hawkj

Hi Folks
I put new sway bar bushings on my 84 GT 5.0 conv. and decided to also change the sway bar end link bushings, went to NAPA and purchased the kit.I took off the stock ones they are 5/16 dia. bolts the new ones are 3/8 in. bolts No problem there, they went through the lower control arm hole allright yet when I tried to come through the sway bar hole the replacement bolt with all of the new bushings on it would not come through the hole far enough for me to get on the bushing washer or nut ,I tried jacking the sway bar and prying it down , No luck! I also notice the orig. bolt is about a inch longer than these replacements?I have installed many sway bar link bushing kits on my cars ,so I went to Napa and they showed me in thier book and computer that I had the right parts ??I went to Advanced auto and they pulled a kit off the shelf,same thing??.Am I missing something here?Have you guys ever run into this problem.I am going to get some longer bolts ,can't think of any other way.I just can't believe that they have these things this way.Of course all of these kits are made in Taiwan or China even though the brand names are Moog and TRW??Any help appreciated.

Sacmo

Try going to a dealer and if nothing else, compare them and see if theres a difference... I usually have to mess around with jacking my car up to get it to go in (I read you tried it), but you might want to do it again and take a good look and see if they don't fit (as in eyeballing length)... Also, if you still have the ones you took off, if there straight, compare them... If they look ok, you may just want to change the bushings... Good luck!!!

SteveSkal

Nope, you got the right parts my man, I just went through this myself and took quite a bit of effort to get that top nut started. The Genius's at Energy Suspension didn't want to give you one extra centimenter to work with!! Anyway, first jack up your control arm as far as it will, put the bolt through and all the bushings though, have one socket wrench at the bottom and one ready for the top, it helps if you stick something in the sockets you are using so if you push on them you are pushing on the nut and bolt (hope that makes sense). with the bottom ratchet push up as hard as you can and with the top one with the nut in place push down as hard as you can and start cranking them ratchets and you will eventually push the bolt up enough and squeeze the bushings just enough to start to thread that top nut. Yes it is a nightmare but it can be done, once you've started the nut your golden and crank it down just until you see the bushings start to ballon at the sides.

hawkj

Thanks, I tried this ,Yet I can't even put the top bushing on when I push up on the rachet still not enough to come through the bushing let alone put the washer on? mine are not energy brand they are NAPA dont know if any size difference.

88BlueGT

I went through that a while ago, and dont plan on doing it again.... any time soon atleast. HAVE FUN!

gspfunk

I did mine a while back (Energy Suspension), but I don't remember it being that bad. I had the front end jacked up and threw them on there.


Come to think of it, I think I replaced the sway bar bushings at the same time, so I may have unbolted the sway bar brackets as well....those are a PITA.

SteveSkal

Yeah those are a pain too unless you have someone at the top holding a wrench on the top nut so it doesn't move, if you have to do it yourself (like I did) its even that much worse! LOL

primetime5.0

I just took the sway bar off

hawkj

THANKS: STEVESKAL I just went out and tried again by just turning the rachet the bolt peeked through just enough to catch it Thanks again.What a pain in the A**

SteveSkal

Your welcome dude. That's why this forum is here bro. As for why this happens, who knows, a bunch of engineers sitting around thinking they have all the answers, maybe cutting costs by not giving you 1/4 inch of extra bolt! LOL