sway bar hitting oil pump bolt

[Troutman]

i discovered that when the suspension of the car is weighted, that the front sway bar is resting on the oil pump mount bolt. (Its an MSA bar) has anyone ever had this problem? did they send the wrong bar? i was thinking of machining a spacer to go between the mount bracket and the frame, or possibly "scalloping" the bar slightly for clearance. i plan on calling MSA tomorrow..

[Jeff G 78]

Could it be mounted upside down?

[Troutman]

Could it be mounted upside down?

i flipped it just to check and its into the crank pulley if i do...

[Jeff G 78]

Hmmm, it looks just like mine.

What about your end link lengths? Something isn't mounted right. Can you post a picture of the ends from a bit farther away (bar mounted)?

Edited October 1, 2008 by Jeff G 78

[Oiluj]

I'm interested in seeing the solution. I have the same front sway bar and am about to drop my enginge back into the car. My guess is that spacers under the mounts will easily solve this.

[John Coffey]

Check your motor mounts.

[doradox]

Stock or turbo pump?

Steve

[Zs-ondabrain]

Sounds like your end-links are too short. Get at least 1/2" taller end-links and if that don't work, Run a 1/4" steel spacer between the frame and the frame mounts.

Are you noticing the "Touching" when the car is in the air or with the car on the ground? The lower the control arms, the higher the bar will sit near the oil pump. so if it's hitting while the weight of the car is on the wheels, you need longer end-links.

Dave.

[7277]

hey man, i had the EXACT same problem with the EXACT same sway bar. i put it on and it hit the pump. reinstalled, came down lower. try it this way: IMPORTANT note below (p.s.)

1. jack up car and support the whole front end on jack stands at the cross member.

2. mount the bar on the frame rails loosely, then stack up your end links on the bar ends throught the control arm. then i used a scissor jack under the control arm/end link bolt head and jacked the wheel suspension up (while the car was on jack stands at the cross member). once i turned the scissor jack under the control arm and the car started rising off the jack stands, i knew it was under normal load. do the same for the other side.

3. if it's still hitting it WOUND BE WISE to weld on 1/8" - 1/4" plate steel to the underside of the frame box. if you don't add metal there, the ~600% higher torsional rigidity of the new bar will rip itself out of the frame rail due to metal fatigue while cornering.. if you're installing on a 240Z, the very THIN frame metal WILL rip through if you don't add extra metal...it's only a matter of time...see pics.

p.s. there are many opinions about frame box stiffening (welding 'C' channel and using 'through' bolts, etc), but if your frame box nuts (on the inside of the rail) are in good shape, the extra frame box patch of plate steel i mentioned above should give adequate enough stength for the frame rail...i used 1/8" stainless plate on mine

Edited October 3, 2008 by 7277

[Zs-ondabrain]

Isn't that what I kind of just wrote?? "1/4" steel plate, taller end links"

Sounds like the same kinda deal. But what-ever works.

[Troutman]

thanks for the replies. (ive been out of town for a few days so i hadnt had a chance to check back here). im going to machine a spacer hopefully this weekend and go that route. now do i need to weld it to the rails? if i go with a bolt with a longer shank height will i be ok?

thanks

to answer the other questions..

- the bar was touching while the suspension was weighted. (on the ground)

- stock pump

- motor mounts are new (2.5 years old)

[7277]

Z's ondabrain: sorry to 'jack' your thread, and no disrespect...i just kinda skimmed the reply posts...

anyway, i just stressed the improtance of beefing up the frame rail, rather than just address the clearance problem...

troutman: weld the plate if you could. it is better and couldn't hurt. therefore the plate is PART of the frame metal. think about it... without welding, any downward 'pulling force' the bar exerts while cornering will still depend on the bolt holding itself to the nut on the inside of the rail and the spacer plate, in theory, could flex away from the rail, offering less support. if it's welded, the nut and bolt will be pushing/pulling against appx 10 sq inches of solid 1/8"-1/4" thickened frame rail