I was installing my Strano adjustable rear sway bar this afternoon when I discovered something that does not look right at all. When I removed the fasteners that hold the sway bar to the axle near the bottom shock mount, I pulled this out:
The fat part is the top and the mangled part is the bottom, the curve to the left points to the outside of the car. This particular piece is on the driver's side, but the passenger side has the exact same part but less mangled.
Here is a close up of the bottom part:
From everything else I can see on the internet, the sway bar should mount to a bracket that is an extension of the axle, right where the bottom of the shock sits.
Like this (THIS BOTTOM PHOTO IS NOT MY CAR):
In my case, each side has one of these 'brackets' that lays on the area near the shock mount and accepts the bolts and nuts that go through sway bar bushing bracket and secure the OEM sway bar. The area of my axles beneath the bottom of the shock does not have a second hole for the bolt to go through to the bottom hole of the sway bar bushing bracket. Instead, on both driver and passenger side, I have one of the fabbed brackets that lays on the axles and then bolts to the bushing bracket.
I bought the car with 2,000 miles on it.
Does anyone know why the previous owner would've modified this area as such. Surely this cant be OEM?
The fat part is the top and the mangled part is the bottom, the curve to the left points to the outside of the car. This particular piece is on the driver's side, but the passenger side has the exact same part but less mangled.
Here is a close up of the bottom part:
From everything else I can see on the internet, the sway bar should mount to a bracket that is an extension of the axle, right where the bottom of the shock sits.
Like this (THIS BOTTOM PHOTO IS NOT MY CAR):
In my case, each side has one of these 'brackets' that lays on the area near the shock mount and accepts the bolts and nuts that go through sway bar bushing bracket and secure the OEM sway bar. The area of my axles beneath the bottom of the shock does not have a second hole for the bolt to go through to the bottom hole of the sway bar bushing bracket. Instead, on both driver and passenger side, I have one of the fabbed brackets that lays on the axles and then bolts to the bushing bracket.
I bought the car with 2,000 miles on it.
Does anyone know why the previous owner would've modified this area as such. Surely this cant be OEM?