[64speed]

I replaced literally everything in my suspension and now my sway bar end links don’t reach the sway bar. Everything is installed as it should be. The engine is out of the car right now so I am hoping that once the engine is in the sway bar will reach. If this is the case how far do I tighten the sway bar nut? I know you can damn near flatten the bushing if you want to because I have done it before in the past not paying attention. How much compression should the top isolator have?

[gto4evr]

with aftermarket, you're going to just have to use your judgement. I've bought replacement link kits over the years and you get varying lengths of bolts as well as different heights to the threads on them. I recently pulled apart an absolutely original link pin setup off a 31,000 original mileage car and the nut bottoms on the end of the threads of the pins so no guess work. However, compare the original bolt to the replacements I have in a few different TRW kits I bought over the years and none of the replacement bolts are the same length. Most are longer. (that always bugged me over the years too, the bolt comes almost into the upper ball joint) The original bolt also has fewer threads on it where the new bolts are longer and also have much longer thread area so if you were to bottom out the threads on the new one, those bushings would be squashed flat. I'm guessing they made the bolts longer to make it easier to install. When I switched out the setup, I decided to use the original bolts but it was a chore getting the nut on there with the brand new bushings pushing and I had to use a breaker bar to force the swaybar down to compress the rubber bushings enough to get the nut started. It helps to equalize the stress on them by jacking the wheel up until it's carrying the weight of the car as your tightening it, also brings the angle of the swaybar eye more square with the area so the bushings can lay flatter as your tightening it up. I can imagine it's tougher with the motor out so the spring won't want to compress as much without the weight of the motor on it.

Without original bolts I go for the "squash" to be maybe half way between the uncompressed state, and how flat the one your taking off was. The top one will always be the most deformed of the set

[rohrt]

I had that issue with my FB. I just got creative. I think I stuck a jack under the A-arm to hold the bolt in place. Maybe it was a big C-clamp or ratchet strap to compress it enough to get the nut on.

[Sirrotica]

Using a floor jack with a chain wrapped around the axle of the jack and over the frame works just fine for compressing an A arm with no engine in a car, done it many times.

[rjpaige3]

I wouldn't preinstall/pretorque ANY suspension component before having the full weight of the car in place, to avoid preloading or binding any bushings.

[HWYSTR455]

You can't just pivot the sway bar down lower?

As a reference, when the car is on the ground, full weight on the suspension, the ends of the sway bar should be parallel to the ground, or very close to parallel. (with the end links on). If you end link bolt is too long or too short, you will know due to the relationship of the bar ends to the ground. Keep in mind too that the spacer sleeve needs to also be the correct length.

If the sway bar doesn't move up/down, loosen the sway bar bushing bolts. (You did lube the bar/bushings, yes?)

Only OE type rubber control arm bushings, the ones with the 'teeth' on the inner sleeve, require the car to be at a relaxed ride height when tightening the control arm bushings. All other bushings can be tightened at any time.

You can load 50lbs bags of your choice of material to weigh down the front of the car. Weight bench weights work too. About 500-550 lbs should be fine. If you put that on the engine cradle/cross mount/k member, and the front end doesn't compress at all or little, your springs are way too high a rate.

As for how much to tighten them, well, technically, that's a 'tuning' item/adjustment, and effects how quickly the bar reacts. But, smashing them about half way (height) is about right, which puts it at about 75% (rubber), depending on the type of end link bushings you have. The important aspect is to have them about tightened the same from side to side. Once you start driving it, if it responds to steering input more going to the left or right, tighten or loose the appropriate end link.

EDIT: If you have a jack under one lower control arm, and the opposite side is drooping, you won't get even the correct length bolt in. Both sides need to be loaded up the same.

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[64speed]

HWYSTR455 you need to just come down from Manassas and take over this whole suspension project for me.

[HWYSTR455]

Heheh! I'm swamped! Crunching to get my project on the road, I'm hours away from that happening, it's been like 6 years, so I'm Jones-ing!

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