Holy Crap! Ive been emailed a tracking number!!! I just hope they get it right this time..no one ever returned any of my emails.
Well, I got mine, and installed the 1 1/8" front bar, it fits well, but i had to cut down the end link spacers, and extend the threads on the bolts. I'll take it for a ride tomorrow.
I really missed the boat on this one. I need both front and rear bars to go with my tcp coil-overs. Might have been a good thing I missed out with all the issues from Addco. Good luck guys.
I just finished installing bar #2. David: My assembly went much the same as yours. I ended up using a bolt ¼ longer than you, mainly because that was what I had laying around. I did not need to use a jamb nut but did use the 1” spacer. I could not get the bushings to tighten in the large hole that TC has in their lower arm. I had to grind the lip off the bushing and make them flat. I had clearance issues with the TC strut rod. I notched the slot in the bushing clamp as well as the frame mount. This allowed me to move the bar back about 1/4”. It clears on the right side but I get a very slight contact on the left, just enough to slightly rub a piece of tape. The car does not run. So, I could not test drive. I rocked the suspension as much as I could but the 500# springs are pretty stiff. I have the Shelby drop. I don’t know if this effected anything. Chris: I used the second hole and did not see any issues with it striking the coil over. I hope that does not change once I get her back on the road. I’m going to hang on to bar #3 until I know for sure this will work. The 1 1/8 bar is a monster compared to the stock 5/8 unit. The coating on these bars definitely sucks. Since I did not think the bar worked, I had thrown it in the scrap heap with its bubble wrap still on it. When I pulled it out, I noticed it started to rust. Micah
Hey Micah: Glad you got the second bar installed, forgot that you had TC kit, as you know, mine was installed on OEM control arms. Would using a shorter bolt and/or spacer give you better clearance? You did the same mods on the frame mount as Chris, since he has the same TC set up as yourself. How do the end links sit on your car now, are they in verticle position or tilted slightly backwards?? Too bad about the endlink bushings not fitting properly in TC arms, but again they where designed for OEM type arms, you would probably still have to use the same if you install the 3rd bar. Would be interesting to see how that would fit using the TC arms. Dave B. posted that he installed in his Mav, I believe he still has OEM type control arms and fitment seemed OK? Good luck with the rest of your project! David
David, Shorter or longer bolts probably would not help. When they designed this, I think they only thought about the center line of the bar and did not factor in that the added diameter would bring the bar closer to things, like the strut rod. Compounding the problem, the TC strut rod is also larger in diameter. Longer or shorter bolts appear to just move the angle of the bar relative to the strut. Contact is still probably going to happen but at a different spot. The position of the bar is set by the brackets. By slotting the brackets, I was able to bring the bar back and gain some clearance between the bar and the strut. I added a 1/8 piece of steel to the floor of the frame mount just to give it some added strength. I wish I could have welded this to the frame. Using the middle hole, I was able to keep it vertical. There is a bit of preload on the bushings but I needed to keep them locked in place on the lower arm and I wanted to have as much thread as possible in the heim joint. If it becomes a problem, I can reduce the spacer and add a jam nut to keep tension on the bushings.
Fitment looks good there Micah, I think with the 3rd bar's regular end link you would have more problems with your TC set up. With those stiff springs suspension travel should be fairly limited so not to interfere too much with the bar.
I went with an early Mustang bar but not sure how well it would work with the CPP parts. I had it mocked up and ran into a couple issues that I was working through before it had to go to storage when we moved. I added on to the front of the frame mount for the bar to account for the added length and was going to run my strut rods to the bottom of the control arms due to interference at full compression. I think I have the strut rod issue handled by getting drop spindles, I like my cars low and without those I had the interference. Last issue to work out is the difference in width but that should be pretty easy to handle. I'd love to share images but I'm still a ways out from dragging it home. I think I took some when I was deep into it, if I did I will post them up.
Here are some old images from when I started this process. One picture shows the interference with the suspension close to full compression and another showing the difference with the strut rod under the arm at full compression. There is also one showing how far I moved it forward at the frame mount (before I extended the mounting pad).
In normal operation, with a spring installed, I don't think the suspension would go high enough for the bar to hit the frame. I'll have to take a look at mine today but I don't remember anything being close to the stock bar when I reinstalled it. Everything seemed pretty normal. Here's a pic of the passenger side lower control arm. The hole in the plate is where the sway bar mounts. I'd prefer to install a Maverick specific bar but not dead set on it. I figure if I install a wider, longer Mustang bar I could just drill another hole outboard and slightly in front of that hole. Moving the front brackets would be easy since there's just a flat plate there now. Just have to make sure there would be no interference at the front of the bar. There's a place on evilBay that sells 1" Mustang bars for $142.
