ST sway bar help

[GTR PrYdE]

EDIT: probably should have put this in the suspension forum... sorry.I have a 93 s13 hatch. Well i looked around and didnt find a full write up. So my dilema: The D bracket bolts fit horribly in the bracket, so i had to force a socket on there and impact it down(the bracket was pushed up agaisnt it, making it extremely hard to screw) and now its on there good, but the sway bar is very hard to move(up and down, with the endlinks off). Is this a bad thing? And the next thing is on the endlinks, the bolt was too short(wouldve fit good if i couldve compressed the bushings down to get about a 1/2 inch on the threads.) So i bought ones an inch longer and tightend it down, til i thought the bushings bulged. How would i know if that was correctly tightend? BTW i did the with the suspension NOT compressed. Sunday ill check them again to see if they might need to be tightend, but some insight now would be great. Ive spent about 7 hours on just the front, due to a rounded nut on the D bracket, and poor fitment on the bolt to the bracket, im ready to be done and sure about it! Ive driven the car today with just the front bar upgraded, and i noticed the reduced roll, but it wasnt as big a difference as i expected. maybe it will come when i install the rear this weekend? The stock suspension might have soemthing to do with that too. Anyways thanks for the input.

[navysnail]

grease the bushings, make sure you installed the bushings in the correct orientation, they should not have been that hard to get in. mine bolted right up, just double check everything is right and that you used the right bolts in the right holes, iirc there are 2 different ones for the front and back holes on the front bar.

[GTR PrYdE]

Thanks, I finished everything today, the rears dropped in so smooooooothly!Everything is in good working order, but one last question... I bought bigger endlink bolts for the front, and i tightened them til it ran out of threads- i think they were starting to bulge. I did this because I didnt know I had to compress the suspension. Should I go back and use the shorter bolts? Thanks again

[spec-u-later]

Your enlink bolts are too long. I've had to install swaybars several times on various vehicles. You have to smash them in there basically. I useally have some one help. I push the enlink up from the bottom while someone else screws the upper nut on. If you use the long bolts you won't be able to compress the bushings enough. By doing this it will cause the swaybar to travel more and basically defeat the purpose of the swaybar. Hope this helps.

[GTR PrYdE]

By doing this it will cause the swaybar to travel more and basically defeat the purpose of the swaybar. Hope this helps.

Very much so. Thank you. Ill put the old links back in asap! I found out if i use a small jack on the endlink i can compress the bushings enough to screw them on- but that was on the rear. Damn!!! More work...
Modified by GTR PrYdE at 4:25 PM 1/8/2006

[GTR PrYdE]

ALL DONE!!! I swapped the correct bolts and everythings finished. The swap was pretty straight-foward and just about everything fit right. I must say I do like these bars very much. Even with my old springs/struts it makes a pretty decent difference in handling. In my opinion it was money WELL spent. Thanks for yalls help.

P.S... on the rear bushing brackets, i didnt use any washers, they seemed pretty level already, so i didnt know where i'd even put them. Is that correct/ok? It wasnt anything like the front, which clearly needed them. Hopefully this isn't an issue. Thanks again-Devin

[spec-u-later]

Good job. Make sure when you tightened the end link bolt all the way, not till it's snug but till it stops. Enjoy your much improved steering response and 3 wheeling (sometimes 2) going into your driveway.

[GTR PrYdE]

Make sure when you tightened the end link bolt all the way, not till it's snug but till it stops.

I thought until the bushings bulge? I was afriad they'd bust or the bolts would strip. If you're sure though, then I'll go back and tighten some more. Thanks

[spec-u-later]

Positive. Just tighten them till you run out of threads.