rotorpower27

I installed the Suspension techniques front stabilizer bar but the end links don’t line up.
This is the adjustable front bar (two holes for mounting), it comes with a different bracket that you have to bolt to the A arm, that is wider so that you can bolt it to the bar and adjust with a spacer to line it up(front to back).


in this picture the bracket is setup for the rear hole, but the edlink almost lines up with the front hole.


Question:
Has anybody encountered this problem, the end links not lining up with the bars/A-arm mounts?

I’ve read an hours worth of forum and it sounds like there is a history with these bars being a bad design….

LAN

iTrader: (1)

95NRacer installed ST for rear:
He didn't seem like he had troubles except for snapping the bolt the holds the bracket.

I soaked mine in WD40 many many many times. Didn't that to happen to me.


Did you match up the stock sway bar with the new one?

I didn't have any problems with mine but I used tanabe and new endlinks. Your stock endlnks will probably snap.









Rear:

rotorpower27

For some reason the front bar doesn’t line up, im going to call the manufacture tomorrow and talk to them.

I moved on to installing the rear bar. The instructions are crap, when it says, "refer to diagram" there isn’t one.
I finally figured everything out and started the install. First off the new brackets are much thicker requiring longer bolts, which I don’t have. Second the F-in bar is touching the rear diff! What do they expect the rear diff to stay in one position? It’s all on rubber mounts, it moves back and forth,
The rear bar will not only keep the car from swaying, it has an added bonus of keeping your diff in position (wtf).

Anyone that as a rear Suspension techniques bar, can you check and see if your bar is touching?

Hopefully I can return these bars because I am sooo not happy.

dsmrx7

I got that same set up and it fits great! You're gonna have to adjust the position of the arms to release some of the tension. Bolt one side at a time. As for the rear, you need to use those "plates" and new bolts that come with the kit, to move the rear bar. Kinda hard to explain without pics...sorry.

rotorpower27

can you send me a pic of how you assembled the plates together, even a crud drawing in paint would be a start.

Whizbang

did you pre-load the bar?

rotorpower27

pre load the bar, it doesnt line up with the endlink, front to back, not up and down, so i dont know why preloading would change anything.
i had the car off the ground and it didnt line up, i put it on the ground thinking it would help, and no change.

jazzmanbob

Just happens my car is up on jacks. I will see if I can gets some pics of my install. I agree the instructions supplied are pure crap. I fiddled quite a bit with the front bars and ended up having to pick up some new bolts to mount the brakets to the lower arm. As for the rear i thinl it took me 2 tries to get it right using the carriage bolts supplied with the bars.

fastrotaries

I didn't run into any of those problems. What I do know is that they sell a different bar for the S4 & S5. So maybe that's why it's not ligning up. This is a little hokey though.

jazzmanbob

here are some pics let me know if this helps

Natey

iTrader: (19)

+1

Play around with the floor jack until the holes line up.

That's what I did to get my STs to fit.

jazzmanbob

Mount the front Bar loosely in the frame bushings. Dont tighten the bolts that hold the bar to the frame until you have put in the bolts for the links. I Aaso used the floor jack under the A arm to line up the end link bolt holes.

Rear links only went in with the shocks disconnected from the control arm.

rotorpower27

do the front end links line up with the bar or are they at and angel( meaning front to back, i know that they are at an angle form the A arm to the bar, its hard to explain.

i haven’t tried to loosen the front bar to get the holes to line up, mostly because there isn’t that much slack in the system. And I shouldn’t have to force the holes to line up.

can you feel around your rear bar and see if it touching the rear diff, and if you could get the same type of picture but from the other side, Because my bar is hitting on the top right side of the diff.
LIKE THIS(this is where mine is hitting


Finally i have been talking to the manufacture and it turns out that they have never had any problems, so im a little bit confused, and second all of there bars are made by hand, so the possibility of them screwing up it pretty high.

And thank you so much for the pictures; I almost thought that the forum would be useless.

rotorpower27

it took me about a half an hour to remove the stock bars, now tell me why i have to use a floor jack and remove shocks, and tighter everything loosely to get everything lined up and then tighten everything down.
that’s going to put serious bind into the system. thats just not right, i paid good money for the bars they should bolt right up.

jazzmanbob

ok here are more pics of the rear bar.
The clearance between the bar and the vent hole on the diff is about 1/8" with the wheight off the wheels.
I disconnected the bottom bolt on my rear shocks to move them out of the way just because I did not want to scratch them while putting in the bars. (I'm fussy that way).
Have included a better pic of the rear bar mounting plate.

Just FYI, it also took me about 20 minutes to remove my old bars once the car was up on jacks but it took me about 2 hours to re-install the new ones, mostly because it was 18 months later and I suffer from "CRAFT". (Can't remember a friggin thing). I had taken pics on dissassembly but my laptop was stolen so I lost all my before rebuid pics.

BTW, I always pre-assemble with all fasteners loose and tighten up once everything is lined up. Its just easier that way and how I was taught by my dad when I was twelve or so. (He was a master mechanic). I've been working on cars for over 40 years and some rules dont change. A good mechanic's trick can save a lot of cussin'.

hope this helps

jazzmanbob

Looks like you have as much if not more clearance between your bar and diff as I do.
My front links do angle forward a little to line up with the end holes in the bar. I did not have to force them to line up but by loosening the mounting bolts the extra 1/4'' of slack made it easier.

By the way, the car is like on rails with this set-up. Just need some new rubber on the ground to complete the package.

JWteknix

iTrader: (2)

just for ur information ur not supposed to be using a floor jacks for installation the suspention should stay completly compressed if you dont have a lift availible to you the easiest way is to use ramps just drive up an doit that how i did mine had no problem at all

rotorpower27

it looks like your rear bar is up higher on in the car, so its more above the rear diff, mine is in contact with the diff. i cant even get the bolts to go in with out flexing the bar.

as for the front links, i read around that the front main bushing for the bar will wear threw the slit if the slit is towards the rear, im guessing the reason for that is because the links are pulling the bar back.
the links should be straight up and down, that’s my opinion, having them at an angle will put some of the force in that direction. so want im am trying to say is that your front bar is getting ripped backwards every time you turn. thats just not acceptable to me.


thanks for the pictures!!!!

imight just make my own brackets, im most likely going to screw working with the manufacture because they have the worst tech support ever!

rotorpower27

i totally agree with you, i didn’t have to use a floor jack in that way to remove the old bars so why would i need one for the new bars?

rotorpower27

this is what i have done to the front brackets.
before

after

im waiting for paint to dry, i will post some pics of it installed.
they line up perfectly now, and they should of come from the factory like this.

now i just have to make the rear bar fit.....

rotorpower27

alright, i installed the bar with the modified brackets and everything lined up perfectly, nothing is twisted to fit, the links are now straight up and down.




for the rear i had to extend the slots on the brackets to get the extra clearance.



after putting everything back together the way it SHOULD of come from the manufacture i took it out for a test drive.

im just amazed every day by this car, it handles soo well.

thank you jazzmanbob for the pictures. and you might want to look into redoing your front A arm brackets, it will prolong your bushings.