[Andrew69]

While reading David Pozzi's advice to KevinW concerning his front suspension I noted that the sway bar links should not be less than a certain length. When mounting my sway bar on the car with 2" drop springs I replaced the spacer tube with a washer to allow the sway bar arms to remain level to the ground when the car is at rest. After reading the advice given to Keven I thought I should revisit my installation.

Below are photos of both sides of the sway bar as it is now installed. Should I remount it with longer spacer tubes and more of an upward angle? If so; why and what will this accomplish?

While we are at it, I noted that because of the drop springs the rubber bumper stop has very little space between it and the lower a-arm. Should this bumper stop be trimmed down some, or replaced with some shorter unit?

Thank you.

[KevinW]

Wow, that is a short sway bar link. The reason I think it need to be higher is to allow some play when the car rolls side to side. I would think there is a lot of binding happening when the car body shifts side to side.

[Red Rocker]

Andrew..it looks like your end links are assembled incorrectly.
Mine look like this: I have 3" drop springs and I did have to shorten the link a little. I also cut the hump off the bump stops.
Here's a photo of it on the ground: I still need a little fine tuning.

[Andrew69]

Originally Posted by KevinW

Wow, that is a short sway bar link. The reason I think it need to be higher is to allow some play when the car rolls side to side. I would think there is a lot of binding happening when the car body shifts side to side.

That makes sense and may be what David P. says. I figure I should reinstall the spacer tube but want to determine the most effective length.

Originally Posted by Red Rocker

Andrew..it looks like your end links are assembled incorrectly.
Mine look like this: I have 3" drop springs and I did have to shorten the link a little. I also cut the hump off the bump stops.
Here's a photo of it on the ground:

Thank you very much. That doesn't look like the sway bar arms are at too extreme of an angle when the spring is fully compressed. Approximately how long are your spacer tubes?

Wish I knew how much of the bump stops I could cut before the headers scrape the ground. Maybe I'll cut them down gradually to see the results.

(That first photo you posted is a thing of beauty!)

[Red Rocker]

Originally Posted by X33D80

That makes sense and may be what David P. says. I figure I should reinstall the spacer tube but want to determine the most effective length.



Thank you very much. That doesn't look like the sway bar arms are at too extreme of an angle when the spring is fully compressed. Approximately how long are your spacer tubes?
Tubes are 1 1/2".

Wish I knew how much of the bump stops I could cut before the headers scrape the ground. Maybe I'll cut them down gradually to see the results.
Yeah..my headers hand down pretty low, have to always keep it in mind when going up driveways etc..

(That first photo you posted is a thing of beauty!)

They always look good..then you drive them LOL

[Red Rocker]

Tubes are 1 1/2"
Yeah..my headers hang down pretty low, have to always keep it in mind when going up driveways etc..

[HwyStarJoe]

I followed the same advice a couple years ago when I finally got mine on the ground. Same deal: 2" drop springs and factory A-arms and bumps. I didn't trim the bumpers though... it never entered my mind and I guess it hasn't come into play as far as I can tell. Guess I'll look at them and see if they've been getting squished. I've never felt the front suspension bottom out, and I drive it like I stole it. The header flanges are pretty damn close to the ground but I only worry about it when going in and out of driveways. Depending on what angle I go in\out at, sometimes I'll hear them touch. It's become second-nature and a habit to go real slow over transitions like that.

The spacers ended up being about 1.25" long or something close to that, to get the ends horizontal. I'm not sure they're optimal but I like how it handles.

[Andrew69]

I located in my shop the spacer tubes that came with my anti-sway bar and they measure 1-3/8" long. I wonder if I should trim them down to a 1" length or something like that.

[Steiner]

I've got a set of these but haven't driven the car yet:
http://scandc.com/new/node/690


"Modern progressive rate jounce bumpers can be a great tuning aid. GM spent millions to tune them for use on lowered applications like the S10 ZQ8 but we can buy them for $10 ea. They`re actually intended to contact the frame much of the time and have a much more progressive rate than old school rubber snubbers. Consider them before you cut the stock rubber snubbers up or replace the them with short poly ones which give you even less control over what precious little bump travel is left on a lowered car."
Mark SC&C

[davidpozzi]

I'd like to see the tube length around 2.25" minimum. The a arms swing in & out during travel.
I'd like to see 1"'clearance to the bump stop. If you trim it, try to keep the same shape with hump in the middle.
David

[Andrew69]

Originally Posted by davidpozzi

I'd like to see the tube length around 2.25" minimum. The a arms swing in & out during travel.
I'd like to see 1"'clearance to the bump stop. If you trim it, try to keep the same shape with hump in the middle.
David

The tube length of 2.25" will have the sway bar at quite an angle. Will it not bind if the arms are forced to a 30 degree angle? Perhaps you mean 2.25" between the sway bar and a-arm pivot points.

The 1" clearance to the bump stop should be doable. It makes sense to maintain the same shape of hump in the middle to gradually apply dampening force to the a-arm.

[davidpozzi]

On my 67 years ago I had figured out the length of the spacers should be 2.5" but poly bushings were not available back then. With Poly bushings they are a bit thicker than the old rubber and I think you can shorten them to 2.25" maybe 2" would work, but that is the shortest I'd go. I would not over tighten the poly end links or they will tend to bind. The old rule of thumb on rubber end link bushings was to tighten them until they swelled up to the diameter of the washer, but Poly bushings don't swell much and would have too much preload. I also like Poly bushings that are more of a cone shape that fits the bar with less binding - but I haven't been able to find them these days.
David

[Andrew69]

I have installed the 1-3/8" long spacer that came with the sway bar and whittled down the rubber bumper to give me 1" of space between it and the frame. The overall length of the arm linkage is now 3" from the top of the A-Arm to the mid point of the sway bar arm. I added the photo to show the difference. I may extend it further at a later date, but I would have to purchase a longer spacer and longer bolt.

I'll drive the car this evening to see if I can feel a difference in the way it now handles.

Thank you David for your help.

[ROBS6T8]

Originally Posted by X33D80

I have installed the 1-3/8" long spacer that came with the sway bar and whittled down the rubber bumper to give me 1" of space between it and the frame. The overall length of the arm linkage is now 3" from the top of the A-Arm to the mid point of the sway bar arm. I added the photo to show the difference. I may extend it further at a later date, but I would have to purchase a longer spacer and longer bolt.

I'll drive the car this evening to see if I can feel a difference in the way it now handles.

Thank you David for your help.

Andrew, what sway bar are you running? I'm running the Hotchkis with the 2" drop and just re-installed the engine and tranny. I too have quite an upward angle on the sway bar and need to cut the spacer. My spacer is 2.75 inches long.




What length should I start with? 2.25? Joe's 1.25 looks pretty right on! Anyone? Maybe I have the wrong spacers in there already?
Thanks.

[Andrew69]

I am running the ADDCO 1" sway bar with 2" drop Hotchkis coil springs. The spacer tube that came with the sway bar is 1-3/8" long and should work out okay per the picture I posted above. Your 2-3/4" spacer does angle the sway bar up pretty hard.