"Ask a silly question"

[myfirst124]

I am having a bear of a time fitting my new sway bar bushings in to the mounting brackets. Can any one shed light? I slipped the bushing on the the sway bar and then tried to put in back on the car, The only tip I have found beside "reassemble in the reverse order" was to only tighten the mounting hardware after the car is on the ground w/ some one in it and some luggage. The problem is fitting the new rubber in to the bracket, Do I try to squeeze them in on the bench or while mounting them, do I connect the center bushes first or the ends first, do I need to raise the A-arms with a floor jack? Soon to be out of my mind Mike...all comments welcome and Thank You PS DO the bushings need to be shaved to fit?

[narfire]

Going back a few years here so not 100% sure, but no,they don't have to be shaved. If I recall, I think I used a "C" clamp or something similar to help get the bar and fittings close.

[NJFIAT1981]

I just purchased a new heavy duty front sway bar from IAP. My guess is that I'll have the same problem. George

[myfirst124]

UPDATE the sway bar is in, a friend in deed came by to aply a little gentle persausion all is well up front now to the speedometer cable, Thanks to all, Mike

[mdrburchette]

I used C clamps to get the sway bar close enough to get the bracket tightened. One thing you should consider if replacing the stock swaybar with the 1" one is to change the mounting brackets. The mounting studs will eventually break and mangle your brackets. I had this happen to me at the Detroit FFO. I bought some generic brackets in the HELP! section of a local auto parts store, bent them on a vice to match the bend in the original. Then my good buddy Alvon helped remove the studs so we could use bolts in their place and we reinstalled the 1" swaybar. Another plus is the brackets came with zerk fittings so I can grease the poly bushings that were included. This is a far more solid setup than using the stock studs and brackets.