Drop arms hitting on sway bar mount bracket bolt. Any fixes?

G'day guys,
I have recently fitted a set of 4" drop arms from superior and I just noticed that its bashing the heads off the front lower sway bar bracket on the chassis, and i havent even flexed the ol' girl up yet?! And considering i lashed out on these arms with the intention of getting my lift engineered this is a bit of a setback. I DO NOT want to get rid of the mounts as I'll be refitting the sway bars, and an engineer will laugh at my attempt for police immunity if he sees that rubbish.

Now does anybody have a fix, ideas, seen it before, any other information?

Cheers in advance.

Got any pics mate?

You are talking about the brackets on the outside of the chassis where the pins go to?

Can you post some pics please when you get a chance

I have no idea how to post pictures. I'll see if I can figure that out. Until then, yeah newby the brackets on the outside of the chassis where the pins go. The bottom front bolt its bashing. Considering that it hasnt even been flexed up it will hit on the back one too. Its already put a small gouge on the drivers side arm so I'll be rippin the bolts out for now but I really need a permanent fix for legal reasons. If it wasn't for that I'd happily just rip em out.

Go back to superior as they are supposed to be engineered aren't they?

I don't even know how that possible? Pic would be great.

the easiest way to posting a pic is, just next to where you post a comment click the "go advanced" button/
scroll down till you see the "mannage attatchments" button.
on the pop up select "add photo" and find your photo from file on your computer and click done.

this is not the only way but will get you started.

Kelvinator,

Are you using extended swaybar links, or are you using the standard links?

Is it hitting on both sides or just 1.
If it is hitting on both are there any other issues with steering?

Maybe a adjustable Panhard help ( if hit on a single side ).
A recessed head bolt ?

All steering is good. Both sides are hitting. Panhard is adjustable and adjusted correctly. Nothing is bent or out of shape. All arms are new or near new solid chromoly and all adjustable. There is about 3-4 mill tolerance either side between the bolts and the radius arm.

I will upload photos soon, I currently have no digital camera of any form.

There are no sway bars attached at current happygu, which does not affect this issue. Yeah liftlid, superior engineered apparently, not so sure about that now.

I think that there has not been enough of a clearance margin manufactured into the arms to allow for bush deflection and the angular up-travel associated with drivers side flex, Factory arms are much slimmer. Also when you compress both front springs your diff shifts across. These arms are supposed to be designed with getting a lift engineered in mind, comes with engineers paperwork etc, but this obviously aint gunna to fly. I'm sure that someone else out there has to have had these issues before as these arms aren't a new thing. Only thing I can think of so far is to flex it up on the ramp and realign the diff off center sligthly so that when it angles up or across at full deflection it might not touch. Not real happy with that solution though as with such a tight gap a bit of bush deflection will still make it hit.

Cos, my partner works at United Fasteners and we are going through what i can use, but its not going to offer much more room to play.

Should you be using an extended bumpstop with the lift?

I wouldn't think so. It takes a total of around 1 inch of up travel to hit that bolt, maybe 2. That's miles off hitting even an extended bump stop. I'm not really sure on the science behind using extended bump stops for a bigger lift, I still have to measure mine up. However I do know that patrols are expected to hit the top of this mount under good flex which is why superior also offer a raised perch for extra clearance. I'm currently hitting the bottom of this bracket, a few inches off what they expect you to hit.

You may have recieved 6 inch drop arms or something, what did superior say

Well ... remove both side braket , test for a clear flex with hope to be alright ... then you can move up the braket and use long sway links ...I think can use a screw hole ( or two ) on the chasis .

Chasing some pics too mate, can you take some with your phone?

I don't have a phone due to its mid flight altercation with a tree. I will pinch one tonight though and grab some photos. For this same reason I tried to get onto somebody in the know from superior, but I'll have to wait till Monday to ring in now.

If I had received 6 inch drop arms it wouldn't matter really(for this problem, Diff pinion angle would be sh#thouse), its a side to side tolerance that's too tight, not the up and down. Arms are at roughly the height they would be if stock arms were fitted on a standard lift, as they should be with the new arms. I have checked the part number though and it matches the 4" arm.

Moving the link attachment point up wont fix my problem, I'm hitting the bolts that attach that bracket at the bottom. I'm guessing I really need photos to show you guys whats going on.

I'll attempt to draw some pictures today to show what I think is happening. But what I would really like to know is if anybody has superior arms fitted. And if they do, can they put a rule vertically across the tops of the two bolts on the front of their chassis mounted bracket, then measure the clearance between the arms and that rule.

Then measure the distance with a tape between the front of both arms, and the back of both arms. That would be great if somebody could so I could compare it to mine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kelvinator

I'll attempt to draw some pictures today to show what I think is happening. But what I would really like to know is if anybody has superior arms fitted. And if they do, can they put a rule vertically across the tops of the two bolts on the front of their chassis mounted bracket, then measure the clearance between the arms and that rule.

Then measure the distance with a tape between the front of both arms, and the back of both arms. That would be great if somebody could so I could compare it to mine.

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That's the thing?? It should be the same measurement as factory arms? That's why there is no sense in the problem? The drop arms a just the angle and position down not side ways? Is my understanding

Factory arms are thinner cast items, superior are much thicker laser cut steel with welded in bush races and welded in threaded ends, narrowing the gap between the two.

What i want to know with these measurements is if my arms have a strange offset, as in the bush outer's or threaded ends were welded to a different offset making the overall distance between the drivers side arm and the passengers side arm narrower. Or if something strange like the diff mounts are closer together than they should be. I doubt that will be the case but if it is and i don't check I'll never find the answer.

It seems a silly question to me but is there a left and right?

Instructions say to fit with the superior logo facing out. Whether there is actually any difference or this is just for advertising purposes I have no idea, there's no obvious reason why that is. But I fitted them that way anyway as per the destructions.

My be a little side offset , this can be a reason .

Maybe it would be easier to just fit the bracket that suit the arms?
http://www.superiorengineering.com.a...PSP2%20wat.jpg

http://www.superiorengineering.com.a...ducts_id=17547
if you ordered online you may have just missed seeing those.

They make these sound like its the superflex arms and the added flex not just drop arms and it sounds like its hitting one bolt on each side not the part that the sway bar links bolt through so regardless of stock or aftermarket sway bar bracket the bolt will be in the same place

Correct, those aftermarket brackets are so you don't top out on the sway bar bracket. I am hitting the bottom of where those brackets bolt onto, so those brackets would be about as useful as tits on a bull right now.

And no I still haven't gotten onto anybody from superior yet, I have sent numerous email, not one single response. Tried calling and nobody was available. I havnt spent much time trying to sort it out for a while now, just removed the brackets to revisit at a later date when I care.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kelvinator

Correct, those aftermarket brackets are so you don't top out on the sway bar bracket. I am hitting the bottom of where those brackets bolt onto, so those brackets would be about as useful as tits on a bull right now.

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The bottom 2 bolts on the brackets are socket head cap screws and are countersunk for added clearence, every bit helps!