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Eibach Sway bars increased ride height

Yashbrowns

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Hey fellow Mustang owners,

My friend and I installed Eibach's Front and Rear (35mm/25mm) Sway bars on our own. We checked out the instructions and they seemed simple enough. After getting the end links connected and the wheels back on, there was a huge gap between my tire and the car. It wasn't noticeable in the rear but my God I could fit my entire hand vertically in the space. We took the car out for a spin and cornering feel was definitely better, however, you could feel almost every single bump in the road and going over a speed bump made the car bounce everywhere. I'm not too keen on suspension mods, but I assumed that sway bars do not affect the suspension. My friend said it could be the OE end links could be too long. Any help would be appreciated.

(Also all the suspension parts are OE)
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BMR Tech

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Disconnect one side end link on both the front and the rear bars.

Drive the car a few miles.

If the issue is still there, it wasn't an issue and there is no issue.

If disconnecting the links "fixes" the issue...you have excessive preload on the sway bars and you need to acquire an adjustable end link kit and remove the preload by setting them to neutral.
 

Rebellion

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Hey fellow Mustang owners,

My friend and I installed Eibach's Front and Rear (35mm/25mm) Sway bars on our own. We checked out the instructions and they seemed simple enough. After getting the end links connected and the wheels back on, there was a huge gap between my tire and the car. It wasn't noticeable in the rear but my God I could fit my entire hand vertically in the space. We took the car out for a spin and cornering feel was definitely better, however, you could feel almost every single bump in the road and going over a speed bump made the car bounce everywhere. I'm not too keen on suspension mods, but I assumed that sway bars do not affect the suspension. My friend said it could be the OE end links could be too long. Any help would be appreciated.

(Also all the suspension parts are OE)
Same thing happened to me when I installed the GT350R rear sway bar...rear was propped up half an inch more than usual.

I noticed that the bushings were very snug inside the bracket, even with a lot of grease, it couldn't swivel. The weight of the car was not enough to push it down.

Drove through a dozen or so bumps, then it finally settled to the usual ride height.

The sway bar does affect how the suspension behaves, unless the bumps are symmetrical, which is rare. The rear sometimes skips sideways a few inches when hitting really bad bumps.
 

BmacIL

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[MENTION=16078]GTP[/MENTION] this could be affecting you...
 
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Yashbrowns

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[MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION] [MENTION=26233]Rebellion[/MENTION] will try both out tmmro, I'll keep ya posted
 

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Same thing happened to me when I installed the GT350R rear sway bar...rear was propped up half an inch more than usual.

I noticed that the bushings were very snug inside the bracket, even with a lot of grease, it couldn't swivel. The weight of the car was not enough to push it down.

Drove through a dozen or so bumps, then it finally settled to the usual ride height.

The sway bar does affect how the suspension behaves, unless the bumps are symmetrical, which is rare. The rear sometimes skips sideways a few inches when hitting really bad bumps.
I just installed GT350 suspension springs and bars.

I installed rear upgrades first. I noticed a large gap in the bushing split-slot (-1/2") such that it was difficult to push the bracket on the bushing and a little difficult to tighten the bracket bolts. Figured this was by design.

The next day I did the front bar and bushings. The fit seemed "normal" to me, i.e. nothing was tight.

I used dry graphite lube at the front after [MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION] advice. I will have to research the rear bushing part# again, and probably reinstall it.
 

melwff

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are you tightening the bracket to frame bolts after dropping the car on the ground in order to prevent the bushing from binding on the bar while the car is raised?
 

BMR Tech

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The design of the bushings (mounts) on the Eibach kit should not hold the weight of the vehicle up, especially with grease installed within the bushing assembly to bar friction surface.
 

GTP

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are you tightening the bracket to frame bolts after dropping the car on the ground in order to prevent the bushing from binding on the bar while the car is raised?
Of course not! :headbonk:

Actually, I am doing it right the second time - I ordered the larger bushings, and I will use some dry graphite powder inside them.

The design of the bushings (mounts) on the Eibach kit should not hold the weight of the vehicle up, especially with grease installed within the bushing assembly to bar friction surface.
Kelly, please start a "Clock those sway bar bushings after putting your car back down on the ground." :lol:
 
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Yashbrowns

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are you tightening the bracket to frame bolts after dropping the car on the ground in order to prevent the bushing from binding on the bar while the car is raised?
I installed the brackets and the end links while the car was jacked, thought it didn't matter.

[MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION]
Took off the front passenger and the back driver end links and took it out for a test run.
1. Car was definelty less bouncy
2. The steering would veer slightly right
3. The front left was a whole inch higher than the right
I think you're correct on getting adjustable end links. Is it because the OEM's are too long?
 
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Rick#7

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I installed the brackets and the end links while the car was jacked, thought it didn't matter.

[MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION]
Took off the front passenger and the back driver end links and took it out for a test run.
1. Car was definelty less bouncy
2. The steering would veer slightly right
3. The front left was a whole inch higher than the right
I think you're correct on getting adjustable end links. Is it because the OEM's are too long?
No, it's because the bushings are preloaded by tightening the frame brackets while the car was jacked up. As mentioned in a previous response, you need to clock your bushings, instead of jacking the front up, drive it up on ramps so the suspension is still normally compressed, loosen the frame brackets until the bushings relax and the car settles to normal height then tighten the brackets again.
 

Rebellion

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I just installed GT350 suspension springs and bars.

I installed rear upgrades first. I noticed a large gap in the bushing split-slot (-1/2") such that it was difficult to push the bracket on the bushing and a little difficult to tighten the bracket bolts. Figured this was by design.

The next day I did the front bar and bushings. The fit seemed "normal" to me, i.e. nothing was tight.

I used dry graphite lube at the front after [MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION] advice. I will have to research the rear bushing part# again, and probably reinstall it.
A 0.5" split is most likely due to the wrong bushing. There is a lot of misinformation out there, most places I've seen have the PN of the R and non-R rear sway backwards. The bushing should fit almost perfectly, with a small gap, maybe 0.125" or so.

On the other side, there shouldn't be a preload, you should be able to clock them with the car on jackstands and be alright. The bushings and bar are held on by friction...the only possible way to get a "preload" is if the friction is too much and temporarily binds the bar and bushing (which I believe happened in my case). If I had clocked with the car loaded, the friction should be the same, it'd be it's in "normal" state. I believe that, in any case, there still needs to be some break-in for the bushing, possibly better distribution of the lubrication, for the sway bar to be able to swivel.
 
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Yashbrowns

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Turns out the front sway bar was installed the wrong way. Went unnoticed until my buddy pointed it out.Thank you all for the help :doh::headbonk:
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