Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Upgraded rear sway bar brackets

I have a 21mm rear sway bar that clunks incurably. I also noticed that the bracket that holds the bushing has bent, as did the 'receiver' part of the subframe (where the bracket's front hook part hooks into the subframe).

I need a REAL fix to this problem. I know a number of you guys (Buckshot, Brad Noon) with aftermarket bars have talked about reinforcements for the brackets. Aussie suggested a weld in plate for example. This sounds like a great permanent solution, particularly if used with new bushings that accept bolts front and back (instead of back only) and Zirc fitting.

Which leads me to my question....

What size plate did you weld in? How thick? I figure 1/8" would prolly work. Did you drill and tap this plate for the bracket bolts, or just drill for clearance and use nuts for the bracket bolts?

Pictures would be great.

-Kurt

TTT.

Any of you Des Moines guys (Buckshot, etc) want to chime in here?

-Kurt

Kurt, get ahold of Stazi from the thread just below this one and he can point you in the right direction. P.S. he is a friend of mine that will not steer you wrong...

Judge,

Yeah, I understand Stazi is the man. (He just sold me some exhaust stuff by the way, so no need for you to vouch for him 8).) I was hoping that some of the other frequent posters would jump on this thread....

-Kurt

OK, I guess I didn't know my presence was requested in this thread What we did to my car was weld in a 1/4" piece of steel plate. This seemed to hold everything very well, but may have been slight overkill. I'm guessing 1/8" might be a little light so 3/16 should do great. You can just buy some 3/16 x 1 1/2" flat bar stock and cut your pieces off of it. I drilled mine and used nuts on the back side, but be fore warned that it was an extreme PITA to get the nuts on and that tapping the holes might not be a bad idea. Also, I found out that you may want to weld the plates in and then drill the holes because if the plates aren't exactly perpendicular to the bar, your holes will need to be augered out in order to make the bolts fit correctly. I hope this helps.

Rick

Buckshot,

Thanks for the reply. Guess I didn't call your name loud enough to get your attention earlier .

Anyway, I hear what you are saying about plate thickness. 1/4" is prolly the way to go, since a little overkill in this area can be a blessing down the road. I thought about tapping the holes to accept the bracket bolts, but maybe the easiest way would be to weld some nuts on the back. That would get me out of the PITA you described, plus I know I will be picking up plenty of threads for the bolts. Then I'd just have to drill clearance holes in the plate, hence no bolt alignment troubles.

How long did you cut your 1-1/2" plate? I just wish I had my head under my car right now to get some measurements. A lift sure would be nice .

Also, what brackets did you go with? I see Energy Suspension makes some zirc'ed poly bushings that would prolly do the trick.

-Kurt

To go to a 1/4" is real overkill since the material you are welding/bolting to is much thinner and is the rear sub-frame.There is little benifit putting an 'I' beam on a 'coffee can' if you catch my drift....

Buckshot, one more question.

What sway bar do you use? What brackets + bushings did you get for it? (Oops, that's 2 questions.) I'm currently looking for greasable bushings that fit a 21mm bar, but it appears that the only ones I've found (from Energy Suspension, the ones I mentioned earlier) are too large to fit it such a tight space.

-Kurt

Terry: I agree it was overkill considering I had a little trouble at first with the weld being too hot and blowing holes in the subframe! BTW- I like the I-beam and coffee can reference, I'm usually one for overkill!

Munson:

I used the brackets and little drawing that Stazi supplied me with the Aussie Bar. I ran it for over a month on my silver car before it got totalled. I'm sure he can give you the hook up on where he was getting the urethane bushings and brackets that go with them.

I took the bar off my silver car before it got towed off and haven't had a chance to put it back on the new car yet. A greasable bushing would be nice. I would think you could fab one yourself without much difficulty. Just drill and tap your bracket for a grease zirc and then drill a small hole in the urethane directly below it to allow for grease to get between the bar and the bushing.

Rick

Buckshot: thanks for the info. I've been speaking with Stazi so that angle is covered. I just ordered Prothane bushings (pn 19-1120 for anyone playing along at home) yesterday ($10 from Summit). Now I just need to add some zircs to them, cut out the backing plates, and then get them welded in. I plan to use weld nuts on the back side of the plate to get around the tightening PITA.

Hopefully that will kill my 2 birds: clunking and squeaking.

-Kurt