PST front sway bar trouble - 65 Satellite

[65_Satellite]

They should not be touching the strut rod especially with the weight to the vehicle on the suspension it will be tight but not touching. Our sway bar was originally designed using the stock strut rods but works with our adjustable strut rods. What brand of adjustable strut rod are you using Qa1? What is the shaft diameter on the strut rods that you are using. The other thing that I was thinking is do you have the strut rods adjusted properly? If the lower control arms are pulled to far forward that would make distance between the endlink and the strut rod closer. If you push the lower control arm back that should open the gap. Have you have an alignment yet?

Thanks
James From
PST

Thanks for jumping in James @PST . I am running the QA1 strut rods. The shaft diameter is 7/8" thick. Right now, I have not sent the car for an alignment, its still not finished. I adjusted the rods to the same length as the stock ones as a starting point. I do still need to align it and crank the torsion bars up a little too. Is it possible to flip the L bracket on the lower shock bolt? There is a little space between the strut rod and the long end link spacer. Whats hitting is the bottom washer. Also, the hump that goes over the center radiator core support is only about a 1/4" from touching the bracket.

 

[65_Satellite]

They should not be touching the strut rod especially with the weight to the vehicle on the suspension it will be tight but not touching. Our sway bar was originally designed using the stock strut rods but works with our adjustable strut rods. What brand of adjustable strut rod are you using Qa1? What is the shaft diameter on the strut rods that you are using. The other thing that I was thinking is do you have the strut rods adjusted properly? If the lower control arms are pulled to far forward that would make distance between the endlink and the strut rod closer. If you push the lower control arm back that should open the gap. Have you have an alignment yet?

Thanks
James From
PST

James, @PST I just set the car on the ground, cranked the torsion bars up a little more and turned the wheels lock to lock and then let it settle in the middle and the washers are still touching. The front part of the sway bar that humps over the core support brace is about 3/8" from touching. Is it possible to flip the upper brackets and install it that way?

 

[PST]

You could flip them around with no ill affect. But this the first time that I can recall having this issue. Can you double check the distance between end link eye to end link on the sway bar? It should be 44 1/2" on center If it were to narrow this could be the issue. I am just wondering if the thickness of the strut rods is part of the clearance issue.

James From
PST

 

[65_Satellite]

You could flip them around with no ill affect. But this the first time that I can recall having this issue. Can you double check the distance between end link eye to end link on the sway bar? It should be 44 1/2" on center If it were to narrow this could be the issue. I am just wondering if the thickness of the strut rods is part of the clearance issue.

James From
PST

James @PST, I won’t be able to measure for a couple weeks as I’m away right now but here is a pic to show you the angle. The red lines are perfectly square to the ground and you can see the angle (arrow) the the sway bar links are at on both sides. They angle in and are not straight up and down. What’s the width of your strut rods? Is there a wider width sway bar that you sell that would work better? The clearance seems to be the height because of the way the brackets on the shock mount are. Factory control arm brackets sat higher than than the shock bolt. I just think if I flip the brackets that I’ll need longer stabilizer links because the sway bar itself can’t go up. Or it could be that I just need longer spacers because there seems to be extra threaded length on the bolt.

here is the factory control arm. I’m noticing how much higher the top bushing sits on this one above the height of the shock bolt vs where the bushing sits now on mine with the bracket on the shock bolt. I’m going to try flipping the bracket when I get home as that seems like it would position it relatively the same as the factory mount.

 

[493 Mike]

Is this bar spring steel or could it be bent to spread the width and provide more clearance?
Mike

 

[PST]

The adjustable strut rods that we offer are 7/8 diameter. What we really need at this time to try to resolve your issue is the spread on the eye to eye on the sway bar that you have. If it is less than 44 1/2" that there maybe the issue. Meaning the sway bar was possibly bent incorrectly. I know you are away at the moment so let us know when you get back.

Thanks
James From
PST

 

[65_Satellite]

Is this bar spring steel or could it be bent to spread the width and provide more clearance?
Mike

spring steel.

 

[Dennis H]

This added as fyi only. When replacing the factory bar with a stronger/lighter after market there was a debate about the bar being mounted upside down. I went with sticker placement and it scraped on every parking bumper in the West. Both Zerk fittings were knocked of as well. The consensus was that the bar could be mounted either way! Turned it around. Now it doesn’t scrape, less obvious, and only downside is the fishing path when removing the oil filter is less fun.

 

[Kern Dog]

The following is not specifically directed at PST:
What the hell is wrong with companies that write instructions so small that you need a jewelers eyepiece to read....or they are so blatantly cryptic or simple that they don't explain assembly?
It isn't just car parts but there are plenty of those...
Rocker arm set from Mancini Racing...spacers, washers, rockers and adjusters with not a single piece of paper in the box to explain how to set them up. This is some lazy bullshit.
Garage door opener....Instructions written by someone that has probably installed a hundred of them, making complex steps sound perfunctory.
Harbor Freight tools....Their instructions are in ENGLISH but the print is tiny.
It is worse when they cheap out and say....For instructions, see our website!
**** that....Print out the instructions and put them in with the product like a responsible company. A printed set with a reasonable explanation of assembly IN THE BOX is what is expected. I don't want to print out what YOU should have done. I don't want to assemble this thing in my house next to the computer either.

 

[65_Satellite]

The adjustable strut rods that we offer are 7/8 diameter. What we really need at this time to try to resolve your issue is the spread on the eye to eye on the sway bar that you have. If it is less than 44 1/2" that there maybe the issue. Meaning the sway bar was possibly bent incorrectly. I know you are away at the moment so let us know when you get back.

Thanks
James From
PST

James @PST , just got back and pulled the sway bar links out and measured from the center of the hole to the center of the hole and I can confirm that the measurement is 44 1/2". I did notice that the supplied end links ran out of thread when tightening which makes me believe that the L brackets should be flipped on the shock bolt which would not only raise bushing from against the bar itself but would also allow the nuts on the end link to tighten and not run out of thread. Could it be that the instructions from PST that show the L bracket be wrong and in fact need the bracket to be switched? If so, I would need to use longer shock bolts and use washers to space the L bracket away from the control arm due to the lip on the arm

 

[PST]

Flipping over the bracket would allow for more clearance in your situation. If you can give me the length of the bolts that you need we will supply you with new ones.

Thanks
James From
PST

 

[65_Satellite]

Flipping over the bracket would allow for more clearance in your situation. If you can give me the length of the bolts that you need we will supply you with new ones.

Thanks
James From
PST

@PST James. I pulled it apart and flipped the bracket. Using the end link as a guide it looks like I would need a bolt that is 9-1/2” long with the spacer being approx 4-5/8” long to match everything up. Here’s a couple photos

 

[PST]

Hello,

I forgot to ask. Can you please PM me your full name and address. I will get the taken care for you.

Thanks
James From
PST

 

[65_Satellite]

All good now. James from @PST sent me knew end links that were longer. I flipped the top bracket on the shock mount and used the longer bolts and now we have lots of clearance to the strut rods. Thanks for all the help.

 

[493 Mike]

Have you driven the car yet? Let us know if you liked the change in handling.
Mike

 

[65_Satellite]

Have you driven the car yet? Let us know if you liked the change in handling.
Mike

Not yet. I replaced the entire front end with all new PST bushings, ball joints, tie rods, solid tie rod sleeves and converted to disc brakes. I also did the rear end. Just need to finish bleeding brakes and bring to an alignment shop

 

[BigFlo]

65 Sat- I came across this post last week because I have the same issue on my 65 Belvedere. Everything you ran into, I have as well. After all was assembled, do you think you could have used a 9” long end link instead of 9.5”? 9.5” seems like it would leave about 1” of thread exposed after tightening. 9” is what I figured might work best.

@PST - James, I will be contacting you/PST for the same solution.