schwank

I recently purchased a set of 86 turbo sway bars off a fellow 44 owner. My 87 was originally sold without a rear sway so I figure the 18mm rear will be a nice upgrade.

Since the car did not come with a rear bar originally, I purchased a set of serge's drop links, and a set of rear delrin bushings along with the aluminum carriers from paragon.

I'm having an issue with assembly however, and I was hoping the list could help. The sway bar ends where the drop links connect are too wide to fit through the hole on the bushing housing. I briefly talked to Jason @ Paragon yesterday, and he was surprised it wouldn't fit... it seems he is out with some family issues before I could get any feedback, so I'm asking you guys.

I've added a few pics below, from what I can tell the sways are correct, the bushing size is correct, and the aluminum pieces will correctly mount to the car... I just can't get them over the bar ends. Do the ends on this sway look normal? All the 968 M030 bars I've seen have straight ends, not flared out oval-like as can be seen on mine below. My bar ends are appx. 1.5mm too wide for the holes on the carrier.

Any ideas? Is this a normal bar end? Anyone with 18mm rears that could check and/or confirm this?

Thanks!

schwank

To reply in case you are interested, after talking further with Jason... this is not a good situation.

They have never seen a bar with these flared ends before... even though the kit has an option for the 18mm bar. Weird.

So, my solutions are to get a different rear bar, or to attempt to ground down the ends on this one and try to make it work.

Fun stuff!

Techno Duck

Mine looks to be flared the same way yours is. The bar is a 18mm also from a '86 turbo. I guess your only option is to get a 19mm M030 bar..

schwank

Thanks for the confirmation Jon... I'll forward this thread on to Jason and they can take whatever action they see fit.

OriginalSterm

My '87 Turbo has the same problem. Guess it's time to break out the file/dremel and some patience...

schwank

Mine are in place now, with minimal issues Sterm.

I took a 6" bench grinder to one end of the bar only. I ground each side of the taper down flat like the M030 ends, to the point where the bushing carrier would fit over the bar. Install both carriers on the bar from the one end, then slip the bushings in (use a liberal amount of white lithium to reduce squeaking later) and install the snap rings to hold them.

The bar will still fit around everything with the carriers installed. Just weasel it into place and bolt it down, then reattach the ends. I've got some pics at home I haven't posted yet, I'll see if I can't dig them up tonite.

Wipeout

Yeah, you're slackin' on website duty, pal.

OriginalSterm

Pretty much the same thing I ended up doing. Actually a pretty easy job once the carriers fit over the bar.

ibkevin

Looks like they may have changed their design a little.

OriginalSterm

Jason at Paragon told me it was only the 18mm bar that was flared like this. The smaller and larger bars are not. Weird...