Rear Anti Sway Bar, Cheap Handling Fix

[CAC Windsport]

I previously changed the setting of my front anti sway bar to the tighter setting and today I did the rear, however it is slightly different than the front bar on my F53 chassis

There is a Z bracket attached to the end of the link that connects the anti sway bar to the chassis. With that bracket, you use both the bolt holes on the anti sway bar to attach the link. The Z bracket is in a fixed position (at least I could not move it) and would not line up with the holes any longer when the sway bar was in the tighter position. So I switched them around, right to left side and left to right.

However, that did not totally resolve the incorrect hole alignment. (See attached pictures)

I assume both bolts are needed to handle the stress of the twisting of the anti sway bar.

Am I in danger of breaking the single bolt if I leave it this way? Do I need to get different links? Has anyone else had to do this?

[petef]

The Z bracket should fit when swaped like you did, both it and the holes are still in the same place.. why is it hanging down? can't you tap it up to align with the other hole? That is what they did on mine.

[CAC Windsport]

I didn't try hard to tap them up for fear they are in a fixed position. I will go and try now to see if I can hit them with the hammer and knock them up higher.

[CAC Windsport]

I wasn't able to move the bracket even using a 5lb sledge hammer. However, I pulled out the floor jack and used it to push up on the end of the bracket and that moved the bracket up enough to line up the holes.

My concern is that there is a lot of pre-loaded tension on the rubber bushing with the bracket moved up into a different position than it was when the anti sway bar setting was in the softer position. The bracket, in the softer position, was at approx. 90 degrees to the link, now its more like 75 degrees and that 15 degree difference is taken with the tension in the bushing as the bracket is attached to the bushing.

I guess time will tell if the bushing will last now or not, and if not then I will get the proper link set or have to return the anti sway bar back to its original, softer, setting.

Has anyone else experienced a problem with the link while the anti sway bar is in the stiffer position?

[jpmihalk]

We simply reversed the Z bracket and used a bottle jack to raise the bar into the correct alignment to get both bolts on each side through for the rear anti-sway bar when we did the CHF. We have driven a few thousand miles with it since with no issues.