At the Central Iowa Fiero meet last week Manic Mechanic looked at my rear sway bar installation and saved me from a future day of potential damage to my car and possible injury.

I used the 5.5 inch, bolts that came with the end link bushing set. They extended too far down and protruded below the level of my rim. If I had experienced a blowout or even a flat tire the end link bolt would have been the first thing to hit the ground. In the words of Manic Mechanic, "It would rip a lot of **** up". I parked it once I got home until today until the changes could be made.

I bought new, 3.5 inch, grade 8, bolts that match the ones that came with the kit. This allowed me to get rid of the spacer and provide proper clearance. The red in this photo shows the general area were the old bolt and spacer use to be except it actually extended below the level of the rim.

Btw, If you would like to see it this is the video of our meet.

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87 Fiero SE

Been there. Done that. Mine caused the blowout.

Isn't the spacer supposed to be positioned between the chassis and the end of the swaybar?

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Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com
1988 Red Fiero Formula Convertible

yes, this was one thing that gave me a hard time also, working everything out, so the bolt doesnt go below the level of the rim. when I started, I assumed I wouldn't be useing a bushing on the top side of the a-arm. so, I bought bolts 1" shorter. after putting it all together, I found I could use the upper bushing also, and now the bolts were to short. so, I went back to the ones in the kit. the whole thing seemed to long, so I cut the sleeve shorter, and now the bolts I originally bought worked. fun stuff. yes, keep the ends higher than the rims.

quote Originally posted by LZeitgeist: Isn't the spacer supposed to be positioned between the chassis and the end of the swaybar?

When I was installing it I wanted to keep everything as high as possible since it goes under the control arms. The position of the holes that I drilled made the spacers unnecessary. I did use the top bushing that goes above the control arm because I did not want metal to metal contact. I made sure that there was plenty of space between it and the transaxel bushing. I had only used the spacer out of necessity because the original bolt was too long. I would have cut it but the threads did not continue down the bolt far enough.

I'd always assumed that the spacer was there to provide the proper geometry to the sway bar's function, but I'll admit, I'm no engineer.

Just curious.

makes $cents Thanks

quote Originally posted by LZeitgeist: I'd always assumed that the spacer was there to provide the proper geometry to the sway bar's function, but I'll admit, I'm no engineer. Just curious.

its mostly there to keep the swaybar from interfering with anything throughout its travel - its why they come in multiple lengths

[This message has been edited by Kohburn (edited 05-03-2005).]

Ah, that makes much sense. Thanks!

ideally, you want the sway bar to be parallel to the ground, when the car is on all 4 wheels. this reduces the amount of deflection on the end links when it goes up & down. when you put a front bar on the back, you usually dont have much room to do this. anyways, keep everything above the rims - dont wanna wreck anything should you get a flat.

[This message has been edited by Pyrthian (edited 05-03-2005).]

quote Originally posted by RACE:

Looks like you need to grease that rear balljoint.

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John DuRette
Custom 85 ; 87 Coupe in the driveway. "Kinda makes you nostalgic for a Members Only jacket"

Thanks, It is actually time for me to go around the entire car again.

Later,

Kenton