Rear sway bar re-install help

[ausgezeichnet]

Why do the last steps always seem to take for ever! My engine has been out for 6 months now and everything is back in except for the sway bar and a few other items.

The rear sway bar has me stumped. When I dry fit the bracket around the bushing and to the body I can't get the bracket bolts close enough to the body to get them started. It seems like the bushings are too fat. Do I just need to jam the the bracket on far enough to get the bolts started? All the parts are the same ones that came off the car so I know they have go back on.

I also noticed the busing brackets do not seem symmetrical, what is the correct orientation? As you can see in the picture the flash line is angled. Should it be pointing to the rear of front of the car?

[randywebb]

did you try just getting them started loosely w/ the bar NOT attached?

also, try using longer bolts then backing them out for the right ones

or a bottle jack w/pad...

I recall having the same problem but forget what I did to solve it - prob. one of the above...

[Oh Haha]

Is the car still on jackstands? If so, drop it down to the ground. I ran into the same problem recently on a friend's Carrera. I tried starting the bracket bolts with it in the air. Not gonna happen!! Dropped it donw and they went right in with no issues. Stupid cars!!

[ausgezeichnet]

It's in! Thanks. With the car on jack stands I used anther jack to keep the opposite side of the sway bar up. The brackets went back on with out to much persuasion. Then I lowered the car and bolted the sway bar to the drop links very easily.

[pieterk]

Glad you got it in.

Another solution is to use a jack to lift the trailing arm on the same side you're trying to attach. Works like a charm.

[Ayles]

bumping a SUPER old thread. I tried installing the rear sway bar on my SC over the weekend with adjustable tarett drop links. I am having a similar problem as the op.

Is lowering the car to the ground really going to impact how the rubber bushing goes? I don't see how that's possible. I could not get it compressed enough for the bracket bolts to reach the mount on the chassis.

[Ayles]

Bump for any more tips on getting the bushings and brackets in place. Anything outside of buying longer bolts? Which i did source from pelican and are proper Porsche part numbers so the length should be ok.

[JJ 911SC]

Did you go to a larger bar or bought the wrong bushing (different bar size have different bushing, the external size are the same but the internal size od the hole for the bar are different)?

[Ayles]

All of the part numbers I have for the bar and bushings line up to an 18mm bar. That's what is so puzzling. I'll re-measure again tonight.

[Ayles]

I measured and have an 18mm sway bar and the part number on the bushing is for the 18mm bushing. There has to be an easy way to get this installed.

[JJ 911SC]

I guess you are down to shear force.

Like you said lowering the car does nothing to help as the first step if to fix it the bar to the body before installing the drop link.

I also bought the the Tarett adjustable version.

Good luck and kept us posted.

[Ayles]

Success! I bought the next length up for the bolts. Had both sides installed in a few minutes. The Porsche bolts are far to short.



Also found a Pelican tech article on drop link installation not sure why it never showed up in my searches over the last couple days.

Pelican Technical Article - Porsche 911 (1965-1989) - Standard and Adjustable Drop Link Replacement

[JJ 911SC]

Great, but LMFT4U

[Ayles]

What is lmft4u?

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Ayles

What is lmft4u?

Let Me Fix That For You

[Ayles]

Ahh! The image must be rendering upside down.