakened part on the very end would make any difference either. I don't know why, but I didn't have to cut, torch, or chisel anything at all. I also feel like my bar sticks out a little on both ends and isn't that narrow. Somehow it looks like every bar must differ a little. Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 Shawn, I had to torch the inner fender because my car is lowered....so it became an interferance. Quote
pwmin Posted October 7, 2005 Author Report Posted October 7, 2005 the thing is the old bar didnt give me any problems like these. my friend had to pound some of the inner fender out on his, now that i recall. the inner fender would be ok if the bar didnt slide. the other side is fine. i painted the inner fender so if it rubbed off, i could tell where it was hitting better. i have a good idea, but wanted to see if for some reason it changed. i'll have to tried to weld something onto the bar, maybe just a bead on each side around it. hopefully, the new inners from trey will fix this, but i may order the monte ones from the dealer. adam, where did you get those poly bushings? Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 What poly bushings are you talking about?...the outer, inner, or are you looking at the clamps i have on the bar? Quote
dohc v6 Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 you guyes are having problems with the new bar. Quote
blackbombshell95 Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 i am not putting it on because i got the old one to work like a brand new bar Use the monte 22mm center bushings. With those on with stock FACTORY cetner brackets the center bar shouldn't move..... Although the outers could be a little tighter. Quote
pwmin Posted October 7, 2005 Author Report Posted October 7, 2005 slight problems that should be able to be fixed. my problem seems to be with the inner brackets, which should be fixed. l et us know how it works, adam. i'm going to look at mine again. i am talking about the clamp ones. Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 I made the clamps....they are steel, that is black PC'd. Quote
pwmin Posted October 8, 2005 Author Report Posted October 8, 2005 gotcha. isnt there a link somewhere to those? you were selling them, right? Quote
AWeb80 Posted October 8, 2005 Report Posted October 8, 2005 I sold a pair to blackbombshell95 I might be able to make some.....it'll be a while though..gotta wait untill work is slow at my job Quote
pwmin Posted October 8, 2005 Author Report Posted October 8, 2005 loosened up the brackets and slid the bar back in place. i put piece from the stock inner bushing in the middle of the brackets, which didnt allow it to get tight :oops: you can see this in the pix (top 4; they are after i corrected it). i will check it again sat or sun and see if it helped. http://photobucket.com/albums/v476/pwmin/new%20sway%20bar/ Quote
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