Lazeum Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 (edited) While I was working on the Z, I've noticed yesterday a clearance issue with my front sway bar (1" diameter). At rest, the bar touches the frame rails which is not good. Is it standard on every 1" sway bar? Am I the only one experiencing this situation? It could be a reason why some people adviced to add some supports to beef up the supports? The bar is actually adding some stress and it could explain why some have experienced some failure... It is definitely not ok and I'm going to shim the supports to get some extra clearance to solve the issue. I'm wondering also if the end links are the correct ones for my setup, they might be for stock sway bar. They might be too long. Can someone would have to correct length of the insert between bushings? Issue could also be solved by cutting up the tube at the correct length. here's some pictures to show the situation with car at rest. At jounce, it would be even worse! Edited April 7, 2013 by Lazeum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1noel Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 The end links do look long to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 The spacer in my end links are ~1 & 5/8" long. Regardless, I had the same issue. Just add some spacer plates to the frame rail. The frame rails really need to be reinforced there when using a larger bar anyway. Seems to be pretty typical from what I recall. Did you try searching first? Nigel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 (edited) I have looked for identical issue with no luck. I'm well aware about sway bar mount failure but I'm questioning the root cause. Everybody is saying load from sway bar, I'm wondering if it isn't clearance issue against frame rail causing the loading condition leading to failure. I've made some spacers today, it should be good now. [edit]: I found one post (#65) from JMortensen talking about it but pictures are gone Edited April 7, 2013 by Lazeum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 (edited) shims are done. No more clearance issue. I've made 2 shims per side, 3mm thick, each. I've also changed bolts with longer ones to fit new setup (M8 x 1.25 x 30mm, grade 8.8) Edited April 8, 2013 by Lazeum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z240 Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 if you have lowered the suspension, the control arm may be more horizontal then stock, (usually the wheel end is lower than the K-member end) making the link higher than normal, making the issue worse. Another reason to add the bump steer spacers to restore geometry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 That's a good point. The car is lowered with Tokico springs, nothing crazy. However control arms are horinzontal or maybe a little bit higher on the wheel side by 1/8". It makes the problem worse indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I just take a hammer and bend the frame rail lip up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 That's a brutal way of fixing things but it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Depending on how low your car is, adding spacers might create a bind in the end links. But they also give you more clearance at the oil pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazeum Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 I've noticed it as well when I was putting everything back together. Spacers on end links might be shortened to get back to normal to avoid too much side load on supports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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