i was looking at my rear suspension today contemplating putting my rear sway bar in when i noticed something. in the progress install guide, the picture shows the aluminum spring perch on the bottom side but when i put my tein basic damper kit, they wanted me to put the perch on the topside. now the spring is in the way of the holes. i really dont want to put my perch on the bottom because tein wanted the suspension put together a certain way and i dont like to deviate from that. does anyone at all have the progress bar and the tein basic damper kit that can help me with my dilemma?

 

huh? I don't get what you mean? The RSB fits under the spring perches. Does your damper kit go under the spring perch? Any pictures? There was someone who had a T1R coilover on his car and had to modify the bottom piece which had a piece that went on the bottom of the spring perch for it to fit. Is that what you mean?

 

I think I know what you're looking at. Is it the bolt heads of the sway bar. Panducky has a modified bolt set that would help. If not I think the local hardware store might have something similar.

 

The bolt heads of the bolts that are supplied by Progress do stick out too much and does cause some creaking problems with aftermarket springs other than the Progress ones. I'm assuming that cause Tyler doesn't have any creaking problems and I'm sure that was addressed when they created their RSB and lowering springs. Maybe Progress needs to supply different kind of bolts as other lower springs have a problem clearing the bolts that are currently provided in with their RSB. All you need to do is go and buy some bolts with shallow heads or buy the ones from Panducky.

 

link for the panducky bolts? i have that creaky problem with my progress bar and skunk2 springs.

 

Upgraded Hardware Kit for Progress Rear Sway Bar

 

thanks!! that's exactly what i need!

 

damn. its hard to explain what i mean. my springs are just too big. they cover those holes on the lower strut seat.

 

i have the same issue with my skunk2's. i think with those panducky bolts it'll be alright. you could possibly even use carraige *sp?* bolts. with the pretty flat head.

 

yea i think im going to grind down one side of each of the bolts. see if that works out, if not, im going to end up reselling my sway bar. the last thing i want is to upset the seating of my rear springs.

 

you probably don't need to resell your bar just need to get different bolts. The bolts that are supplied with the bar just stick out too much that it'll hit other aftermarket springs. All you need to do is get bolts with shallower heads.

 

Here is a link to a picture of a carriage bolt.

Carriage Bolts - Bolt Products

 

I would suggest that a carriage bolt will cause another problem. The square shoulder directly under the head is actually larger than the diameter of the threaded bolt. A carriage bolt that fits through the holes in the spring perches will be way too loose in the holes of the bar flanges. There are "machine screws" (bolts) that have rounded heads and a hex socket in the top of the head to drive the bolt. In smaller screws, these heads are called "button heads". Probably called the same in larger dia. bolts.

There is an industrial fastener supply company in San Carlos on Industrial Rd.- 1st. block West of 101, South of Holly St. offramp (don't remember the name of the business, but you can find such companies in the phone book).

It may be a PITA to find the right bolts, but if you get rid of the bar you will regret it IMO. Good luck.

 

i already went to fastenal and talked to them about it. they have a bolt with a smaller head but i dont think you guys understand how much my spring is covering the holes. its practically half way over the holes. my springs are too fat! im going to try and grind them down and see if there is clearance. if not, im not going to let this bar ruin my springs.

 

One more possibility- talk to "Fastenal" again, and see if they have machine screws with flat heads that are 10mm dia. threads and the right length. Flat head fasteners are flat on top, with slotted, Phillips, or hex drive machined into the flat surface. I don't know if flat head fasteners are made in large enough dia. to fill the holes. If they are, your springs will sit on the flat surface, and the heads probably won't stick up high enough to be a problem. Whatever kind of bolt you use, it has to have some way to hold the head stationary while you torque the nuts. That's another reason why carriage bolts won't work.

 

my company orders bolts from fastenal. I went over and checked earlier to see if we had any bolts with the rounded tops but couldn't find any. I figured the carriage bolts might be a problem but I couldn't find anything similiar to it or couldn't find the correct name. I was looking around for rounded head bolts online and came up empty. The ones from panducky should work as they have a round head and have a hex slot up top.

The problem i see with the flat head machine screws are that they will still stick out as the head is tapered at a certain degree. I believe that metric screws are tapered @ 90 degrees and non-metric @ 82 degrees. At least that's what we use here for flat head screws. You could countersink the holes to make the flat head screws fit better.

I did look online and found a machine screw with an undercut flat head. I'll take a look around and see what I can find here and bring it to the mini-meet.

 

Another tack would be to use the flat head machine screws, again assuming that they are available in 10mm or 3/8" dia., and use a large counter sink, or tapered grinding point, to taper the upper side of the holes in the spring perch. All you need is to be a little smarter, and more stubborn,than the lifeless, brainless, stubborn piece of metal that doesn't want to fit. That's why we have millions of fastener designs and even more tool designs.

 

The flat head machine screws are available at 3/8" but not to sure about the 10mm. I have 6x 3/8"-16 flat head machine screws in my hand along with the matching 3/8" nylon nuts. I have them in 1.5" long. These are zinc plated steel but not too sure about the grade cause I couldn't find any info on Fastenal's site nor it it printed on the bolt itself. The manufacturer is YFS however. I also have these in Stainless Steel but I couldn't find any matching nut for it. Not too sure if it's a good idea to mix Stainless Steel bolts with Steel Nylon Nuts. I also have the countersinks for it as well.

 

Do you have Orchard Supply hardware stores in the Central Valley? You should be able to find SS Nylock nuts there. If not, steel nylocks are supplied by Progress with the bar hardware. Using them on SS bolts will be OK. If rust occurs on the nuts, the rust will eventually discolor the SS bolts, but won't weaken them. But by then who will notice with all of the dirt and oil collected on the undercarriage.

 

I thought about tapering the holes and get some bolts to make it flush but that would weaken a part of the suspension that bears a large weight load and I don't want to risk that. what im going to do is cut the head of the bolt with a band saw so the head is a crescent shape. I would rather the sway bar bolts fail than have my lower spring support take a crap. ill take some pics of the step by step and let you guys know how it turns out.