Suspension Techniques Rear Sway Bar install on RT4WD DIY
Abide
Council Member
Well Jaker had some posts as well as shenrie but some of the pics were old or missing when i was searching so here's a DIY for you folks.
Part no. is 51140 http://www.stsuspensions.com/products/st-suspensions/anti-sway-bars/rear-anti-swaybar-31.html
Tools:
sockets and wrenches in 14mm and 17mm (17mm for your old towhooks, 14mm for everything else)
Philips head screwdriver (mudflaps)
Grinder with cutoff wheel or a dremel with cutting disk
SAFETY GLASSES - seriously, dont be stupid
GLOVES
First thing is first, crack open your box and inventory your parts!
Personally, I'm notorious for losing that one damn washer or nut endlink spacer, so i go ahead and assemble those just so i can inventory parts and keep them all together! just assemble them how they go and then take them apart again when it's time to bolt it up.
READY TO GO?!
STOP, check the weather. then push any and all DSMs/EVOs out of the dry spots because i definitely forgot to and had to wait between storms to work.
ha!
First step is to get the tow hooks out of there. maybe you can bolt these back on, but you have the other one at the back, so i left them off.
bolt that shiny new bracket in its place, but leave the bolts just cinched down to where they are contacting the crush washers so you can still move them to adjust after the bar is on.
Now it's time to deal with that pesky torque damper for the diff if you're RT4WD. You can hack the end off like shenrie or a few others i saw. Mine was old rubber, just sitting in there.....what's it even doing?!? YOINK, it pulled right out for me, but you may have to take your bracket off.
The bracket will need to go back though because it is what the mount bolt threads into.
Oh hey remember that eye protection thing? that's a snapped dewalt 1/2" impact adapter. that came with the impact. you never know.
f
Next, go ahead and lube up your bushings, throw them on the bar. Then throw the bar over your exhaust, halfway bolt your bushings on the back side of the mounts so you can line everything up. Get the bar even, then lock down those mount bolts.
Now that all that is where it should sit you can rotate the sway up and see that it's not even close to clearing the fender wells. Get that grinder ready and put on those glasses!
Unbolt the bar at the mounts so you can move it out of the way. If you aren't the careful type with the grinder, go ahead and just take it back off all the way.
I eyeballed it, found a reference point on the plastics, cut them with some large shears and used them as a guide with the cutoff wheel, then swapped back to the grinding wheel to deburr.
Bolt that bushing back on the bracket and snug it down just enough to where it'll slide up and down and not fall when you arent holding it. Then push it up as high as you need to to clear your exhaust. It was all the way up for me. Torque those down as well as the brackets if you moved them while grinding/cutting.
Now the pics skip a bit, but all I've done now is bolt on the endlinks. Follow the diagram for them and just flip it whatever direction is necessary for your setup. I have a 1988. So I have the stamped control arms. I fed the lower endlink bolt through and torqued it down. The endlink will still rotate up. Now adjust the link so that it's just clearing the exhaust.
I want to pause here and note I did this with the car on stands and not ramps as it's pictured for most of this. It was easier to cut the wells with the wheels off and not worry about puncturing a tire, and if you adjust endlinks this way the suspension is at full droop and the swaybar is rotated as far DOWN as it can go. You want it clear off of the exhaust here but as close as you can to allow for the most clearance with the bar rotating back up when your suspension compresses. Got it? Good. Moving along.
So i adjusted the endlink to keep the bar just barely off the exhaust and set the locknut there. Then i started checking my clearances.
eyeballing 5-10mm. Looks like plenty to me for potential side to side motion. The bar itself is incredibly close to the shock, which should move slightly away. But the endlinks wont let it move any closer to the shock anyway as they move with the control arm as well. Good here!
Get it right, get it tight!
JUST enough clearance on the exhaust, If you have older hangers or a larger exhaust you'll have to figure out something here. Since this was as low as the bar goes for me I'm happy with it. And yes i did scratch the bar up trying to fit it 50 different directions but it's getting dirt, rocks, and swap crap thrown at it next weekend at a rallyx. If you don't like SICK battle damage(weirdo), keep that plastic on that it's shipped with, then cut it off later.
Next, recheck your torque on everything! Put your wheels back on and get down on the ramps or the ground. crawl back under there and take a look. Is everything still clearing well? Hang upside down off the back and bounce if you want, take a look and make sure it's not going to smack something when you take it off some sweet jumps.
TEST DRIVE TIME!
go find a nice curvy wide road or a wide open parkinglot and test it out. I think it feel's better under braking and acceleration while cornering tremendously, but could be a little tighter. This is due to my endlinks only reaching the softest setting with the 1988 control arms. Next is to hit mcmastercarr for some longer endlinks or swap to a 89+ control arm and shock setup.
Enjoy, ask away if anyone has any questions.
Part no. is 51140 http://www.stsuspensions.com/products/st-suspensions/anti-sway-bars/rear-anti-swaybar-31.html
Tools:
sockets and wrenches in 14mm and 17mm (17mm for your old towhooks, 14mm for everything else)
Philips head screwdriver (mudflaps)
Grinder with cutoff wheel or a dremel with cutting disk
SAFETY GLASSES - seriously, dont be stupid
GLOVES
First thing is first, crack open your box and inventory your parts!
Personally, I'm notorious for losing that one damn washer or nut endlink spacer, so i go ahead and assemble those just so i can inventory parts and keep them all together! just assemble them how they go and then take them apart again when it's time to bolt it up.
READY TO GO?!
STOP, check the weather. then push any and all DSMs/EVOs out of the dry spots because i definitely forgot to and had to wait between storms to work.
ha!
First step is to get the tow hooks out of there. maybe you can bolt these back on, but you have the other one at the back, so i left them off.
bolt that shiny new bracket in its place, but leave the bolts just cinched down to where they are contacting the crush washers so you can still move them to adjust after the bar is on.
Now it's time to deal with that pesky torque damper for the diff if you're RT4WD. You can hack the end off like shenrie or a few others i saw. Mine was old rubber, just sitting in there.....what's it even doing?!? YOINK, it pulled right out for me, but you may have to take your bracket off.
The bracket will need to go back though because it is what the mount bolt threads into.
Oh hey remember that eye protection thing? that's a snapped dewalt 1/2" impact adapter. that came with the impact. you never know.
f
Next, go ahead and lube up your bushings, throw them on the bar. Then throw the bar over your exhaust, halfway bolt your bushings on the back side of the mounts so you can line everything up. Get the bar even, then lock down those mount bolts.
Now that all that is where it should sit you can rotate the sway up and see that it's not even close to clearing the fender wells. Get that grinder ready and put on those glasses!
Unbolt the bar at the mounts so you can move it out of the way. If you aren't the careful type with the grinder, go ahead and just take it back off all the way.
I eyeballed it, found a reference point on the plastics, cut them with some large shears and used them as a guide with the cutoff wheel, then swapped back to the grinding wheel to deburr.
Bolt that bushing back on the bracket and snug it down just enough to where it'll slide up and down and not fall when you arent holding it. Then push it up as high as you need to to clear your exhaust. It was all the way up for me. Torque those down as well as the brackets if you moved them while grinding/cutting.
Now the pics skip a bit, but all I've done now is bolt on the endlinks. Follow the diagram for them and just flip it whatever direction is necessary for your setup. I have a 1988. So I have the stamped control arms. I fed the lower endlink bolt through and torqued it down. The endlink will still rotate up. Now adjust the link so that it's just clearing the exhaust.
I want to pause here and note I did this with the car on stands and not ramps as it's pictured for most of this. It was easier to cut the wells with the wheels off and not worry about puncturing a tire, and if you adjust endlinks this way the suspension is at full droop and the swaybar is rotated as far DOWN as it can go. You want it clear off of the exhaust here but as close as you can to allow for the most clearance with the bar rotating back up when your suspension compresses. Got it? Good. Moving along.
So i adjusted the endlink to keep the bar just barely off the exhaust and set the locknut there. Then i started checking my clearances.
eyeballing 5-10mm. Looks like plenty to me for potential side to side motion. The bar itself is incredibly close to the shock, which should move slightly away. But the endlinks wont let it move any closer to the shock anyway as they move with the control arm as well. Good here!
Get it right, get it tight!
JUST enough clearance on the exhaust, If you have older hangers or a larger exhaust you'll have to figure out something here. Since this was as low as the bar goes for me I'm happy with it. And yes i did scratch the bar up trying to fit it 50 different directions but it's getting dirt, rocks, and swap crap thrown at it next weekend at a rallyx. If you don't like SICK battle damage(weirdo), keep that plastic on that it's shipped with, then cut it off later.
Next, recheck your torque on everything! Put your wheels back on and get down on the ramps or the ground. crawl back under there and take a look. Is everything still clearing well? Hang upside down off the back and bounce if you want, take a look and make sure it's not going to smack something when you take it off some sweet jumps.
TEST DRIVE TIME!
go find a nice curvy wide road or a wide open parkinglot and test it out. I think it feel's better under braking and acceleration while cornering tremendously, but could be a little tighter. This is due to my endlinks only reaching the softest setting with the 1988 control arms. Next is to hit mcmastercarr for some longer endlinks or swap to a 89+ control arm and shock setup.
Enjoy, ask away if anyone has any questions.
Comments
Thanks for doing it! How do you like it?