Interesting information on rear sway bar mounting

#1

I had some binding in my heim joints in my rear sway bar the other day. When I looked at it, it became apparent that the lower rod end was hitting the steel bracket that attaches the heim joint to the trailing arm. I discussed it with several people, reviewed old pics I had taken of cars, and looked at GRM’s website. What I found out is there is not a standard way people are going with this. For what it’s worth, I called Ireland Engineering and they said the bolt should point side to side. Here’s some pics so I can clear up what I’m trying to describe.

THIS IS A FAMOUS RECENT 6TH PLACE WINNER
http://picasaweb.google.com/jchaynieii/MiscBMWPhotos/photo#5200032787753912898

THIS IS MINE. I HAD TO TURN IT TO PREVENT THE CONTACT BETWEEN THE ROD END AND THE STEEL BRACKET.http://picasaweb.google.com/jchaynieii/MiscBMWPhotos/photo#5200033311739923026

I don’t know which way is right, but I know my rear end doesn’t clatter as I ride down the road.

Can someone show me how to insert a Google PIcasa photo in a post?

John

#2

Google and this forum don’t play well together, but this is how I do it.

first grab the HTML embed code

Inside the HTML code you will see a link with with “.JPG” at the end. Copy that and enclose it with Image tags Like this.

[img size=150]http://lh6.ggpht.com/dpereda/R9RwsRooLaI/AAAAAAAAH_Y/KgjPTkK4HT0/s144/P3090421%20-%20Copy.JPG[/img]

Hopefully your pics will embed like this

If you have a size issue make sure the image size on google and the size in the image tag are near equal

#3

I think I’ll just keep using photobucket instead.

#4

Drumbeater, do you have any reinforcement on the bottom link connection tab area?

As for the pictures, just right click on the picture to copy the image location and then post it using the img tag.

IMG_1863.JPG?imgmax=640480x640

IMG_2398.JPG?imgmax=800800x600

#5

Just an additional thickness of steel to spread load of the nut. I asked around about additional reinforcement and it was a 50/50 split on it. Some thought it was needed, some never bothered.

John

#6

I would definitely recommend welding those tabs on. I had them rip off of my street car, 91 318is. The car had a ground control set up and IE bars, ripped the stock tab right off.

While SE30 suspensions are a bit softer than that setup, I would recommend the welding. Just having the extra metal bolted in place does nothing to reinforce the tab.

#7

+1, weld it on or watch it rip out.

#8

In one session, the tabs bent all the way down on my car. Weld the reinforcements.

#9

Jones wrote:

Brian, not everyone drives like a jackass.:stuck_out_tongue:

Sasha

#10

I wish my IE bars came w/ that style clamp.

My clamp is like a solid block of aluminum forcing the heim joing to be bolted to the side of the block/clamp instead of centered in the middle of it. pain in the ass.

#11

Yes, the “sidesaddle” IE bar clamps seemed to have been an unpopular experiment. As you say, they forced the spherical joints into odd angles that didn’t seem to always work right.

About 6 months ago, after I got enough customer complaints, I talked to IE and had them swap out the sidesaddle bar clamps for the old center-mount clamps. (These were just the brackets themselves, and did not include bolts or other hardware.) I then provided those to the customers who’d bought from me.

I believe that IE no longer uses those and has gone back to the original center-mount.

You might want to contact IE or the vendor you bought from and see if you can get a new set of clamps at little or not cost.