Help needed: Whiteline rear sway bar install

st185rc

New member
i did this with my buddy like a week and a half ago on an ST185. I have not tried this on any other car but I'm sure it's probably very simliar anyways


Infact I'll post an indepth write up of it now, but i don't have pictures.. :(

Things you'll need:

-5mm hex socket IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL HEX KEYS WILL NOT DO THE JOB AS THEY BEND WAY TOO EASILY
-12mm socket and a socket wrench
-12mm ratchet or wrench
-four 3/8" washers

Things that came with your whiteline swaybar

-yellow bushing, grease, D brackets and the swaybar itself

Steps to success

-ok, first thing you need to do is get your car up on jackstands and take off the wheels.

-next step is to locate the endlink that is connecting the strut to the swaybar.

-use the socket and socket wrench on the nut that connects the strut to the endlink to loosen the nut. this might take quite a bit of effort there is significant rust or if there's a lot of dirt wedging the bolt in place.

-After you loosen the nut take your ratchet or wrench and take a firm grip of the nut and then put the hex socket in the center. Have a friend hold one while you torque the nut off. This takes quite a bit of patience, and if your car hasn't had the endlinks touched in a while, make sure you use some cleaning agent to clean out the hex hole. This is not a part you want to strip and having dirt packed into that hole makes it so much easier to strip if you don't clean it out first.

-there is no tension on the strut pushing down on the swaybar when I had to do this, you may have to use a rubber mallet or something to push the bolt clear from the strut.

-Do the same for the other side

-now if you've done this part, the next few steps should be super easy in comparison. unbolt the d bracket and take off the old worn out bushings on either side. the sway bar is held by it's endlinks and bushings and if done correctly, the stock swaybar should be able to move freely only restricted by it's surroundings

-snake out the swaybar and TAKE NOTE OF HOW YOU THREADED IT OUT. I took it out from the right side of the car to the left. it's the same for both LHD/RHD. How I did it was i lifted the side of the sway bar up on the right side of the car, moved it towards the front of the car and pulled it out with the left end of the swaybar pointing towards the ground and just barely skimming the dush shield on the brake disc

-unbolt the endlinks AND MARK WHICH END IS WHICH, (i just marked the end that goes to the sway bar with a piece of chalk) from the stock swaybar you should now have these things:

stock endlinks
new whiteline swaybar
new D-brackets
new bushings
new washers
bushing grease

-essentially you'll want to do everything in reverse so connect the endlinks back together with the new swaybar (remember we marked the end that connects to the swaybar?) and torque it enough so that it won't fly out.

-snake the swaybar back in the way you took it out. if i recall correctly, it goes over top of the diff and exhaust. I did this going from the left side of the car to the right. This is done before the bushings go back on because it's much less messy and much easier to get in without a piece of bushing constantly moving from side to side on the swaybar

-once you have it where it was supposed to go, grease up the yellow bushings and slip it on to where it was positioned on the stock swaybar. put the new washers where the stock bolts go and bolt the d brackets back into place.

once you've done this, rebolt the endlink to the strut and put your wheels back on!
 

ChrisD

New member
Good little write up. I can only add that even if it seems like it won't go, keep wiggling! It will go.
 

exST165

New member
Well I got it in, and it took a heck of a lot more than a little wiggling. I could feed it in no problem (after about 20 attempts I got kinda good at it) but I just couldn't rotate the bar around. Eventually a buddy just put his whole weight on the brake rotor to push the links and axel down out of the way so I could spin it around. A few tense moments as it got hung up on the CV boot, but with a little persuasion we got it through.

And that is after I dropped the rear diff down a good half an inch and cut out the ABS tray that protrudes from the backseat. It was a good 5 lbs of deadweight for the tray alone that I won't ever miss.

Don't try this operation alone, you'll need some muscle to get it that final bit.

And my nice sparkling new sway bar looks like I've beat on it with a rusty hammer, which isn't too far from the truth!

Good luck to any who attempt this!
Thomas
 

athousandleaves

New member
Can anyone elaborate a bit more clearly how to pull the stock bar out?

I took it out from the right side of the car to the left.
Do you pull it out on the left side or out on the right side?

pulled it out with the left end of the swaybar pointing towards the ground and just barely skimming the dush shield on the brake disc
Do you pull it out in front of or behind or through the arms out the bottom of the strut?

I have my car fully lowered on tein ss' and the damn thing just won't come out! (yes I have the car in the air)

maybe the 4 hours of sleep I'm running on is the problem here.
 

bmt

New member
I just put a St 185/St 205 Whiteline bar (They are the same) into my NON ABS St 165 about a week ago, if you can pull the last part of the exhaust it helps. I did, so I don't know about doing it without pulling it.

After taking the wheel off, undoing the link ends and the D shackles on the bar you're good to go. I pulled it out the right side of the car keeping it reasonably level and threading it between your lower arm and pulling it towards the rear of the car. If it snags, stop and have a look to see why and then you can turn it the right way to get it out. AS YOU PULL IT OUT TAKE NOTE OF WHICH WAY IT COMES OUT. Remember your brake lines. Now thread your new bar in THE SAME WAY. As the bar goes in go around to the other side and guide it above the lower arm and into the appropriate place. I didnt have to lean on it or force it too hard and it went in sweet. Hope this helps.
 

athousandleaves

New member
I think my main issues here were lack of sleep and I was doing it at night in my driveway with vastly insufficient light.

Got it out on the LEFT side of the car, went BEHIND the strut and it was no issue getting the other one in.

Took me all of 10 minutes once I could see what I was working with.

:withstupid:
 

st185rc

New member
Glad to see my little write up is still floating around on here from years back. Makes me smile and remember my RC...
 
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