Swaybar questions and lesson(s) learned

[RobertHarriSS]

I've had my sways on for 12,000+ miles and mine are fine.

[PfadtRacing]

Guys, I am not sure exactly what to say about this, but Pfadt does not use any special bolts that "come loose." You re-use the factory bolts. Torque wrenches are not all calibrated the same, and they are highly dependent on a number of factors that can "throw off" the ultimate yield value, most notably the application angle or extensions used.

The fact that there are under 10 people who are reporting that they are loose does not surprise me one bit. It is simply a mistake of them not being tight as some of them can easily be overlooked. Loctite is a great idea for anyone concerned with them backing out.

[PfadtRacing]

Originally Posted by TCao

rear swaybar bracket bolts torque: 15 ft-lb
front swaybar bracket nuts torque: 15 ft-lb
swaybar endlinks nuts: 22 ft-lb
loctite 242 (blue) will keep these from loosening from road vibration.

Again, TCao has the right idea. Using Loctite 242 will solve any problems you could potentially have from under-tightening. Maybe we will suggest this in our document.

[camarowa]

Checked mine over the weekend, all nice and tight.

[Crowley]

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

Again, TCao has the right idea. Using Loctite 242 will solve any problems you could potentially have from under-tightening. Maybe we will suggest this in our document.

BTW .. surely didn't start this thread for any other reason than to make people aware of what I found and have other's check as well. Seeing how there were others that did have this issue (even though still only a few) .. I think this would be a good idea (to add to the install doc).

You all make a great product and it's good t o see the vendor posting thoughts and suggestions ..

Crowley

[Darth_Emma]

My car was in the shop at IPS Motorsports today (for unrelated stuff) and they checked the sway bars at my request. I'm happy to report that there were no loose bolts associated with my Pfadt sway bars. Mike at IPS said "of course they were installed properly! WE put them in!" They do great work.

[rdono]

maybe check with GM, they are now suggesting replacement of (some) loosened suspension bolts. I found out the hard way, so this most likely is not a AM part issue.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89931

[IPS Brandon]

Originally Posted by rdono

maybe check with GM, they are now suggesting replacement of (some) loosened suspension bolts. I found out the hard way, so this most likely is not a AM part issue.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89931

Interesting, I may have to pull the service bulletin today.

Regards

[robertway]

I decided to give a look under the car to see if any of the sway bolts had come loose and low and behold, the bottom bolt on the left rear had fallen out and the sway bar was just hanging there with the bracket bent up pretty far. The problem was I checked this on Wednesday morning of this week, about a hour before heading to Pocono Raceway to drive the car on the tri-oval (here is a shameless plug for the thread I just posted about that http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91626). I dropped the bracket out, bent the bracket bak to its original shape as best I could, slid the sway bar back to ward the passenger side (which I shoulda video taped being I was under the car with both feet against the inside of the rear tire pulling on the bar to slide it back into position), ran to the store and picked up the equivalent bolt, got home and put some blue loktite on both bolts before wrenching them down.

The issue I see here is probably a combination of operator error and these maybe being "one-time use" bolts. The bottom bolt is kinda tough to get at straight with a torque wrench and I had to use a couple of joints so when the wrench popped at its 14 ft/lbs because of the angles the joints were at I bet it was way less than that. This time around I just did it the old fashion way and used the ft/lb meter in my elbow. The passenger side bolts were still good but I gave them and extra 1/4 turn just to be sure. When I get a chance I'll back the passenger side out and locktite them as well.

As another shameless plug, the car handled great at Pocono on the tri-oval thanks in part I am sure to the Pfadt sways and drop springs. Thanks to the folks at Pfadt Racing and Brandon at IPS... Shake and bake!!!!!!

[PfadtRacing]

robertway, thank you for giving an honest assessment of the cause. I believe that is the toughest one to torque correctly.

Thanks for the love and please make sure to double check the fasteners occasionally if GM is recommending to replace certain ones. That is for all of our customers!

Shake and bake!

[Hoverman]

Checked mine, one out of the 4 rear was finger loose.

[radz28]

I'm glad this issue is resolved. More great products proving themselves on the track

[Silver Ice]

Be checking mine as soon as I get home from work. Thanks

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by PQ

The torque specs I used were as follows;

Humphhhhhhh........... aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.



But like I said, no biggie, locktite and done.

PQ, did you use that calibrated arm of yours??