front sway bar replacement question

[TDWPgtp]

hey everyone i decided to replace the front sway bar on my own, and well i got everything undone except the driverside midlink bolt closest to the rear of the car. its right next to the metal fuel lines and i cant fit a ratchet or a wrench over or around it. am i missing some trick or is this an unusual case or what? can someone help meeee

[BNaylor]

Fuel lines or brake lines? I had no problems getting the drivers side midpoint bushing off. Try using a 15mm box end wrench with the right bend and length.

Also, use penetrating oil like PBBlaster on the bolt first.

[TDWPgtp]

ya i got those off but now ive run into the problem of getting them back on. i have the GMPP sway bar which is thicker and now i cant get the bracket down over the bushing and to line up with the holes in the subframe. any tips on that?

[BNaylor]

Didn't the GMPP sway bar kit come with the right midpoint brackets or are you using the stock ones? I've heard of some issues with GMPP bars and people wound up using the polyurethane Energy Suspension (ES) brand bushings and brackets in the right size. Also, the ES bracket holes are elongated.

[TDWPgtp]

no i didnt get any new brackets...was i supposed to? we ordered it from zzp

[BNaylor]

I recall the original GMPP kits that came with front and rear bars had the right midpoint bushings and brackets so there were no install issues. Your problem now is since the sway bar is thicker the old brackets won't fit.

Check with ZZP and see if they have the right brackets.

[tblake]

Mine also came with new bushings and new endlinks if I remember right.

I have ran into the same problem before as you though. The last bolt wont thread. Rather than strip it out I went back and loosened all the other 3 midpoint bolts about 5 turns which gave me enough room to get the wrench in there and tighten it down.

As a last resourt, you could also lower the back of your subframe an inch or so. But be careful

[rubberman]

the GMPP sway bar is thicker than the stock bar so you will need new brackets and bushings.

Was you able to pull out the sway bar without trouble? Looks like i need to remove a tierod to possibly get mine out.

[TDWPgtp]

getting the stock one out was easy. it twists around and slides out, if i remember correctly. getting the GMPP one in was a little harder. what we decided to do was gently jack up the exhaust down pipe JUST A LITTLE to allow clearence for the GMPP sway bar to twist and slide in. we used a bottle jack because it was easier to get under the car and work around