I am almost done redoing the entire front end of my 1994 S10 Blazer 4x4 4WD 4.3L Vortec (W Engine Code). I am an oil and gas field service tech. I get sent out of town to work all of the time, so it has been a longer process doing this job.

I am trying to get the sway bar back on, but it will not fit. I have the sway bar oriented so that the ends tilt upwards. Is this the correct orientation?

If that is the correct orientation, do I need to push up on both lower control arms with jacks to get the sway bar ends back on? That seems like a fair amount of preload, but maybe not once the vehicle weight is lowered on the suspension?

I have the front end of the vehicle up on jack stands and the torsion bars are unloaded. The sway bar is mounted to the vehicle frame, but when you spin it up to the lower control arms, it doesn't even come close to aligning the end cap bolt holes to the lower control arm bolt holes.

Another quick question while I am here. I don't have a torque wrench and should probably get one. I am a little bit concerned that I may have cranked the ball joint castle nuts a little hard. I had the wrenches doubled up to get a more leverage, so that I could crank the castle nut into the right position for the cotter pin.

I weigh 160 lbs. I am not hugely strong, but I am in decent shape. Do you think I could have stripped the threads on the ball joint stud or the castle nut or are they really strong (like a grade 8 bolt)? It didn't feel like it was stripping, but I did crank it pretty hard and it kept going. It was getting really tight, so I stopped forcing it. Do you normally crank on them really hard or was I overdoing it?

Thanks to anyone who helps me out and answers my questions!

 

I looked at my Haynes manual and I think you have the orientation right. I would use the jack like you said to line it all up. You do need a torque wrench on all your suspension components. I know Auto Zone will loan out tools for no charge. You put a deposit down and you get it all back when you return the tool. Lower Ball Joint = 90 ft-lbs, Upper Ball Joint = 65 ft-lbs. My vehical is 2WD while yours is a 4WD. It looks like the main difference is Coil Springs vs torsion bar. Any auto parts store should be able to pull up the diagram. From the Haynes Manual: " Step 2: On 4WD models, disconnect the torsion bars (see Section 10) from the crossmember to allow free movement of the lower control arms. Step 3: Remove the mounting bolts from the frame and detach the stabilizer bar, bushings, and brackets. Step 4: Installation is the reverse of removal. Install the control arm nuts first, then the frame bolts. Tighten all fasteners to the torque listed in this chapter specifications. I could see how it would be difficult to line up if you did not relieve the tension in the torsion bar prior to removal. You might just have to fight it to get it all lined up while there is tension on the torsion bar. Hope this helps. Let me know how it all works out.

 

On my truck the ends should curl forward and the tie rod bolt holes with the tie rod going through them should be parallel with the ground. You have to use a jack stand under the control arms because of the tension on them. Had to do it to get my upper ball joint in.

 

The sway bar should pivot on the mounts up front. That said, a small jack may be needed to align the bolt holes to make it easier to put the end link together.

Did you grease the bushings which mount to the frame? If you did not, then you will likely end up with squeaks afterwords.

 

Yes, I did grease the bushings. I forgot to at first, but then I read the instructions and greased them up.

My bar ends do not bend forward. They bend upward or downward depending on the orientation that you install the bar. I am sure it is upward, so that is how I am going to install the bar. I have two bottle jack to push up on both control arms, so that I can pivot the bar ends in and reattach them.

 

I think the problem was that the stabilizer bar was bent. I remember the bar springing off the end caps when I released them from the control arms. Also one of the stabilizer to frame mounts was bent. Maybe the bent mount was a result of an impact that also bent the stabilizer bar?

I started the screws in the end caps of the control arms. Then I pried the stabilizer bar up, using the holes for the front of the lower control arm bolts. I had to start the stabilizer to frame rear bolts first and then start the front bolts. Once everything was started then I snugged bolts up, before going back to each of them and tightening them right up.

Unfortunately I tried the recommended method in both the Chilton and Hayne's manuals first. Using their method, I first bolted the stabilizer bar to the frame and tried to get the stabilizer bar ends into the end caps after. Using this method cross threaded and I stripped one of the threaded holes for the end caps. It was the front threaded hole, which I think does not take very much of a load. The bolt still threaded in snug and I left it at that.

I thought of 2 possible solutions for the stripped threads. I could have drilled out the hole larger, tapped it and put in a larger fastener. I also think it would be possible to get a nut on the inside of the control arm and tighten it down on the bolt. If you used a nut on the inside of the control arm, I would leave the threads to help it stay tighter, basically acting as a double nut. You could drill the hole out and put a nut on the inside, provided that you can get a nut on the bolt.

 

When the wheel is jacked up on one side only I had to put a bottle jack under the swarbar to get it lined up and get the links started.