Problem - sways rubbing upper arms when turning

Slugoid · Postby **Slugoid** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:00 pm

Recently upgraded to Tein SS and Superpro bushes and now I'm finding that my front Whitline swaybar is now rubbing against the upper A arms when I'm turning past 90 degrees either direction. Everything is ok when I'm not turning and even on bumpy roads. I previously had Koni/Kings and never had this problem, so I'm sure the bar was correctly installed by myself and the A arms haven't been bent. I'm sure I didn't bend them when I changed the bushes either.

It's not a huge problem and it's only a tiny bit of sound when I'm turning, but I'm still curious to know why. I'm also quite sure it's rubbing against the A arms because there's like less than 1cm of clearance between, and last night I put some electrical tape around the bar for some insulation and it seems to be much better.

Juffa · Postby **Juffa** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:20 am

You probably disconnected the sway bar end links to fit the new buhses. Did you re-attach them as they were originally?

Having said that the distance between the upper A arm and the sway bar should not change when turning of the steering. The upper and lower arms should only move up and down (with a little bit of give in the bushes). Check that the tyres are not rubbing against the inner guards.

Have you had a wheel alignment since fitting the bushes?

J.

CT · Postby CT » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:31 am

If they are the stock end links - you need to change them to adjustables - or stick them in a vice and bend them a little - it makes them shorter!

If you think about it, you have shortened the distance between the arm and the bar but not shortened the distance betwenn the bar and the bar mount - hence it hits.

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:43 am

didn't someone else have that problem about 12 mths ago?

can't recall what the prob was

Slugoid · Postby **Slugoid** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:22 am

Juffa: I did disconnect the end links when I did the bushes, but I'm sure they were re-attached the same way and the bar is not upside down. I also took it for wheel alignment right after I did the bushes and dialed in a conservative -1.5 camber all round but with around 1 deg more castor compared to when I had a tad more camber. I'm not really sure if that can affect it.

CT: Yeah, they are stock links but with poly bushes on them now. I have a feeling the old bushes sagged just enough to clear the A-arms, but that's just a theory

. Adjustable end links have been considered but then I don't want to waste my current end links with new poly bushes. If the problem does get worse I might have to.

I think the new bushes might have put everything back where it should be, where previously they were sagging and giving more clearace between the upper and lower arms. It's the only explaination I can come up with as the sways are mounted exactly the same as before. The electrical tape fix was just a stab in the dark but it seems to have solved the problem temporarily for now.

I guess I'm here to confirmation whether this situation can occur or maybe something that's not related to the sways or links at all.

Slugoid · Postby **Slugoid** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:26 am

StanTheMan wrote:didn't someone else have that problem about 12 mths ago?

can't recall what the prob was

I remember it was the sways hitting the A-arms because the arms were bent. I'm sure my A arms is straight cos it was clear of the sways before I had the new coilovers and bushes. Maybe I should post some pics for you guys to confirms if everything looks ok.

Another thing, I also made sure that the brake line mount on the Tein shock body was away from the end links (i.e. facing the rear of the car) to avoid clearance problems.