'79 308 GTS I'm in the process of changing the rear sway bar bushings. The old drop link bushings are really misshaped. The 2nd and 3rd pics show why this is happening. The sway bar is not in the center of the drop link. Has anyone seen this before and is there a way to fix the misalignment? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A little flexi-weirdness isn't a big deal, but do you even have the right parts? A '78-'79 308S uses a completely different bushing design in that location than you've shown (although this is the euro SPC: 2 rubber cones (item 27) over a steel inner sleeve (item 28), and the drop link itself is the metal outer sleeve, not a metal inner sleeve and a metal outer sleeve like the item 26 upper bushing): Ferrari 308GTB/GTS Parts : Table 39 - REAR SUSPENSION - WISHBONES Or is your photo of just the bushings the upper bushing removed from the drop links?
The photo is just the lower bushing misalignment, I have the new drop link bushing installed at the top. The first pic is the old TOP bushings, the new bushings are the same type.
If your photos are with the suspension "drooping", take into account that the location of the mounting stud on the end of the rollbar will move fore-aft relative to the droplink when at the normal ride height -- but these aren't precision machined parts (so a little "flexing" to get things together isn't a huge sin IMO).
Thanks Steve. The car is on it's wheels. I'll just flex the drop link bushing. It just looked like something was wrong.
Eek -- then that is kind of off (but not much you can do but flex the upper bushings). Aftermarket Brackets/Bushings (Prothane?) that go around the roll bar itself (like items 22/23 in the SPC figure) might have slots in the brackets (rather than holes) for some fore-aft adjustment, or you could slot your stock brackets -- just a thought...
The horseshoe shaped bracket attaching the bar to the frame often gets bent from being jacked there. Misalignment to some degree is the norm though. That is why they use such gushy bushings on those. I find I usually need to leave everything loose to get the links over the bar end. The angles and distances vary a lot during suspension travel.
Thanks. So that is why my horseshoe brackets have flat spots. Just spent about an hour reshaping them.