RE: [T3] Front sway bar, Part 1

["Erkson, Toby" <toby.erkson@intel.com>]

Having an anti-sway bar for the front and rear here's what I know...

Given a choice, I'd put a rear one on first as this made the biggest
difference.  Th\nŠÔdid make a noticeable difference but the rear one
made the bigger difference, for me.

My late model pan has a U-shaped channel running the length of the pan down
the center of the right and left sides.  This is where my front bar mounted.
It required drilling two oblong holes per bracket so the shackle could slide
in and drop down.

Note:  You NEED to have the sway bar mounted to the shock mounts and the car
resting on the front wheels when you mark the drilling holes for the
mounting points to the pan.  You don't want the car raised up on jack stands
because this will slightly change where the pan mounting points will be.
Trust me on this one.

Important:  I kept having troubles with the shock L-bracket retaining nut
staying on.  It kept loosening and the sway bar would come loose -- a
"clunk" when turning a corner told me that I had to get a new nut.  I even
tried Loc-Tite(R), to no avail, and had to re-thread the stud a couple of
times due to it getting banged up after the mounting came loose.  One day I
torqued too hard and twisted the stud right off flush with the shock.
Needless to say, my shock is still attached but there is no nut securing it
and I am not using the front sway bar.  Later, after reading some mechanical
engineering books, I learned why all of the other anti-sway bars I've seen
(like, after-market Porsche ones) have drop-links.  My busy little brain is
working on a way to improve the sway bar I have so it doesn't over-stress
the lower shock mount stud.  Just something to be aware of, particularly if
you drive into corners like I do in hopes of completely straightening them
out :)

The Empi style sounds much better except for removing the tow hook.  That's
something I *don't* want to lose, no matter how little it actually gets
used.

    Toby Erkson
    air_cooled_nut@pobox.com
    (This is my preferred address)


>-----Original Message-----
>I picked  up a front sway bar for my square at last show.  I 
>want to know
>the pros and cons of  installing them.

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