Ok so I'm installing the front suspension on the 66. I'm upgrading to a 1 3/8" front sway bar and it's not sitting right. For me to tighten down the end links I have to really smash the poly bushings which is wrong and it's still not seated straight. This set of bars came off of a 67 442 and I was given everything from it. Bars/bushings/brackets/endlinks/hardware. I notice the bushings are smalled than say a Moog set making the endlink shorter but really catches me attention is the sway bar end up almost under the upper BJ which can't be right so what am I missing here? I looked at my other cars and the sway bar comes up closer to the frame. I tried swapping the sway bar think maybe I installed it upside down but that doesn't help either.

 

Why is your upper ball joint missing the cotter key?

 

With the links removed, you should be able to pivot the bar (tightly, of course) in the frame bushings. Are those bushings sized for the larger bar? There should be nothing (other than friction) that prevents the bar from pivoting down towards the LCAs. The fact that the topmost bushings on the links are the ones that are mashed tells me there's a problem with the frame bushings.

 

And don't worry about interfering with the ball joints, it will look much different with weight on the wheels.

 

ive done the swap many times..a T/A sway bar is a bolt in..they always look funny when in the air..sometimes the link hits sometimes it doesnt..i thinks its link manufacturer..sometimes hard in a corner youd hear a thump..we traced it to the links being a little too long

i always trimmed 1/2 inch of the link tube and never had another issue..did it on all of the stock GM pieces from then on..it was way back when there was no real aftermarket sway bars...or we where broke..i cant remember


every thing should be loose in the air....once its on the ground everything gets tightened..if not it will beat the bushings out of it in a couple thousand miles..always tighten moving suspension down on the ground and loaded with the weight of the car

 

I pulled the bar back down to check it against others I have on hand and nothing looks out of the ordinary. It could be just the visual messing with me with full suspension drop and no weight on it. It has been 2yrs since my last suspension rebuild so i guess my memory is foggy. There were no cotter keys because I had not installed them yet as I am reassembling the entire suspension. The bushings are prefect and correctly sized for the bar. Yes all the areas with bushings are loosely assembled and will get tightened once weight on wheels again.