Energy Suspension Sway Bar...

[jezze]

bushing and mounting brackets. I bought a sway bar from a Z shop near my house and ordered these E.S. bushing and mounting brackets months ago from Summit. I finally got around to installing the larger sway bar today and the mounting brackets do not line up with the bolt holes on my '71 Z?

I called Summit and they told me that the brackets are universal, which they meant that I would have to drill holes into my car to make this kit work. "They fit all cars!" :stupid: Yeah, of course if you have to drill. Is that right? Do I really have to drill holes into my car to fit a larger sway bar? It seems aftermarket companies would make upgrading to a larger sway bar a simple plug and chug design. Am I wrong here?

[John Coffey]

If you buy "universal fit" parts and expect them to "bolt-on" the car, then yes, you're wrong. If you buy Z specific parts from MSA, Black Dragon, Shox.com, etc. then you can expect them to fit properly.

[jmortensen]

Summit sells the correct bar for a Z. They might have sent him the wrong one though.

[ktm]

He did not buy the bar from Summit, but rather a Z shop near his house. He bought the ES bushings and brackets from Summit.

[jmortensen]

Right... I was in a bit of a rush when I read the first post. Sorry.

[bpilati]

Are you sure it's Energy Suspension?

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/products.asp?cat=1331

[jezze]

Know you I'm not positive what brackets I ordered from Summit. They're either Energy Suspension or Suspension Techniques bushing/brackets. As for the sway bar, I did get it at a Z shop in Santa Rosa, and the guy did not know what brand the bar is. I'll either order a pair of brackets from one of the companies mentioned above, so I do not have to drill, or I'll just drill the damn thing. My Z is not a beauty queen.

[e_racer1999]

i know EXACTLY what you're going through, as i had the same ones. what i did was take a dremel to the bushing to remove approx 1/8" (at an angle, so it kind of curved around) off of each side of the bushing and took vice grips and squeezed the brackets together just enough so that i could get the bolts in. took less than 20 minutes and they fit wonderfully now

[ktm]

You do not want to drill into your frame rails on your Z. The sway bar mounting points have captive nuts inside of the frame rail. You do not want to drill through the rail either, as you will crush the rail when you tighten the bracket bolts.

As for your original question regarding aftermarket parts, you are mixing and matching components (unknown sway bar, ES bushing, Summit universal bracket) and you EXPECT that everything will fit like OEM?