Front Swaybar removal - installation DIY with pics

I am progressing slowly to put my RoW030 suspension and I want to get started with the sway bar. So I can have a test drive with the M030sway and stock suspension only, just for the hell of it. Ok I have made searches and I can't find a clear answer about front sway bar removal. couple of talk here and there but still not sure See the picture attached. I think I need to 1- remove those 3 screws in white 2- un-tight the screw in blue 3- rotate the piece in green QUESTIONS: 1/ I assume that I have to remove those 2 screws in red, but a confirmation would be great. 2/ should the car be on jack or on the ground in order for the sway bar to have no force in it -> should release the sway bar links before jacking up the car or should I do it while the car is in the air

A1-> Yes, you need to. Also, you need to loosen up the bolts on the other end of the links as well so you can rotate the links and get them out of the way. A2-> I did that up in the air like you w/o any problems. Have fun!

Thanks sounds good. I updated my picture with the torques info coming form the workshop manual can anybody confirm which is which I think: A = 1 B = 3 C = 4 D = 2 E = 5 & 6 Am I right ?

Yup you are right on, I just did the M030 about a month ago its very easy. I also did it with the car up in the air. Good luck!

I am looking at the workshop manual and it shows some M14 thread and on my car year 2003 (MkII) I don't have any 14mm bolts. As you can see I have one 16mm, one 18mm and two 15mm bolts Are the torque the same ? or they changed for MkII models ?

You spot on. I wouldn't worry about the 14mm bolt. Work with what you have. Great pics!

My front swaybar bushing (996.343.972.12) are a bit thicker than I would expect and they might require quite some force to fit flush. the part number is the same as my previous bushing, and I thought that the RoW-M030 sway abr was a little bit thicker, so I was expecting a different bushing. I checked pelican and it seems to be the right part, with the green dot and all. http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...5%29%2C%20each See the picture and the 5/8" gap between the side member and the body. Should I just tight it up and it will settle nicely or I should worry about not having the right part ? FYI the sway bar part number is 996.343.701.21

M14 means the diameter of the shank of the bolt is 14mm, nothing to do with the size of the hex head.

Oh regarding the bushing, are you sure you did not switch between the ones for the front and the ones for the rear? I think they have different sizes although it's been a while so I'm not 100% sure.

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Thanks for the input, I also thought that the M14 might not have been the socket size, it's nice to have a confirmation.

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I am pretty sure I have picked the right ones, anyways the front sway bushing have a very special shape to match the little piece of metal they fit in, so I don't think they can be mistaken. Also they match the part number from pelican. Would be great if someone could confirm how their bushing were fitting their RoW-M030 when they put them in. I bet the bushing compress over time, but I just hate to brute force things.

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I installed my x74 myself, which uses the same sway bars. It's been a while but I dont' remember forcing anything...

I decided to simply screw down everything and the bushing seems to compress nicely. I assume i am worrying too much. About the torque I decided to go with the following value (see first attachment for the number cross reference) 1 - 74 ft lb 2 - 118 ft lb 3 & 4 - 48 lb 5 - 74 ft lb I added some thread locker (blue one) on all screws I removed as it seems there was some on there before. The only one I did not remove fully is the screw #2 so I could not put thread locker back on it. and not on the first picture but the lug nuts that link the swaybar to the suspension link : 63ft lb I could not really figure out which one it was on the workshop manual, text description are sometime hard to figure out. a nice graphic would have make it so much simpler.. Anyways front sway bar done, pretty easy once you have the data and how to. The under carriage plastic was particularly easy to remove. I was a bit afraid as the plastic screw at the bottom seem fragile but they are ok. Now getting ready for the rear sway bars. again biggest pain is to find the torque for each screws.

Rear sway bar were really easy. I did not even take a picture because there is really nothing in the way, just unbolt the bushing holder, unbolt the nuts connecting to the suspension link and they come off in a minute. For torque -> 17ft lb on the bushings holder aka 'stabilizer to carrier side section' per manual -> 35ft lb on the nut connecting the swaybar to the suspension link 'stabilizer mount to stabilizer and spring strut' per manual I have to say that I added a little bit more than 17ft lb on the bushing holder as 17 seems really low, I still kept it pretty low torqued. 35ft lb on the lug nuts on the suspension links seems to be good amount so I kept it there at 35ft lb.

Good write up, not as bad as I thought it would be. I put mine on ramps instead of jack stands, otherwise the same install. Thanks again.

So all the bolt that were pulled to do the job was reused? did not need to replace them?

Always good to replace bolts but it's not required for this job.

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Thanks for the write up, i'm going to be replacing my caster/control arms soon so I needed the torque specs as the manual isn't very clear on the values for each as its all text rather than images. These are what i'm replacing: one in the front, one in the back (part is the same L+R/F+R) Does anyone know the torque value of the bolt in red: Hope Pelican Parts don't mind me using their image as its a good one! I'm planning on replacing all the bolts too.

Just to confirm, is this (roughly, sorry!) edited diagram correct?

Anyone have any input on confirming the diagram above? Genuine replacement control/thrust arms arrived this week and would like to put them in this weekend

I have made this diagram myself and tracked the car a couple times after the change and up to these day everything is still tight, it's been a couple years now so I would say these value are correct read my later post I think I added "About the torque I decided to go with the following value (see first attachment for the number cross reference) 1 - 74 ft lb 2 - 118 ft lb 3 & 4 - 48 lb 5 - 74 ft lb I added some thread locker (blue one) on all screws I removed as it seems there was some on there before. The only one I did not remove fully is the screw #2 so I could not put thread locker back on it. and not on the first picture but the lug nuts that link the swaybar to the suspension link : 63ft lb" It is a pretty easy and fun DIY, but I did not change the caster control arm. If you do, keep in mind that the bushing in the main control arm, is known to weaken over time, so if you do the work, you may want to think about going the extra mile and replace that one. It is certainly a big pain to do but steering feedback would certainly be greatly improved. tough choice.

Thanks for that! It is a tough choice but seeing that the caster arms are more straight forward I might stick to those for now. If it was the coffin arm then it would be an easier decision.

Also considering some bilstein PSS10s at some point as well

Great thread. Search is great! Just want to confirm this is applicable for both 987.1 and .2's. I have a .2 and it looks just a little different. It could be the angle of the picture. Thanks!