rear sway bar ?

[Mike J.]

Ok.. so I have received a rear sway bar and am going to install it on my wagon. But I have a few questions that I cannot seem to locate here in the forum.

How does the rear bar install? I have not looked for the installation location as of yet.. just got the bar last night and came to work today. I am familiar with the rear.. I put new springs and shocks back there. But can only imagine the front sway bar setup.

The front of course has bushings / brackets and end links. Does the rear have any bushings / brackets? As I look at it there are four bolts with spacers (two per side) and that looks like it? Does it just secure with these and that holds it up and in place? Once I look this may be obvious.. but does the bar face towards the front of the car or the rear?

Like I said.. it may be that this is completely obvious once I get under there this weekend.

Thank you
Mike J.

[1987cp]

No bushings. The factory-style rear bar bolts directly to the lower control arms, and the spacer sleeves go inside the control arms so that they don't get crushed when you snug down the bolts.

As for where to mount, AFAIK all or nearly all vehicles came from the factory with predrilled swaybar holes on the rear LCAs, so if yours is one of those, just use the existing holes. Supposedly if using a police swaybar you'll need to bend down the inner lip on the control arm for clearance (I've not done this myself, as my wagon got an aftermarket rear bar which installs differently), but that's it.

[mrltd]

Not all cars had the holes, some only had one set. So some drilling might need to be done.

Here is the thread on installing the bar. (yay search)

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?t=22719

[Mike J.]

Here is the thread on installing the bar. (yay search)
http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?t=22719

Killer link.. I think my search is broke ... I didn't see this. But Now I think I'm all set. I will be working on it tomorrow.

The pictures in there now show me all I could not image. I get it and am ready to move forward.

Thank you
Mike J.

[ford man]

Ok.. so I have received a rear sway bar and am going to install it on my wagon. But I have a few questions that I cannot seem to locate here in the forum.

How does the rear bar install? I have not looked for the installation location as of yet.. just got the bar last night and came to work today. I am familiar with the rear.. I put new springs and shocks back there. But can only imagine the front sway bar setup.

The front of course has bushings / brackets and end links. Does the rear have any bushings / brackets? As I look at it there are four bolts with spacers (two per side) and that looks like it? Does it just secure with these and that holds it up and in place? Once I look this may be obvious.. but does the bar face towards the front of the car or the rear?

Like I said.. it may be that this is completely obvious once I get under there this weekend.

Thank you
Mike J.

The spacers you put inside the lower control arms aren't going to fit as snug as they should because the police lower control arms are a thicker metal than the stock ones. This is not a problem, just get some washers from a hardware store of the proper size and thickness to take up the slack. I would also recommend adding lock washers to the nuts...

[mrltd]

The spacers you put inside the lower control arms aren't going to fit as snug as they should because the police lower control arms are a thicker metal than the stock ones. This is not a problem, just get some washers from a hardware store of the proper size and thickness to take up the slack. I would also recommend adding lock washers to the nuts...

I've never had that problem with any one of the bars I've installed. I just tighten the swaybar bolts...

[gadget73]

The bar faces the rear of the car, and it does have an upside-down. It fits upside down, but it looks silly when on the ground.

It should look like this with the car on the ground.



If you put it upside down, the bit in the middle will be up in the middle of the diff cover.

[alon]

Hey all, this may be my first post.... so
I have worked at the St. Thomas assembly plant for 32+ years mostly in new vehicle repair in the chassis and frame line areas. As my memory serves me , I recall we had two LCAs. The single hole standard arm for base vehicles and the two hole heavy duty arm for police, trailer tow, handling packages and wagons.Rear stabilizer bars consisted of a standard and a police model. Only PIs received the police model[go figuire]. Wagons on the hand never ever received a rear stabilizer bar, why I do not know, although my 88wagon came from the factory with a standard bar. I wonder how that happened?
At any rate please feel free to ask any questions on assembly build
alon

[hemihotrod402]

Hey all, this may be my first post.... so
I have worked at the St. Thomas assembly plant for 32+ years mostly in new vehicle repair in the chassis and frame line areas. As my memory serves me , I recall we had two LCAs. The single hole standard arm for base vehicles and the two hole heavy duty arm for police, trailer tow, handling packages and wagons.Rear stabilizer bars consisted of a standard and a police model. Only PIs received the police model[go figuire]. Wagons on the hand never ever received a rear stabilizer bar, why I do not know, although my 88wagon came from the factory with a standard bar. I wonder how that happened?
At any rate please feel free to ask any questions on assembly build
alon

interesting. Mine had 2 holes.

[1990LTD]

Hey all, this may be my first post.... so
I have worked at the St. Thomas assembly plant for 32+ years mostly in new vehicle repair in the chassis and frame line areas. As my memory serves me , I recall we had two LCAs. The single hole standard arm for base vehicles and the two hole heavy duty arm for police, trailer tow, handling packages and wagons.Rear stabilizer bars consisted of a standard and a police model. Only PIs received the police model[go figuire]. Wagons on the hand never ever received a rear stabilizer bar, why I do not know, although my 88wagon came from the factory with a standard bar. I wonder how that happened?
At any rate please feel free to ask any questions on assembly build
alon

I think you're gonna be real popular here.

[alon]

We started to build CVs and GMs for the 84 model year. It is possible that earlier model years were different. As a model progresses over the years engineering changes are made on a regular basis. Just a thought .
alon

[gadget73]

My Towncar had 2 holes, but it was a tow package car. Didn't come with a bar though, the one you barely see is off a police car.

[86VickyLX]

Hey all, this may be my first post.... so
I have worked at the St. Thomas assembly plant for 32+ years mostly in new vehicle repair in the chassis and frame line areas. As my memory serves me , I recall we had two LCAs. The single hole standard arm for base vehicles and the two hole heavy duty arm for police, trailer tow, handling packages and wagons.Rear stabilizer bars consisted of a standard and a police model. Only PIs received the police model[go figuire]. Wagons on the hand never ever received a rear stabilizer bar, why I do not know, although my 88wagon came from the factory with a standard bar. I wonder how that happened?
At any rate please feel free to ask any questions on assembly build
alon

Hello friend. Welcome to GMN, you must share with us your stories of your time at the St. Thomas assembly plant!!!

[rick99601]

Hello friend. Welcome to GMN, you must share with us your stories of your time at the St. Thomas assembly plant!!!

x2

[ford man]

I've never had that problem with any one of the bars I've installed. I just tighten the swaybar bolts...

Yeah, I had an air gap when I put the spacers in my control arms. The police car I pirated the sway bar from; the spacers were real snug in the control arm with no play whatsoever... So when I installed my sway bar I replicated that snug fit by adding a washer to each spacer. My idea was to keep the control arms as rigid as possible.