Hello

I am hoping someone can help! I am completely overhauling my Firebird and am re-installing the sway bar with new bushes. The new bushes fit the bar fine, however the clamping bracket appears to sit a good 1/4inch below the chassis! I took the sway bar off a long time ago so is this normal? Am I missing something? I have attached some pictures which should explain.

Thanks in advance!

Jay

 

more muscle? my car has small cut outs that clamp hooks into on one side, are the clamps positioned flush? is bushing right size?

 

Well used air compressor impact wrench and that was the tightest I could go without warping the bracket and the bushes are flush. The only sizes available were for the diameter of the sway bar which is spot on! Half tempted to 'trim' some of the bush off, though cannot decide if that is wise.

 

are those stock clamps or aftermarket? anyways, when I get stuck, I take a break from it & usually when I return, I got it figured out, or get the right answer from someone/somewhere, regain my patience, etc. Don't trim if you can help it

 

They are stock clamps, just rust treated and resprayed (in UK and car untreated for 28 years so massive rust which I am almost on top of!) Thanks for the advice, I will have another look tomorrow with a fresh mind. I have thought about putting something in the gap between the chassis and clamp but not sure if that will affect performance!

 

[QUOTE

so is this normal? Am I missing something? I have attached some pictures which should explain.

No It's Not Normal.

 

That is definitely not normal. The sway bar should sit flush. You must have the wrong bushing size or something.

 

What was the stock bar size and is your current bar a different size than that?

 

Your Also Missing A Bolt From Your Sway Bar Mounting Bracket.

 

Yea, compare the two pics.

 

Do the bushings have a ridge or bump on the side that sits against the frame? I bought a pair of bushings and they a bump about a 1/4" high and when I tightened them down, it looked like your pic. I trimmed the bump off and they sat flush like they are supposed to.

Another thought would be to add a wonderbar(steering brace). It would take up just about all of that gap, and it will help keep the steering box from breaking the subframe. A common occurrence on these cars, especially when running 16" or larger wheels.

 

That bolt looks like it's just simply too long. The end may be running into the "frame" thing up above there.

Replace the missing bolt; get some somewhat shorter ones for the sway bar bushings (maybe, 35mm or so, no longer than 40 for sure); should fix it up.

 

your issue is this, the stock rubber bushings are somewhat shorter where they contact the body. when you go to aftermarket poly bushings ,you need "deeper" mounting brackets to match the now harder bushing material. you can fab up some spacers to take up the slack and be ok

 

Looks like you need different mounting brackets. If you changed the bushings to a non-OEM style then you should also change the bracket. Most poly-bushings come with a new bracket anyways.