Can anyone tell me how to reinstall the front roll bar (sway bar) on a SD1? Specifically I am wondering whether it is necessary to set the car down on it's front wheels in order to reinstall the sway bar. The shop manual indicates it can be done with the front end on jack stands but I find that I cannot get the bar back into it's mounting positions. The ends of the bar come no where near the openings in the lower control arms even with the front of the bar disconnected from the frame mountings.

Incidently, I received the replacement upper strut bearing from Rimmer
( see my previous post) and find that it is a Chinese made piece. It fits
and looks just like the original however.

Glenn Los Angeles, California

Generally the shop manual fails to mention the bar is under tention (well done not to rip your hand open,I got a nice scar finding that one out),anyway,I found the best way to refit the anti roll bar was to fit one of the lower track control arms, fit the front roll bar mounts, fit the outer side of the other control arm and the bar in place...then (easier with an assistant,though possable on your own) push the hub in until the inner section of the control arm locates. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your idea. It sure sounds as if some real muscle power would be needed to push that hub in far enough to get the bolt back in that goes through the control arm bush. I may have to use what's called a "come a long" here in the states. It's a ratchet device with cables that can be used to pull heavy loads.

Thank you again

Thanks for the idea, Ramon. This afternoon I managed to get the thing reinstalled using the technique described by the first person to respond to my query. However, it was definitely necessary to use my "come-a-long" in order to pull the hub in far enough so that I could reinstall the bolt through the bush in the lower control arm. Incidently, I notice that the shop manual does not give the torque tightness for the bolt that goes through the lower control arm bushing. I don't see that spec in either the series 1 or 2 shop manual. Any idea of what that spec might be? Also, the shop manual says the torque tightness for the nuts on the end of the roll bar should be 71 foot pounds. However,I believe this is much too tight for Rimmer's poly bush replacements for the original rubber types. Any idea also for what the correct torque tightness should be for the poly's ?

Thanks!
Glenn

Glad you got it sorted mate,I generally manage most cars on my own as my rear lane has walls each side(put your back to the wall and put your leg to the hub) I only use an assistant to put the bolt in as its hard work to do that and maintain pressure(though still possible).I can't help with torque tightness though as I generally have a 'feel' from years of working in a garage,so don't attempt to guess new figures to non-standard parts.


Best of luck ,
Gareth.

Thank you Gareth for the comments. I can envision you with your feet on the hub and back to the wall pushing in while someone else struggles to get the lower bolt through the hole!!! It takes a bit to get the holes lined up so that the bolt will slide through also. Anyway, I managed to get everything back together. I know what you mean by the "feel" of things also. I am pretty good at judging mechanical feel also but still it's always nice to have a torque wrench setting.

Again, thank you for your help

Glenn

I just used brute force to force the damn ARB back into its holes when the arms were in place!