Rear Sway....l.c.a.'s

[ttypenssrider]

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OR EASIEST WAY TO REMOVE THE REAR SWAY BAR AND LOWER CONTROL ARMS?
JACK UP THE BODY AND LET THE SUSPENSION HANG OR CAN I DO IT WITH THE CAR ON THE GROUND?

IM PUTING ON ATR SWAY BAR AND LOOKS LIKE BOXED LOWERS,OR SOME AFTERMARKET PART.

 

[blackbuick87]

I had the body on jackstands and let the suspension hang. Its a good time to put in airbags too

 

[Steve Wood]

I normally put stands under the rear of the frame and leave the jack under the center section, or, put a stand under both sides of the center section. Keeps it from moving around and turning the exercise into a wrestling match.

 

[ttypenssrider]

NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE.WIIL I NEED SPECIAL TOOLS?
AND SHOULD I TAKE OFF THE STOCK AS ONE UNIT OR FIRST SWAY BAR THEN CONTROL ARMS?
THE NEW PARTS ARE ALREADY PUT TOGETHER AS ONE UNIT, WILL THIS BE THE IDEAL WAY TO PUT IN,OR SHOULD I SEPERATE AND PUT IN LCA'S THEN SWAY BAR?

 

[Steve Wood]

No special tools...

Not sure I followed your question, but,

Take off the old sway bar

Remove one lca and replace with the new one

Remove the other lca and replace with the other new one

Install whatever sway bar you are going back with.

 

[disco stu]

Just did my Global west lower's today. Be sure to soak bolts for LCA's in WD40, Knocker Loose or something, did mine a couple days in advance, made it easier. whe I unbolted my sway bar, It just fell out, so that might not be to hard to reinstall on stock boxed lower's. It was more difficult on mine though. You'll need a 15mm end wrench, a 15mm deep socket, an 18mm end wrench, an 18mm socket. I used a 3/8ths 18mm socket so I could use a 10" 3/8" wobble extension with a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter ( to use 1/2" impact) to get to the outer front bolts through the frame, as a 1/2" universal would not fit through the hole. Front bolts are a pain to get back in the hole, have fun. I used a tapered pry bar to line up the holes in the swaybar and get a bolt started. You might not have to. All in all, pretty easy. Do one side at a time. Just let the rear hang. Good luck.

 

[ttypenssrider]

THANKS FOR THE TIPS GUYS!!

 

[gofastr]

i took out my whole rear end a month ago. it sucked! the main special tools I needed were torches, and air tools. every bolt was hell from start to finish. -not trying to SCARE you though.

 

[disco stu]

Originally posted by gofastr
i took out my whole rear end a month ago. it sucked! the main special tools I needed were torches...........

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how great air tools are, and lifts. Soak those bolts a couple of times a day or two in advance, make your life easy.

 

[HRpartsNstuff]

It's best done by raising the car, supporting the frame, and let the rearend drop down & hang. Do NOT try this with the tires on the ground, VERY unsafe!

I would advise trying to swap out the swaybar ONLY at first if using an ATR unit. That will tell you if it's too wide (like I hear from most), and you may need to grind some off the sides to fit. Do NOT pound or force it into place. That pushes the CA's apart & can shear off the sides of the bushings, making a real mess back there. If it seems to fit OK, or after grinding to fit, then:

Take swaybar out
take one CA off
put new one in (snug bolts ONLY)
take other CA off
put new one on (snug bolts ONLY)
put swaybar in place, tighten
then tighten CA bolts.

That procedure allows a little movement to get the swaybar in much easier. That's also why you need to check fit before doing it all, can't tell width exactly if bolts are not tight.

Hope that makes it easy for you.

 

[TRDirks]

Also let the car down before you do the final tightening of the Control arm bolts. You want the suspension to be loaded when you tighten them.