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Sway bar conundrum.....

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The sway bar on my TR6 has really long pivot arms coming down from the suspension bracket. So long that I have often gazed under the car and wonder when I will hit something with them. The labels are still on these arms and they came from one of the vendors. All I can read is "made in UK" so they must've been for a British car. I purchased a replacement kit from TRF and see, happily, that the pivot arms are 1.5" shorter than what I had. Exactly what I wanted. Here comes the kicker. Installing the new sway bar to the skid plate is a hideous procedure, anyone can see Tinster's posts and see that. The nuts holding the u-bolts that embrace the actual sway bar can only be accessed by either removing the radiator (THAT I can do without) or dropping the skid plate. And that cannot be done. They came with hidden nuts holding the skid plate and this is only accessible by, you guessed it, removing the radiator. And, in my case, my oil cooler.

Question, the new sway bar is the exact same thickness as the old one. The old one told me that it really didn't want to be removed and I agreed with it. But, the new bar is 3/4" wider overall than the old one. The new pivot arms look like they are perfectly happy being attached to the old sway bar. I think I answered my own question, not gonna go crazy and rebuild the front of the car. Oh, the question. Anybody see anything wrong using shorter pivots on an old bar? I guess when I drop the car I can road test and see if it acts squirrelly.

It's all your fault, Tinster.
 
Bill,

Why can't you drop the radiator skid plate?

Once your car is on stands, you can have the skid plate
and sway bar off in about 10 to 15 minutes......
once you know the trick to access the lower bolt
in my photo.

If I can do this with my very limited mechanical
knowledge, YOU certainly can accomplish it.

Once the skid plate is off, the two U-bolts are a
piece of cake to replace.

ubolts.jpg
[/img]
 
Dale, the skid plate is held on with two short bolts that have nuts inside the end of the frame. I was able to loosen one bolt, only to have it spin endlessly because I wasn't able to get to the nut. Again, it was in the end of the frame. To get to it, I have to take everything out. I was able to retighten it by jambing a small screw driver into the folded crack on the skid plate. I thought of keeping the screw driver in the crack and just backing the bolt out, but no room to wiggle. I think I will just stay with what I have and road test it first. If no go, everything comes out. Bummer.
 
Bill-

The tiny crack in the folded edge is the key.

Put your car in a not very bright location- like
inside your garage. I think the bolt is 9/16"

You need a 9/16" socket for the exterior and a
rather short 9/16" open end wrench for the interior.
You also need a flashlight.

Lie on your side and shine the light into the crack.
You are able to see the interior bolt/nut, yes?

Slide the open end wrench into the top opening of
the skid plate and press it against the vertical
side wall. Let it slide downward until you can see
the pointed tip of your wrench just touch the interior
bolt/nut.

Use the exterior 9/16" socket and slowly rotate the
exterior bolt/nut until the inside bolt/nut is fully
engaged by the 9/16" open end wrench.

Hold the open end wrench tight and rotate the fastener
off with the socket. If you have bolt head inside, use a
screwdriver and punch it inward. If bolt head outside,
pull it out with channel locks.

Install a temporary thru-bolt until you have all four
bolts out. Disconnect both ends of the sway bar and
pull the skid plate downward. It weighs very little
actually. You do not need a jack to support it.

Give it a try!! If I can could do this with my limited
skills; you certainly can do it easily.

d
 
Dale, you and I think alike. That is scary. I figured that would be the tact but right now my rotator cuff is crying for some rest. I will road test the car first. If all is good, then there she will stay.

Thanks for the insight.
 
I removed the radiator. Doing so provides easy access to the top side of the skid plate, and allowed me to position the bar with the links attached.
Sway bar links should be as close to vertical as possible.
Attach the links. Position the bar so the links are vertical. Hold it in place with a C-clamp and mark the places for drilling the holes.
BOBH
 
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