R33 Front Sway Bar Swap, Diy?

[Torques]

Is it possible to change the front sway bar yourself with just a garage jack/stands or would that be rather a job

for a professional post lift and an air impact driver?

I did this kind of work before but only on MacPherson type suspension and it was always good having had the car on a lift.

Thanks ..

[GTSBoy]

I did it on a hoist last week. I had put it off until I could get it on a hoist, because doing it on stands is not as easy. I actually avoid using chassis stands on the front of Skylines because there's not really anywhere to put them where they won't cause damage. If you put them under the lower control arm inner pivots then they get in the way of doing the anti-roll bar swap.

It can be done on stands with wheels off. It's much easier on a hoist.

[krzysztof]

can be done no problem.

you will have to remove both wheels and a 2nd jack will help

[Torques]

Hi!

Thanks for that, so the hoist it is .. or is it not?

There are some things you can do relatively easy, as changing the exhaust section.

I usually use the garage jack under the front cross member or the differential on the rear to jack up the car .

Then the chassis stands with rubber adapters under the sills.

However, I actually don't trust the sills too much ..

Edited March 8, 2013 by Torques

[GTSBoy]

Yuh, even though the sills are strengthened at the jacking points, they are only really intended to work with something that looks exactly like the top of the factory jack. Otherwise you can crush the lip of the sill flat.

Chassis stands are supposed to go under chassis rails or under suspension mounting points. The problem there is that the front end of the rails under a Skyline are as soft as butter and typical stands will dent them inwards (which is defectable, would you believe??!! That's another reason why I don't like using a trolley jack under the front cross member. It's also easy to dent and I can't get a normal trolley under the GTR front bar unless it's already jacked up anyway - the cross member is too far back to get it from ground height). And as I said, if you put them under the front lower arm inner pivots it crowds the work area a bit. You can still do a bar swap that way, just not as easy as on a hoist.

By all means, do it on stands. But do it on a hoist if you have access to one.

[Torques]

Yes,

I noticed I slightly dented the cross-member despite all my efforts.

As for the Sway bars I will wait for my mechanic to do this using the hoist lift.

[Missileman]

What about ramps, will there be enough clearance for the front bar?

[GTSBoy]

I can't drive my car up onto ramps. They'd need to be 4m long to have a shallow enough slope to go under the GTR bar. Therefore I never consider them.

But assuming you can get your car up onto supports that go under the wheels....then yes, you could do it that way. That would be the same as doing it on a hoist except that you're lying down instead of standing up!! It is certainly easier to access the ends of the bar with the wheels off. But can be done with them still on.

[boostn0199]

You can do it easily on stands or on ramps wheels dont need to come off. 30min job with longest part raising the car lol.

[Torques]

How about the Sway Bar?

Isn't it under tension?

With my other cars the weight of the car had to be on the wheels, otherwise the bar would not fit ..

Edited March 12, 2013 by Torques

[GTSBoy]

Well, if the car was on a hoist or on ramps, then you'd be fine......mine was done on hoist with wheels on. If perchance you had it on stands with the wheels hanging, you might not be able to put enough force on it to get it apart/put it back together. But that wouldn't be a problem. You'd just have to put it back on the ground to put the weight back on the suspension. Sure, that would mean putting it down on blocks/ramps/whatever, but it's not a deal breaker.

[Daleo]

Doing them on ramps is a doddle, in fact I'd say on a low car, it would almost be easier & quicker to remove the front bar so you could do it this way.

I always do them on ramps as everything lines up easily.

[Torques]

Thanks .. will possibly give it a try if I am bored and my mechanic keeps hiding