ST front sway bar clearance question

[madkaw]

New ST kit and the 1 1/8" front bar under full droop ( jacked off ground) hits the oil pump bolt pretty hard . It took about 7/16" worth of spacers to clear the bolt by 1/8" . Seems wrong to me. I know full droop would be basically airborne , but worst case scenario it seems that the bar would smack the oil pump pretty dam hard .

Feedback please .

 

Let me add that weight on the wheels and clearance grows to 1/2"

Edited August 24, 2016 by madkaw

[BluDestiny]

Picture? You can't install it upside down can you? 

 

I'm thinking the indent needs to be flipped. But I can't seem to picture my own sway bar (using an MSA 1" though).

[madkaw]

Actually it's a 1" bar and I contacted ST and sent them pics and dimensions of the sway bar and they say the dimensions are correct. So why am I having to run a spacer . They want more pics of sway bar and any mods to car. So what mods would affect the clearance ?

[Leon]

I'd look into your engine mounts and crossmember mounting points.

[madkaw]

For what? The mounts look solid and the front end isn't falling off.

I could see how someone could miss this issue if they install this bar. Might not see the bar hitting the one bolt on the pump while its jacked up and then when on the ground the bar twists and clears the bar

[HuD 91gt]

Could the T5 transmission mount slightly different causing the whole assembly to be tilted forward more then stock?

 

That's my only thoughts. The picture also doesn't look like the swaybar bushings fit all that great.

 

Do you have picture as to where they are mounted on your control arms? May seem trivial, but I've never done anything dumb before... Ha

 

Proper length endlinks?

Edited August 28, 2016 by HuD 91gt

[grannyknot]

Are those the bushings that came with the bar? They look awfully thin.

[74_5.0L_Z]

Let's see a picture of the end links.

 

The simple cure is to replace the six with a V8. Problem solved.

 

Actually, I had a similar issue wth an ST sway bar years ago when I still had the L6.

For me, the cure was longer end links.

Edited August 29, 2016 by 74_5.0L_Z

[ktm]

I did not have an issue with my L28ET and the ST bars using the stock setup.  I would venture a guess that something is not right with the engine mounts or end links.

[madkaw]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Again I ask how the engine mounts could affect this other than failure . I measured thickness of mine compared to brand new Nissan mounts on a 72 I am redoing.

if the end links were taller - yes that would help- but pretty tall already. My plan today- if I have time - is to pull the sway bar and lay it next to the stock bar. It seems to me that the bends are not at the right angles - especially for the end links. These sway bars are hand bent , so always room for error.

[HuD 91gt]

There is some movement within the mounts which bolt to the block. Could probably gain some clearence there.

[RebekahsZ]

Just space the bar down from the frame.

[madkaw]

That's what I did- 1/2" . My point here is that it is advertised as a bolt on sway bar - NO MODS. So what if I had not noticed the bar laying on the oil pump at droop and when it was on the ground it cleared. I'm thinking I'm good until either I hear it banging or it takes out the oil pump . Don't want anyone falling into this mess if ST didn't put the kit together correctly.

Or if I'm just doing something dumb, I want to know.

[RebekahsZ]

I don't know you well enough to say you are dumb-I'm not mean like that.

[morbias]

The amount of droop is determined by the length of the shocks at full extension and if you are using roll center adjusters that will also increase the angle of the anti-roll bar towards the sump.

 

Also, using stock strut mount insulators instead of aftermarket top mounts with spherical bearings will also position the control arm lower.

Edited August 31, 2016 by morbias

[madkaw]

Here some pics of the stock sway bar in relation to the pump. The car is off the ground. So does this look like stock position for your bar? If the stock bar doesn't sit right ,then the bigger one won't and I have other issues. The one bolt from the oil pump hangs over the back half of the bar diameter.

Stock spring perches with ST lowering springs

Edited September 1, 2016 by madkaw

[Roberto260Z]

I had this exact same problem when I installed the MSA larger front sway bar to my 260z. My engine mounts looked fine, but I was told that after 40 years they may droop a bit and this lowers the engine enough to have sway bar hit oil pump. I replaced the engine mounts with brand new ones and all sorted.

 

So when people say look at your engine mounts, don't bother looking because visually you won't see anything wrong. Replace them and this may solve your problem. Good luck and update us.

[gira]

If all else fails and it still bugs you that they rub when jacked up off the ground, add droop limiting straps to the LCA. It'll let you do pit stops quicker too!

[madkaw]

It's funny you say that Gira, because I've thought about that for the rear . Rear sway bar hits the boots on my WCR cv's under full droop. If I reduce end link lengths to clear boots then the sway bar hits control arm - ugh.

Someone else suggested drool limiters but I know little about how to do it and the affect on my handling.

[Chickenman]

Actually it's a 1" bar and I contacted ST and sent them pics and dimensions of the sway bar and they say the dimensions are correct. So why am I having to run a spacer . They want more pics of sway bar and any mods to car. So what mods would affect the clearance ?

 

It looks like they supplied incorrect Frame mounts and  Poly bushings as mentioned by others. IE: GN in post #7. Your first picture in post #3 shows the sway bar frame mounts, which do not look correct. The part where the mount contacts the frame is supposed to be a lot thicker. That spaces the bar down and that increases clearance to the oil pump bolt.

 

I've found other threads where people had the same problem with ST front bars.

 

Sagged engine mounts will cause the same issue, but you've mentioned that you've already checked that and they were OK. Is that correct???

Edited September 12, 2016 by Chickenman