rklettke

So I got an energy suspension sway bar bushings kit... Came with some brackets to replace the ones that go over the sway bar and connect it to the Jeep. Figured I'd just use those and tossed my old ones.

Now it seems the bar doesn't run perpendicular to the two bolt holes. And these new brackets don't line up. Am I missing something??? Thanks guys.

Pics to follow.

rklettke

BillyBoy

Never had the problem. Never upgraded my sway bushings tho. Maybe look for a YouTube video by looking for the specific brand? Even if they used it on a truck or wrangler. Might show more specific info.

rklettke

I can't find anything anywhere on this. Anyone have a pick of the stock mounts?

fb97xj1

Remove the bolts and start over. Do one bolt per side. Leave them a little loose. Then try to line up the remaining two bolts. Or, if the endlinks are in place, unbolt them from the sway bar or from the other end and tighten the sway bar first, then redo the endlinks. I had to do that with my Mustang once as the suspension had just enough bind in it because i tightened one side up before starting the other. This pulled the other end and the bolts wouldnt line up. Just loosening the endlinks took all the bind out and was able to line everything up. That might work for you, might not. Give a shot and see what happens.

trans_am7935

You need to bolt the bushings with the sway bar in them to the body before bolting the links to the axle on. Try it that way and get back to us.

rklettke

Well, I'll do that tomorrow after work. For now I'm just going to clean up. I don't remember this happening on my first xj when I did the bushings. But I didn't do the links on that one.

investinwaffles

I think you are right - something is causing the swaybar to tweak

Although those do look like "universal" brackets, so I am not 100% sure if they are supposed to fit or not (I did not replace my brackets when I did my sway bar bushings, just the actual bushing piece.

I always keep the stock ones even for a week or two after I replace something, makes it easier to reference in situations like this.

rklettke

That's smart man, I'll have to start doing that. Can anyone go out and snap a pic? I think I found one pic that showed the xj sway bar, but from the side. It looked like the bar was a little tweaked in the new bushing, which seems kinda dumb to me.

rklettke

New thought: Drill the hole out a bit so it will allow the bar to sit like it's supposed to?(or at least how I think it should fit...)

rklettke

Found a pic. I don't like how there is a space already. Anyways... I'll update later when I figure out what I'm going to do. Any input?


Sorry for the multiple posts.

alpine.adrenaline

I actually had the same issue and ended up just forcing it into place. Just had to lubricate the bushing a lot.

peligro113

Just do it right and loosen the sway bar links

NM-XJ

I had this same issue when I did my bushings and tried to force it. Ended up having to find a tap set to re thread one of the weld nuts in the frame. And it was still wonky so the sway bar has now "walked" itself closer to the frame on one side. New end links and an adjustment would fix that, but I've been lazy.

In short: do it the right way like everyone above has suggested.

rklettke

Ok. I'm about to go try that. If it ends up looking like that picture though, I'm going to make the holes wider I think. Unless someone knows if this is actually a bad idea? I'll report with pics.