Sway bar shims

[johnny79]

I see some NOS gbody sway bar shims on ebay, but for waaay too much $50 (granted this includes the spacers/reinforcement pieces). There are also a lot of Abody stuff. Will these work? I know I can use washers, but these open slotted shims seem easier.

Take a look:
http://alturl.com/hs4iz

 

[johnny79]

no one? How did you install your rear sway bar?

 

[beermonkey9417]

i installed my rear sway bar to the lower trailing arms in the hols already in them. thats it, no shims.

ofcorse this is an after market swaybar from hotchkis, but it just bolted right up, i just had to take a file to the holes to get id of the surface rust and then bingo, slips right in.

 

[84cutspreme]

Gbodyparts.com sells the shims also...I had the same question a while back on whether I needed them or not. So far everyone I've talked to has never used them. I didn't need them on my 84' cutlass with Hotchkis sway bar. So unless you are sure you need them, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[79loserbluebu]

Seems like the only reason for the shims is to protect the finish of the sway bar

 

[johnny79]

Seems like the only reason for the shims is to protect the finish of the sway bar

My understanding that it's to prevent binding of the control arm bushings... Yeah, I'll wing it....

 

[79loserbluebu]

What bushings? It's a 2" bolt that runs through the LCA and the piece inside is to prevent the LCA from crumpling when the bar bolts are tightened.

 

[johnny79]

if there is too much of a gap from the bar to the LCA, you're pulling them inward when it's tightened.

 

[79loserbluebu]

Unless you've got an insanely thick bar, or some bent control arms, there is no need for shims. I've had both stock and aftermarket LCA's on my car with the F41 rear sway bar, and both times the bar was flat on the arm. This product is kind of like a throttle body spacer on an efi car.

 

[Phoenyx]

I pulled my rear sway bar from a junkyard car, it had no shims. And it bolted up to my Edelbrock arms without needing any shims.