Front sway bar drop link installation

[mcaterino]

Hi,

I'm in the midst of a 1970 T restoration (details at the Pelican site: Restoring a 1970 T and at my blog linked in my signature). At the moment I'm reinstalling the suspension, and am adding a front sway bar that the car did not previously have. The mounting hole in the inner fender and the u-tabs on the control arms were both, however, already there, so the installation has been straightforward, so far. In installing the drop links, it seems like the angle offset between the top lever (parallel to the long axis of the car) and the control arm bracket (~15 degrees off transverse) is not a very good match for the drop links. I can sort of wedge them in there, and probably the bushings (new weltmeister rubber) will absorb the difference. But I'm a little concerned about the stress on the drop links.

I also should mention I wasn't 100% sure which end of the drop link went up. There is a slight angle between it's long axis and the ring on one end. It seems to make the most sense that that is the bottom and it should be angled forward, as that's the most obvious offset in the system.

Anyway, too much verbiage. A couple pictures: one with the top installed straight showing the angle relative to the bottom. And one with the bottom straight, showing how much twist will be required in the top to get the mounting bolt through. I can't really see any solution other than to force it. But perhaps some of the parts I have are truly mismatched. I don't know the provenance of any of it. I'd appreciate any experienced feedback.

Thanks,
Mike Caterino
Santa Barbara, CA
Mike & Katie's 911 Restoration Project

[merbesfield]

Mike, I am working on a 68 912 SWB and would like to add the front and rear sways as you have done. Can you tell me where you sourced the parts? Thanks

[mcaterino]

I didn't add rear sways, only upped the T-bar size in back (adding all new rubber everywhere, etc.. The fronts were a used factory set, bought from a Pelican, and I just added new bushings. Fortunately the car was premade to have these installed. The control arms already had the mounting bracket, and the inner fender had the correct hole just capped off. Hopefully this is the case for you too.

While I'm at it, to bring closure to my original question, I managed to get these twisted into place, and after torquing everything down they seem to fit fine. The car rolled into the paint shop last week, and should be back in a few days, ready to be put back together.

Mike

[911pcars]

I'm not aware of the angle difference between the top and bottom ends of the drop link. Install the top mount first, then use a long drift punch to align the bottom bushing and control arm mount while driving in the hex bolt.

Sherwood

[304065]

I'm not aware of the angle difference between the top and bottom ends of the drop link. Install the top mount first, then use a long drift punch to align the bottom bushing and control arm mount while driving in the hex bolt.

Sherwood

The angles are definitely different. Not only are the bushings offset 90 degrees to one another, but the angle of one bushing is offset about 15 degrees from the axis of the drop link. This is intended to accomodate the geometry of the suspension, probably at the laden ride height.

I think that given that the shackle on the control arm is outboard of the plane of the ARB, the "bent" one should go at the top with the drop link angling toward the wheel hub. See the attached silhouette to see what I mean.