i just did the install of the 22mm hotchkis rear sway bar and its making a noise. from what it seems like, i think the top of bushings are hitting the body, i tried to take a pic, might not be the most clear, but is this normal?

 

this is the best picture could get, its raining outside and don't want to lay on the ground

 

Check the torque on everything. I have the 25.5mm hollow bar. I know it's tight in there, but there is room. Those mounts should not contact the body in any way.

 

What kind of noise? Like a creak or a thunk? Did you grease the bushings prior to install?

EDIT: I think I see grease in the picture so it looks like you did.

 

Yea the bushings are greased, it makes a noise only on small bumps. If they're is supposed to be a little bit of clearance between the bushing and the body then something is wrong. There is barely any/no clearance between them. Everything is tight, didn't have torque specs but all is 100% tight.

 

The bushing wraps 360 deg around the sway bar. There should be no physical contact with the chassis.

 

I will take a better picture tomorrow morning that's more clear

 

Double check the end links.

 

end links are as tight as when i took them off

 

this is the best picture i could get, as you can tell the body is 100% contacting the body

 

anyone have any ideas on what it could be? i had to drop the rear subframe for the job, but 100% everything is all tight...

 

There is nothing obviously wrong with your sway bar mount.
The rubber should envelope the sway bar, and both held tightly to the subframe by the mount.

But just to 3x check, undo the sway bar links at both wheels and move it around. It should rotate with some resistance, but w/out any noise or play.

Assuming you didn't lower the car or introduce any other variables into the picture during the rear sway bar job, possible noise sources could be:

1). Check that the sway bar is centrally positioned and sway bar links are not hitting other suspension elements. Look from the back and confirm that both sway bar links drop straight down, not sideways.
2). Check that the sub-frame bolts are all tight.
3). Check that the shock is bolted back on tight (you must have removed at least one to get the sway bar in there).
4). Check that the sway bar links themselves are installed correctly, and not clunking/falling-apart due to wear and tear. How many miles on the suspension?

a

 

Maybe they're 25mm bushing? That would mean you might have to take one out to determine that though. Unless you can read the numbers on the side. My 25mm bushings are marked with (5708 - 1") on the other edge side. You may be able to read them without removing them.

 

I was also thinking about making sure that the bar is centered. See if you are having the interference on both sides or just one. If it is just one, maybe you can loosen the subframe and center it to eliminate the interference.

The other thing is that I don't remember if the swaybar mounts have slots or holes in them. If they are slotted, maybe you can loosen the mounts and shift them away from your interference.

The outside of the bushings and mounts are standard, there are lots and lots of people who have done this without interference. You are probably just off a hair in a couple of areas. I'm sure that you can loosen either the brackets or subframe (or both) and pry them to eliminate the interference.

Have fun,
Mike

 

the car was lowered about 18k miles ago so i know its not the springs, never made a noise until the sway bar install, it woulds mostly like a rattle. the car has 38k miles. i have some free time today to go over the install, so I'm going to loosen then tighten every bolt from the install and see if it sits different, thanks for the input!

 

the brackets for the bushings do have slots so you can move it up and down, I'm going to try and move the brackets to see if that helps at all and try to move the subframe a little, i feel it is the subframe thats off by a hair but will see today

 

I will +1 the endlinks, I had a noise develop 5k miles into having the bar it was one end link was a hair loose.

 

Lowered springs are a clue.

There is relatively little clearance for the rear sway bar links to begin with, and lowering the suspension frequently leads to end links binding. Thus the popularity of aftermarket adjustable rear sway bar links.

I know you did not have that problem before, but if you looked at the old and new sway bars side by side, you would have noticed that they have subtly differently end link attachment geometry. If you have an adjustable sway bar, you can change link attachment points to effectively stiffen the bar's effect on the suspension.

Moving that link around, when it had minimal clearance after lowering to being with, may very well have resulted in the link now hitting some element of the rear suspension. Look for wear marks and signs of metal rubbing.

a

 

Would anyone happen to have the subframe bolt torque specs? I really cranked the bolts on, and when I loosened the bolts just a tad the bushing brackets now have some clearance from the body. There is not wear marks on the end links or any where near the end links, they were on there pretty good on the middle setting, I might try and adjusting the sway bar to the stiffer setting, which is the furthest in correct? Before the end links were not perfectly going straight up and someone mentioned they are supposed to be straight up, correct? With it on the stiffest setting the end links go straight up. I still feel it has something to do with this subframe though.

 

This is the clearance I have with the whole subframe loose and with the brackets loose, the booklet that comes with the swaybar that tells you how to install it, they have a picture of the bracket and there is a ton more clearance than what I have. Does anyone have a swaybar installed and could possible get a picture of your clearance?

 

That's about what mine look like.. With the subframe torqued.

 

This is the clearance with it tightened, there is no clearance...

 

Yea you can see where it contacts.

Is it the same on both sides? I'm wondering if your subframe is shifted l/r?

 

Yea it's the same on both sides, I tried to modify the body as much as I could so it wouldn't contact it but it didn't do much. Then I realized that the swaybar was not perfectly centered, I centered it but it still makes a rattling noise..

 

Rear sub-frame to chassis M12 bolts: 74 ft-lbs
Sway bar link bracket M8 bolts: 14 ft-lbs
Sway bar link to bar or strut M10 nut: 41 ft-lbs

Stiffest setting is with the sway bar link attached closest to the sway bar (minimum leverage).

a