Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen12ZL1
You sound like an expert in this installation, so you must be right. However, it is indeed possible to jack one side of the car by the pinch weld at full suspension droop and to remove & reinstall a sway bar end link. Whatever else you are trying to say with regards to the function of a sway bar seems accurate. Have you performed this install or removed the end links on a 5th gen or 6th gen? I have numerous times on multiple cars. My suggestion is to get a shop manual and connect some of these typed words above to reality.
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I've removed, installed, and even designed stab bar links, yes. I've also been both designing and working on suspensions for the last 10 years both in small race teams and corporate settings, so yes I like to think I am getting close to the classification of "expert" if I'm not already there. And thanks for the kind suggestion, but I've spent enough time involved in writing service manuals that re-reading them probably isn't going to add much more value for me.
But, by all means, don't take my word for it (I personally don't like to believe things just someone says so, either). Here's a few pictures taken from my 6th gen Camaro to illustrate:
1) Car is completely on the ground with the LF sway bar link removed. Sway bar link stud lines up nicely with the hole in the sway bar and can be bolted together easily.
2) LH side of car is lifted from the pinch weld. LF wheel goes to full rebound, RH front wheel stays on the ground. Sway bar link is now a few inches away from the sway bar and cannot be bolted back together without considerable force to either twist the sway bar or compress the LF spring.
Every time you lift only one side of the car and unload the suspension, the sway bar link and sway bar want to be in the position shown in pic 2, but it can't get all the way there because they're bolted together. If you undo the nut holding the joint together in this case and force the stud out with a hammer or other means, you'll not only over-rotate (damage) the ball joint on the link, you'll also likely damage the threads because the two halves of the joint are trying to get back to looking like pic 2.
OP, if pic 2 looks like the issue you're having, try either lifting the opposite side of the car (preferred) or compressing the free side of the suspension with a jack until the sway bar link lines up with the sway bar again. From there, make sure both sides of the car are either raised or lowered at the same time to prevent misalignment from happening again when you get to the other corners.