front sway bar link kit. VR

[Hakka]

Just bought one of these, went to install it and found that there were two of the larger washes in the kit that aren't on my car. I had large washers on the top of the strut. Do the others go right down the bottom?

 

[Fletch_QLD]

Just bought one of these, went to install it and found that there were two of the larger washes in the kit that aren't on my car. I had large washers on the top of the strut. Do the others go right down the bottom?

I think those ki are put together to suit more than one application - so you may not need all the bits and pieces for your car - I reckon you are sweet if you make sure you replace whatever you remove.

 

[Hakka]

Bought the car off a mate, he's ok at pulling stuff apart but not real flash at putting it back together, and I know he changed the bushes himself a while back. If he bolted it all up and then found more parts he'd chuck 'em in the bin so i'm thinking they should be on there.

 

[deeranp]

My Max Ellery manual says:

Nut
Washer (concave side facing away from bushing)
Bushing
Strut tab
Bushing
Washer (concave side facing away from bushing)
||
|| <-- link pin
Washer (concave side facing away from bushing)
Bushing
Swaybar
Bushing
Washer (concave side facing away from bushing)
Nut

I replaced the sway bar links and bushings on the VS
(before I bought the manual), I used up all of the extra
washers but I found that having metal on metal (washer
on strut tab or washer on swaybar) causes the swaybar
bushes to stretch and wear quickly.

You also need to put the concave side of the washers facing
away from the bush, because of the way the link moves when
the front wheel is turned. If not, the washer "bites" into the bush
and they wear out quickly again.

Hope this saves you going through some of the grief I did, it's
not fun crawling around under the car fiddling with all of these
bits and pieces.

/DP

 

[TheForgotten]

well, you're right, but wrong. the biggest washers can't be mounted facing away from the bushes, because of their location. the bigger washers go directly on the sway bar and on the strut mount, and neither of these locations will give room for mounting upside down.

should look like this:

nut
smaller washer facing upward
bush
big washer facing upward
strut
big washer facing downward
bush
small washer facing downward, sitting on tab
||
||
small washer facing upward, sitting on tab
bush
big washer facing upward
swaybar
big washer facing downward
bush
small washer facing downward
nut


the washers should face the same way on either side of the bush.
doesn't really matter if you only have small washers, but the big ones have a ring on the centre which holds them in place on the swaybar or strut mount - optimal, but not absolutely neccessary

 

[deeranp]

||
||
small washer facing upward
bush
big washer facing upward
swaybar
big washer facing downward
bush
small washer facing downward
nut

Yeah I tried that but found that the metal on metal with the washers directly on the swaybar and on the strut tab causes too much in the way of clicking and grinding noises.

What I'd like is to find out if the "blade" type adjustable aftermarket bars from Whiteline will work with the VT-VY OE swaybar link kits. This would eliminate most of the problems due to the poor design of the VN-VS front swaybar mounts. Whiteline has a kit to adapt VN-VS to use the adjustable bars, but the kit is just an extruded bit of steel which clamps onto the lower suspension arm with a U-bolt then attaches to the swaybar with an S-shaped link. Looks like a hack and will probably not be looked upon kindly by Contable Plod or the insurance company.

Any ideas on the above?

/DP

 

[TheForgotten]

ermmm... there's a little ring around the inside of the washers to stop it from moving, so they shouldn't click or grind.
which swaybar mount are you refering to?