Sway bar end links

[aochider]

Using the Energy Suspension poly bushings (7-18102). Went to tighten down the sway bar end links but they didn't fit. The bolt would have to be about an inch longer. Not sure if the bushings are too big, the bold is too short, the spacer is too tall, or I just messed something up. I used the end link packet that did NOT have the square sway bar bushings (I assumed those were for the rear because nothing in the front has square bushings).

Any help?

Here is a picture of the car with the bolt nearly fully up AND the car on the ground.

[HuD 91gt]

I had the same issue, but I attributed it to a thicker aftermarket bar. I couldn't screw the nut on, without the control arm even in the equation. I ended up going for the moog easy install bushings for about $6 from rock auto. The top bolt is actually a thread cap which screws down into the the bushing sleeve (onto the bolt obviously).

If you were very close, I'd suggest pre squishing the bushing by just threading the nut on, and compressing them, but an inch is a lot.

[aochider]

I had the same issue, but I attributed it to a thicker aftermarket bar. I couldn't screw the nut on, without the control arm even in the equation. I ended up going for the moog easy install bushings for about $6 from rock auto. The top bolt is actually a thread cap which screws down into the the bushing sleeve (onto the bolt obviously).

If you were very close, I'd suggest pre squishing the bushing by just threading the nut on, and compressing them, but an inch is a lot.

Thanks; that might work. I should clarify that I'd expect the bolt to be about an inch longer given my previous experience with sway bar end links. Either way, the top of the bolt does NOT make it out of the top-most bushing. I'm used to quite a bit of wiggle room. Might just buy a longer bolt!

[Captain Obvious]

So you don't even have the fourth bushing or washer on and it looks like that? Yeah, something's not right.

About the possibility that you mixed up front and rear... You could just compare bolt and spacer lengths from the two baggies. Maybe they got the wrong parts in the bags? If it's not a parts mix-up between the two bags, then your thought about just getting a longer bolt is probably the simplest solution.

So where did you get the kit? Do they have anything to say about the problem?

[Fred Sigarto]

I had my car jacked up while installing and put a second jack under the wheel to raise the suspension up high enough to install the fourth poly bushing, washer, lock nut & nut on top.

[aochider]

So you don't even have the fourth bushing or washer on and it looks like that? Yeah, something's not right.

About the possibility that you mixed up front and rear... You could just compare bolt and spacer lengths from the two baggies. Maybe they got the wrong parts in the bags? If it's not a parts mix-up between the two bags, then your thought about just getting a longer bolt is probably the simplest solution.

So where did you get the kit? Do they have anything to say about the problem?

Yeah, the 4th spacer and washer isn't even on there. I had already tried the jack method Fred just mentioned and the top of the bolt still wouldn't poke out of the 4th bushing and washer. I compared bolts, spacers, and bushings to the rear and they seem to be the same. Maybe that's the problem.. hehe.

I got the kit off Amazon. I'll probably just go to the hardware store and get a different bolt with an extra 30mm or so. If they don't have one long enough, then I'll contact the company.

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: I should also mention that all 4 end link bolts seem to be the same length. So, until I do the rear suspension, I'll actually have to buy two bolts because both sides are too short. Makes me think maybe the packet of front suspension stuff was maybe duplicated, but it's not as obviously wrong as "I got two different bolt lengths in the same package".

Edited June 30, 2014 by aochider

[Powderkeg]

You should have another washer and bushing between the top nut and the sway bar.

[EuroDat]

I managed to get them to fit with the bolt supplied with the energy suspension kit. I put the bolt in from the top and wedged a piece of wood between it and the body. That way I could compress the bushes enough to fit the nut.

Here a some photos of the rear swaybar.

Hope it helps

Goodluck

Chas

[rossiz]

i used the msa kit that came w/their bigger sway bars. the (poly) bushings supplied were bigger (maybe less squished out?) than the original rubber - the nut wouldn't thread on, was about 1/8" too short it seemed...

so i left out one of the bushings and cranked the nut down w/washer on top of stack and it put some initial "squish" into the bushings, then i was able to thread the nut on a few threads and torqued it down until the nylock ring contacted the bolt. after a few days of driving i wound up taking things apart to re-do springs (a separate issue) and found that the bushings had "settled" into a more compressed state, so i could re-assemble and this time i torqued the nut about 1/8" past the top of the bolt.

things have stabilized since then - no continued compression. so i think the bushings need some initial "squish" and then settle into a spot where they are happy. at least for me...

oh, and plenty of grease all over the links and bushings to keep things nice and slippery and avoid any binding.

[Captain Obvious]

Yeah, I'd just get some longer bolts and call it a day. And I don't see any problem with that. I'm not a suspension guy, but I don't see it as a particularly strenuous application. The bushings will deform and limit the force on those bolts.

You guys fighting and struggling to get the nut started and pre-squishing stuff with wood blocks and jacks... What's the point? Haha! Is it really worth the fight? Just get some longer bolts!

My car came from my PO with new links. I have no idea where he got them, but the bolts are plenty long enough. I've got maybe a half inch of threads I have to traverse before the nut even contacts the back of the washer. Once the nut is tight, I've got maybe an inch of threaded length sticking out the back of the nut. And so what?

As for the lengths front vs rear, I've had all mine off for suspension work, but I didn't compare lengths of anything between front and rear. I just kept everything with the end of the car they came from. I can tell you though that my rear bolts are plenty long as well.

[aochider]

So, I ended up doing something else. I had tried this before, but the car was off the ground so the distance was too great and I stopped right away.

Anyway, now that I had the car on the ground and everything was mostly compressed, I put a jack under the bolt (just to hold it up, not compress anything) and then used a single coil compressor hooked on the sway bar at the top and the transverse link at the bottom (the top fit nicely over the sway bar and pressed up against the bolt so it wouldn't slip, and the bottom fit inside the transverse link cutout where the ball joint bolts on). I only had to tighten it a bit before I got a single thread coming through the topmost washer and I could start to thread the nylock nut. Amazing how much difference a tiny bit of mechanical advantage and convenience can make when compressing poly...

I would've went with the longer bolt method, but I went to the hardware store, bought longer bolts, tested hex nuts on all of them (including the kit's bolt), and SOMEHOW when I got home the nylock nut didn't fit in on my new bolts. That's when I got desperate and used the coil compressor.

[Captain Obvious]

Sounds like something that would happen to me. Measure once, cut twice, I always say!

In any event, glad you got it together. Another crisis averted. And I bet that after being compressed for a while, the next time you have to mess with the bar (if there is a next time) it'll be a lot easier since the bushings will take some compression set.