Sway Bar Links and Rear Shocks

driller

El Presidente
Staff member
I took a little time this weekend to get a couple past due projects done on the '93. Replace the sway bar links in the rear and install new rear shocks and mounts. I figured I'd take some pics and make a post that may help someone in the future.

This is one of the original sway bar links.
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I'm thinking it needed replaced...
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The new replacement links were purchased from SCP and are meant for lowered vehicles. The shorter link keeps the sway bar in a more horizontal position. Here is a comparison...
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I added some washers to make it about a quarter inch longer...
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Next, onto replacing the tired old rear shocks. With 130K+ miles on them, I figure they're due.
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Being a '93 with adjustable damping shocks, the removal is a bit more than that usually encountered. Here is a pic of the top of the shock assembly inside the trunk...
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You depress the tabs on the side of the actuator and simply lift it off the top.
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Next you remove the nut and bracket. Then it's a simple matter of removing the two nuts holding the isolator mount to the body of the car. No need to remover the nut from the stem of the shock.
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Here is a comparison of the Bilstein shocks I chose to replace them with and the new top mount.
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Here's what it looks like installed.
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The test ride confirmed the results. The ride was much more controlled with a hint of harshness over rough roads. It handles the twists and turns with much more confidence now. Between the bracework and these new additions, I think the suspension is coming along nicely. Next up on the list is replacing the rear control arm bushings.

Anyone need a pair of used '93 original rear shocks? :rolleyes:
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They're still functional with no apparent defects but they are much softer than the Bilsteins that replaced them.
 
Nice write up !!

JP those rotors are scary.... my old ones cracked because of faulty cross drilling (pun) haha. Look how close the holes are to the edge of the rotor!!!

Keep an eye on them.

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Driller nice write up, where did you get those bushing for the top of the Blistein shocks? Reason I ask is I have a set and need some.
 
I'll have to hunt up the info on the top mount. It's been a long time since I got this stuff and just now got around to installing it. :eek:

As far as the rotors... I seen that before. I don't have any issues{knock on wood}. I think these are KVR cross-drilled rotors. What brand was yours? You really have to watch stuff now with everyone importing everything in site from China. I'd be especially wary of cheap rotors off ebay.
 
Reason I asked was I bought a set off of SCP but they have no chance of fitting in the mounts for the new shocks so I a little lost as to what to do next, do I try to get another set or should I just look for a set for a Cobra since the stock rubber bushings that were on the shocks fit the mounts perfectly.
 
The bushings I was told to use with the new mounts and Bilstein shocks was the Monroe Sensa-Trac 5965 bushings.
 
I put in the sensa-trac shocks mentioned on mine. When buying those, you need to get the 89-up T-bird v8 shocks. You likely want the bushings for that particular shock.

Looks like the bilstiens have a different threaded rod size at the top. The sensa-trac threaded bushing rod is the same as the original. However, the sensa-trac bushing compression nut is noticebly larger, like the bilstien. I used the original bushing compression nut, with the new bushings on the shock mount. This way the bushing and compression nut still fit through the large center hole in the sheetmetal.

The bilstiens apparently require mounting the bushings directly to the sheetmeal (because the compression nut will not fit through the hole in the sheetmetal), in addition to the two shock mount bolts.
 
Is there such a thing as poly mount bushings for the rear shocks?

You can see how squished the rubber ones were after the install.
 
Well thats what I bought from SCP, but after getting them and the shock mount together, there is no way for those bushings to fit in the mounts.
 
omg is it annoying, can I temporarily wrap it for one more drive to work, then fix it on thursday?
 
I wouldn't worry about wrapping, however I do suggest hitting those rusty bolts with some PB Blaster TODAY - so they'll be ready to remove Thursday.
 
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