I am attempting to replace the factory 1 inch front sway bar with an Addco 1 1/8 unit. It was quite the task just removing the factory bar. I had to remove the bottom engine pulleys. Now I'm trying to wiggle in the new bar and so far it's a no go. Has anyone accomplished this? Do I need to loosen motor mounts and raise the engine? Perhaps remove a lower control arm?

 

Sorry, this is not in my wheel house. However, if might be worthwhile to state the year of your 98.

 

What car are you working on?

 

Jesse - He posted in the Ninety-Eight forum.

 

Ok, I got the bar on. Just to pass knowledge to anyone in the future who may read this thread:

I jacked up the car and removed both front wheels.

I decided to slip the sway bars in/out through the driver's side, although it probably doesn't matter, but that is the side that I had the most room in my garage.

I removed the driver's side brake drum (every fraction of an inch counts!)

I removed the rubber snubber on the passenger side (the new bar is going to want that area to move inward when installing it)..

I removed the bottom pulleys and harmonic balancer from the engine. This is a must-do in order to install the new bar. Not necessary when only removing the original bar.

The factory bar comes out pretty easily once the sway bar bolts and end links are loosened and removed.

The new bar is an absolute pain to get in, even with all of the extra work. To make things easier, I would probably break a ball joint on the passenger side in order to get the lower A-arm a bit lower.

This took all afternoon and now into the evening. A difficult pain-in-the butt installation.

 

DOH!

We still need to know the year.

 

Read Post #2 - again.

 

1965

 

The bar looks beefy. I can't wait to take it for a test drive.



You can see how the bar has a v-bend in the middle. This made it extra challenging to install. Removal of bottom pulleys and harmonic dampener was absolutely necessary.