quattzilla

Under the car changing my oil last week I discovered that the sway bar link bolt on the passenger side was gone.

On the forum I've seen instances of the nut needing tightened up from time to time, but not the bolt having come out and disappeared.

Couple of quick questions for those who may have prior experience:

Is the replacement a 3/8 bolt and lock nut?

When I replace, does the suspension need to be under load?

Redneck Truck

It will be tough to get that bolt in without the suspension under load, so go ahead and tighten it while you're down there. You should have plenty of room under the car unless you're absolutely slammed.

The bolt is a 10mm x ~60mm, not sure on thread pitch but since it's a nut and bolt, it shouldn't matter.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Yes...you'll have to load that side with a jackstand under the LCA to get the bolt in anyway. The purpose of loading the suspension is to tighten the bolt on the pressed-in bushing at the middle of the suspension movement.

So after you get the new bolt in and the nut started, then jack up the other side of the car and put the other side on a jackstand and even out the load side to side. If you're **** you can do the same on the rear but I don't.

And BTW, I think it's a metric bolt..I wouldn't put a US bolt in there. Just get the right one from the dealer and torque it properly. While you're under there torque them all (except the ones that are one-time angle tightened!). Things get loose under there.

Redneck Truck

Jacking the car up by the control arm is a terrible idea. Either tighten the bolt with the car on the ground or on ramps. Either way, do it with the weight on the front wheels.

The same goes for anything that is loose; do not tighten it with the suspension hanging.

quattzilla

Thanks gents!

Replacement from ECS Tuning is on the way. And I'll put it in with the car up on ramps.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Well, the jackstand is actually right under the front control arm ball joint. I would hope no one is foolish enough to use the middle of an aluminum lower control arm to jack up a car....

SloopJohnB@mac.com

You MAY be able to put it in with the car on ramps, but in my experience you often have to juggle one side of the car up or down a little to get the holes to line up between the link and the swaybar so the bolt will go in both.

IF they line up with the car on ramps, more power to you. However, if you need to juggle the weight of the car to get the swaybar to line up, I suggest a jackstand under the lower control arm baljoint and then using a floor jack to move the car up/down to get the swaybar to line up. Two jackstands, one under the other side and the one on the side you're fooling with, always worked for me.

When you have the second bolt in there and hand tightened, let the weight of the car down on both jackstands, compressing the suspension and locating the neutral load on the swaybar link bushing. Then tighten/torque the bolt.

IIRC I had to remove the bellypan to work on the swaybar link/bolt, YMMV. If you do remove the bellypan, might as well remove the swaybar bushings and lubricate them if you've never done it. Takes maybe a minute per bushing with an air wrench. Retorque the swaybar bushing nuts--another 15 seconds.

quattzilla

Very good to know. I think that I'll most definitely lubricate the swaybar bushings and re-torque the bushing nuts while I'm down there.

Another thing that I had previously forgotten to ask.....

I'm not sure how long the bolt has been missing. Could have been a few days or few months. However I hadn't noticed any major change in driveability.

So my question is, with the new bolt not yet arrived, and me having a 400 mile roundtrip excursion planned for the next day or so, is it likely that I'd experience any problems driving the car "as is"?

For this trip, I'd MUCH rather take the S6. However if there's any possibility that it might be dangerous, then I wouldn't take any chances. Any thoughts on whether or not I'd experience any difficulties on the trip, or should I just take the wife's car?

Thanks again,
~TB

Redneck Truck

Take the audi. It'll be fine. Be familiar with how it behaves in corners, as you'll have more slop and the car may be a bit more inclined to rotate in hard turns. My bet is you don't see a difference though.

quattzilla

GRACIAS!!

This trip will be a helluva lot more enjoyable with the S6.