66 Sway Bar

[Ed K.]

I'm back!!! Entire rear restoration almost done, except that sway bar. That sway bar has been a nuisance. Bolts breaking on the way out, on the way in, bracket in the way of caliper mounting bolt (one side only) therefore remove TA bracket and install after caliper in, ......... Now, last task is to mount the rubber bushing and brackets to the chassis. The rubber will not sufficiently compress to get the bracket bolts in. The repro bolts are too short to grab (as are the original rusty ones). I could use longer incorrect bolts but they are to be torqued only to 20-30 ft/lbs. No way that small force will compress the rubber enough. Cannot use a floor jack to compress the assembly since the muffler is in the way. What am I missing? Or is the manual correct in stating 115 - 155 ft/lbs. It was incorrect in stating that torque for the bracket to TA bolts.

Yes, the sway bar was originally there.

[Gary B.]

66 Sway Bar; in-lbs vs. ft-lbs

Ed,

If the manual says 155 ft-lbs, I think it must be a typo and actually should be 155 in-lbs.

Gary

[Joe L.]

Re: 66 Sway Bar

I'm back!!! Entire rear restoration almost done, except that sway bar. That sway bar has been a nuisance. Bolts breaking on the way out, on the way in, bracket in the way of caliper mounting bolt (one side only) therefore remove TA bracket and install after caliper in, ......... Now, last task is to mount the rubber bushing and brackets to the chassis. The rubber will not sufficiently compress to get the bracket bolts in. The repro bolts are too short to grab (as are the original rusty ones). I could use longer incorrect bolts but they are to be torqued only to 20-30 ft/lbs. No way that small force will compress the rubber enough. Cannot use a floor jack to compress the assembly since the muffler is in the way. What am I missing? Or is the manual correct in stating 115 - 155 ft/lbs. It was incorrect in stating that torque for the bracket to TA bolts.

Yes, the sway bar was originally there.

Ed------


Use longer bolts to compress the bushings until the bracket ears are in contact with the frame. Then, remove and replace with the correct bolts ONE BOLT AT A TIME. Torque on the correct bolts should be 10-12 lb/ft.

[Ed K.]

Re: 66 Sway Bar

Hi Joe, thanks for jumping in again. Seems I can't finish this event without ya!
To get a feeling for the amount of force required to compress the rubber, I placed the assembly in a bench vise. Quite a bit of force was required to get the 2 part brackets about a 1/4" apart. My concern with the long bolt technique was that the bolt or tapped nut plate will strip out. I was also concerned with the bracket ear bending when I remove one side to replace with the correct bolt. But, your advice has been excellent so far - so I'll go for it.
Ed

[Joe L.]

Re: 66 Sway Bar

Hi Joe, thanks for jumping in again. Seems I can't finish this event without ya!
To get a feeling for the amount of force required to compress the rubber, I placed the assembly in a bench vise. Quite a bit of force was required to get the 2 part brackets about a 1/4" apart. My concern with the long bolt technique was that the bolt or tapped nut plate will strip out. I was also concerned with the bracket ear bending when I remove one side to replace with the correct bolt. But, your advice has been excellent so far - so I'll go for it.
Ed

Ed-----

All this assumes that you have correctly configured and sized bushings to begin with. However, there's absolutely no doubt that even the correct bushings will require considerable compression. The bushings MUST compress tightly into the retainers and around the bar. If they don't, they will be functionally useless.

[Ed K.]

Re: 66 Sway Bar

Yes, understand that the bushings must be compressed tight. I just got one side in with the longer bolts. Not fully tight yet but feels like it will go OK. I'm working with the car on jackstands and it was very difficult to get in there and get the bolts started. Plus, two fingers have now split open. Have to take a break until tomorrow. I plan on jacking up the suspension so that the half shafts are horizontal and then tighten all sway bar bolts.

Thanks / Ed