[DeTomaso] Techno Question: installation of sway bars

[Larry Finch]

All,

I will chime in on my recent experience re-installing a 1 inch solid rear sway bar on 2511.

The car sits on a screw jack chassis lift, no drivetrain or wheels and tires. Yet. ;-)

Poly bushings in an IPSCO 3-piece bracket and sphere balls. 

I recently shared I’d converted to bolts and tapped threads in the chassis/stud-head remnant metal. This time around I decided to drill out the threads and utilize nuts on the backside. On the early chassis the boxed section behind the studs is open at the bottom, allowing “easy” insertion of the nuts.

Surprisingly, the most difficult part of my installation process proved to be getting the nuts started. I did not have to engage in any wrestling matches and needed only minimal alignment assistance with the use of an appropriate drift.
 
So, in my case having no drivetrain weight didn’t appear to be a negative factor.

Could the replacement of the studs with nuts and bolts perhaps explain the ease of my particular installation?

As for Chuck’s process of leaving things loose to allow the chassis to settle before final torque, I believe that is likely not necessary in our cases - due to the diminished friction and easy movement provided by the poly and sphere bushings. I can see where this approach certainly makes sense if still using all the stock rubber bushings. 

My 2¢

Larry 

Sent from me using a magic, handheld electronic gizmo.