[Guest]

Just wanted to post a reminder to check those bolts regularly on the aftermarket sway bars. Last night while under the car, I found three of the bolts loose enough to turn by hand. That Herb Adams bar works a lot better when the bolts are torqued propperly.

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1996 Impala SS
3.73 gears, Dynotech DS, S-10 TC, FLP headers, SLP exaust, GMPP 1.6 RR's with Crane springs, F-Body MAF, HPP3 w/o tuning, LT4 ESC, Fairbanks HD servo, Amsoil tranny fluid, TB bypass, air foil, sewer pipe intake w/ 1LE elbow, Moroso Blue Max ignition wires, Accell shorty platinum spark plugs, Herb Adams front and rear, Hotchkis uppers and lowers, Eibach springs, ES body mounts, larger 5/8" ball joints, ES front control arm bushings, Buick steering damper, Russel braided brake lines, combi brake mod, PF brake pads

 

[Guest]

What is the torque lbs. on the HA rear sway bar? I think I just torqued mine to "tight as hell" pounds of torque.

SAImpalaSS

 

[Guest]

You could use a little blue Loctite on them as well.

Mike

 

[Guest]

I originally torqued them to the "tight as hell" specification as well as used blue Loctite and they still loosened up.

I will just check them frequently.

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1996 Impala SS
3.73 gears, Dynotech DS, S-10 TC, FLP headers, SLP exaust, GMPP 1.6 RR's with Crane springs, F-Body MAF, HPP3 w/o tuning, LT4 ESC, Fairbanks HD servo, Amsoil tranny fluid, TB bypass, air foil, sewer pipe intake w/ 1LE elbow, Moroso Blue Max ignition wires, Accell shorty platinum spark plugs, Herb Adams front and rear, Hotchkis uppers and lowers, Eibach springs, ES body mounts, larger 5/8" ball joints, ES front control arm bushings, Buick steering damper, Russel braided brake lines, combi brake mod, PF brake pads

 

[Guest]

Maybe red Loctite, then. Although I hesitate to use that near the gas tank.

Mike

 

[Guest]

can someone explain to me the technical difference between blue & red loctite, and why red would be bad near gas tank?

 

[Guest]

+
Red holds better than blue, but almost always requires heat to remove. Heat + fuel tank = lots of attention from FD.

I used stainless steel bolts and double nutted them. Still check them frequently, but no problems now.

Terry

 

[Guest]

Yeah, you could get a lot of Black Smoke, White Smoke.

Mike

 

[Guest]

That's a thought! Maybe I will double nut them.

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1996 Impala SS
3.73 gears, Dynotech DS, S-10 TC, FLP headers, SLP exaust, GMPP 1.6 RR's with Crane springs, F-Body MAF, HPP3 w/o tuning, LT4 ESC, Fairbanks HD servo, Amsoil tranny fluid, TB bypass, air foil, sewer pipe intake w/ 1LE elbow, Moroso Blue Max ignition wires, Accell shorty platinum spark plugs, Herb Adams front and rear, Hotchkis uppers and lowers, Eibach springs, ES body mounts, larger 5/8" ball joints, ES front control arm bushings, Buick steering damper, Russel braided brake lines, combi brake mod, PF brake pads

 

[Guest]

If you use a GM bolt made for this application I would think it would work fine without any extra work. As I am finding out the stock control arm bolts do not turn very well on purpose. I have brand new bolts and they turn harder then the ones I took out. However they DO turn which is more then the ones I had to cut off did. They are the correct bolt/nut combos but still are tight to turn. The sway bar bolts seem to be the same style bolts. All bets are off if you got some at the hardware store or are reusing old hardware.

Warning about the SS hardware. Due to the different tempering etc to make a stainless bolt stainless they generally are not as strong as a tempered bolt of the same size.
However my sway bar bolts did not look like they were a hard grade or anything so maybe it is not an issue. (Other then the SS hardware should not corrode through like the bolts I took off my sway bar which were corroded past the threads on the bolt. )
However being a dissimular metal then the frame the SS hardware may speed up the corrosion of the frame where it touches due to electrical currents between dissimular metals.


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My '94 Ex MI State 9c1 Caprice moves a little faster then it did when in service.
With engine mods of a SRI Stage one (Looking to upgrade to SSRI Email if you can help with clear ducts.), Torque Master Spark plugs, Magnecor 8.5mm Racing wires, Hypertech Power Stat, Cat and resonator delete, Rhino Turbo Mufflers, and some basic PCM programming via LT1 Edit.
The rear end is held in place via J&M extended (And adjustable) control arms.
The power gets to the pavement through a set of stock Impala SS rims and tires.
Fastest time to date is 14.98 @94 MPH.

 

[Guest]

I am not running the original SS hardware with the Herb Adams bar and Hotchkis control arms. I don't even think it's an option.

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1996 Impala SS
3.73 gears, Dynotech DS, S-10 TC, FLP headers, SLP exaust, GMPP 1.6 RR's with Crane springs, F-Body MAF, HPP3 w/o tuning, LT4 ESC, Fairbanks HD servo, Amsoil tranny fluid, TB bypass, air foil, sewer pipe intake w/ 1LE elbow, Moroso Blue Max ignition wires, Accell shorty platinum spark plugs, Herb Adams front and rear, Hotchkis uppers and lowers, Eibach springs, ES body mounts, larger 5/8" ball joints, ES front control arm bushings, Buick steering damper, Russel braided brake lines, combi brake mod, PF brake pads

 

[Guest]

Elixir raises a good point about Stainless hardware. It generally has poor cold strength qualities as compared to ferris fasteners. The bolts I purchased are rated grade 8, according to the fastener and packaging. The LCA looks like it will give way long before the fasteners anyway. All the more reason to watch them bolts.

Terry

[This message has been edited by Terry McManmon (edited April 05, 2001).]

 

[Guest]

Hey Guys,

How's about a good 'ole set of lockwashers + Blue Loctite on them thar bolts?

Just a thought...

Chris Mallory - '96 DCM - SSRI, MAF screen delete, 3.73's, HPPIII, 160 T-stat, Tri-Y headers, R/T 2.5" hi-flow cats, Dynomax Ultraflows & catback exhaust, S-10 TC, T/B bypass & Airfoil, LT-4 ESC module, 1.6 Roller rockers, Crane 104227 cam and 10309 springs, Metco AFPR w/ gauge, BFG 275/40 DR's, HO rear /F-body front swaybars, body bushings - more to come!
Best 1/4 mile time: [email protected] mph - fully loaded @ 4440 lbs.
E-mail [email protected]
Webpage http://web.triton.net/csm1/index.htm

 

[Guest]

Hey Guys,

How's about a good 'ole set of lockwashers + Blue Loctite on them thar bolts?

Just a thought...

BTW, I torqued mine to tight as hell+ and checked them the other day, still tight as hell

Chris Mallory - '96 DCM - SSRI, MAF screen delete, 3.73's, HPPIII, 160 T-stat, Tri-Y headers, R/T 2.5" hi-flow cats, Dynomax Ultraflows & catback exhaust, S-10 TC, T/B bypass & Airfoil, LT-4 ESC module, 1.6 Roller rockers, Crane 104227 cam and 10309 springs, Metco AFPR w/ gauge, BFG 275/40 DR's, HO rear /F-body front swaybars, body bushings - more to come!
Best 1/4 mile time: [email protected] mph - fully loaded @ 4440 lbs.
E-mail [email protected]
Webpage http://web.triton.net/csm1/index.htm

 

[Guest]

Whoops the dreaded double post - I tried to cancel and add more after I hit the send button - well the good part is you get to see my car twice

 

[Guest]

For those of us in the aviation industry, there is always .031" safety wire. Ive seen the tooling to drill the bolt heads and nuts

 

[Guest]

I had the jingling from the sway bar bolts and took care of it the first time with double nuts. When I installed the GW LCAs, I used Grade 8 bolts and nylock nuts - hasn't loosened yet...

On anotheer, related topic, I have been losing the front sway bar link bolts due to loosening. Red Loctite went on them 2 weeks ago, if that doesn't do it the green Loctite comes out.

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Gene, 96 DGGM

[This message has been edited by SSpiffy (edited April 09, 2001).]

 

[Guest]

Sorry, double post; evidently "unable to locate file server" was a lie.

Doug

[This message has been edited by Doug Wood (edited April 09, 2001).]

 

[Guest]

Sorry, double post. Evidently "unable to locate file server" was a lie.

Doug

[This message has been edited by Doug Wood (edited April 09, 2001).]

 

[Guest]

SSpiffy : I used the steel lockwashers (and Grade 8 bolts) on my GW arms when I installed last week. No problems so far, but there is enough thread left that I'll probably double-nut them just to be sure.

On the endlinks, the Addco ones I have on the car now (after one of the GM F-body ones loosened up and fell off!) have nylon lockwashers built into the nut. Hasn't loosened at all.

I'll make an observation here : I had all kindsa problems with the rear swaybar bolts loosening up when I had boxed stock arms (as in, I had to go under the car and retighten every few months). Once I went to the stiffer Hotchkis arms and got the bolts torqued down properly, I never again had a problem with the bolts loosening. I honestly think that a good part of "why" the bolts were loosening had to do with the deflection inherent even in boxed stock arms (let alone "untouched" stock arms).

Ed