[s-cars] Stabilizer/Sway bar/Anti-roll bar nuts - having problems undoing

[Djdawson2@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/1/2005 11:03:50 AM Mountain Standard Time,  
paul at heneghan.co.uk writes:

I'm  trying to replace the front stabilizer outer mounting bushes.  I  believe
I have to remove the stabilizer completely (with the weight on  the
wheels?!!).  So, I'm trying to undo the inner mountings at the  moment, and
I'm having difficulty stopping the bolts from turning as they  are deeply
recessed in the sub frame.  There's not much space above  the sub frame which
is making things really  difficult.



Oddly enough, I just went through this routine over the weekend, installing  
an S6+ front swaybar.
 
You must remove the inner mounts first.  Do this all while your car is  up on 
jack stands... high enough to give you plenty of room to work.  Put  your 
jack stands under the jack points just rear of the front wheels... they'll  be 
out of your way.
 
The inner mounts... the front bolt heads are accessible from the top with a  
wrench.  The rear bolts are recessed, but can be held using a 19mm swivel  
socket, attached to a short 3/8 extension.  Get the socket and the  extension on 
the bolt head first, and then get your ratchet in there.  It's  tight, but 
doable.
 
You'll need to unbolt (2 10mm head screws) the wiring tube that runs  
parallel to the center of the swaybar, to give the swaybar room to move down  from 
the subframe.
 
After you've removed the center mounts... remove the 24mm nuts on each end  
of the bar.
 
The bar is more or less wedged into position.  With the car off the  ground, 
the control arms are pivoting inboard, shortening the distance between  the 
two end mount points.  You need to take a jack and place it under one  of the 
control arms at the swaybar mount point.  Jacking it up will  compress the 
suspension on that side... and most importantly, move the control  arm up through 
its arc... increasing the distance between the end mount  points.  When that 
distance is increased, you'll be able to pull the  bar free.
 
I'd like to say that install is the reverse of removal... but it isn't fun  
getting the end bushings back in place... and once you do, the center  of the 
bar needs to be jacked into position for remount of the inner  brackets.
 
I would suggest replacing those inner bushings as well... no point in  having 
to do this twice!
 
Good luck,
Dave