Bar Brackets

Bar Brackets

How to Install Hotchkis Sway Bar in a Buick

A sway bar is also known as stabilizer bar, anti-sway bar, roll bar, or anti-roll bar, ARB. It is an automobile suspension device that connects opposite, meaning left/right, wheels together through short lever arms which are linked by a torsion spring. A sway bar increases the suspension's roll stiffness as in its resistance to roll in turns that is independent of its spring rate in the vertical direction.

Hotchkis sway bars enhance your car’s handling and reduce body roll. Sway bar sets include front and rear bars, greasable bushings, brackets, front end links, and a fabricated rod end link setup for the rear.

If you are tired of the roll in your Buick, better install Hotchkis sway bar. It only takes a glance to know that there is going to be big changes in the handling.

You may get away with just a front bar if it is roll reduction and handling improvement you wish to help. It is just easy and as well as economical to replace. And you must have suitable trailing arms when you add the rear bar.

The following instructions included with the bar are somewhat basic and is suitable for the simple job.

First, look carefully at the current installation. This installation can be performed without removing the wheels in the front. Remember to always use proper safety devices such as jack stands or lift jacks to properly support the vehicle and for your safety as well.

And then, remove the factory end link from the car. The center of the bar must be supported or held. Then, carefully remove front bushing bolts.

While taking note of the placement of the sway bar bushings, remove the factory bar from vehicle.

Grease the inside of the urethane 1 7/16" in sway bar bushings through the use of the included white silicone grease.

On the bar, install the urethane bushings. Make sure that you position the bushing so when the bar is installed in the vehicle, the split will face the front of the car.

Put the bracket of the bushing over the top of the bushing.

Then using the included Cap Screws on the new brackets, install the new one into the car. This step may take some manipulations depending on the year model of your Buick. But you might find it easier to slightly squeeze the brackets together in a vice in order to allow you to better align the bracket holes with the original factory holes.

Install the screws with a washer under each head using a ratchet or air impact. You just need to utilize some torque to install these bolts. Patience is a must in this step.

And then using a ratchet and wrench, install the new end links. Make sure to tighten end link nut up to the point where the end link bushing's diameter is just larger than its support washer.

Now, you have finally installed a Hotchkis sway bar into your Buick. A good determinant of a well-installed sway bar is when the car does not roll anymore.

About the Author

Evander Klum is a Business Administration graduate who hails from Alabama. He enjoys extreme sports and he is also a car racing fanatic. At present, he works as a marketing manager at an advertising agency in Cleveland.

I went up to take old lighting bar down and can't find any screws to take off the face plate-any ideas?

I can't figure out how to remove it to see behind it and know where the mounting bracket is and the power source. I've always seen a screw somewhere- but not on this 12 bulb bar.

Is there a small tensioning screw anywhere? This would look like a small hole and is commonly used on bathroom fixtures such as a towel bar. If you have this, then you need a tiny screwdriver or devise whose name I cannot remember. If no such hole is there, then I imagine that the face place prys off.

Good luck

Sweet tin Edrum