I've done sway-bars with an assistant a few times, and witness those who get paid (Webb) to do it; removing the second shock just gives you more room to work, and doesn't add much time, I'm not in a position to say its easier, but for (remembering off the top of my head so approximate) 5 bolts worth of work it does hurt anything ethier.

 

HELP!
agranger and outmotoring, are you sure the rear strut tower bolts (13mm) are to be torqued to 86 nm! I did this and seemed to have over torqued one! Now what??? I did some searching in this forum and found the torque might be 56 nm for these bolts. If this is true, agranger please update your video (it was great by the way) and outmotoring please update your online instructions.

Well, what are my options for this appears to be stripped rear strut tower bolt?

Thanks, Mike

 

Does anyone have a good starting point for the shock length during the install? I am looking for a ball park number to set the coilovers to before getting into fine tuning the ride height. I will be using the M7 coilovers with H-Sport camber plates and want to start at a similar ride height to the current setup, h-sport springs with stock struts. Thanks for the help

 

I'm sort of in your same boat. One of my sub-frame bolts got stripped, possibly because of an over-torque. My local MINI guru mechanic thinks he can pull it and get the hole cleaned up. However, he won't know until he actually trys. I went ahead and purchased the replacement bolt, just in case. :fingers crossed:

I'm upgrading my sway bar soon, but because of this issue, it'll have to be done by a professional mechanic instead of me.

Good luck with fixing your bolt problem.

 

This is a complete **** post. I found the video very helpful and will definitely watch it again before we do this upgrade along with Hsports. Onasled, by all means, I will be happy to watch an entirely factual, well lit production of this install when you get it done and uploaded.

TJM

 

Here's another photo version http://www.lonestarminiclub.com/foru...read.php?t=415

 

Excellent effort to help other DIYers. Thanks!

 

Be careful with the shock tower bolts. I tried torqueing them to teh book spec (I can't remember the number now) and sheared one off. Spending an hour and a half with a drill bit and an easy-out to get your car back toeghther is not the funnest thing in the world, I can tell you. Luckily, I did it at a local work day so I had a few other MINI people to comisserate with. I think I read somewhere that the bolts might be designed for one time use, so to be safe, I would recommend purchasing a new set.

 

I got around to installing an Alta 22mm rear sway bar today... Took 3 hours, of which 2 were working and 1 was sitting in front of a fan drinking water... It was 97 today with a heat index of 110, but hey, I was having fun... The threads & videos on NAM made it a straight forward exercise without any guess work...

I took the tops of both rear shocks loose and rotated them toward the rear of the car are far as I could... This gave me enough wiggle room to get the old bar out and the new bar in once I dropped the sub-frame...

After getting the swap done I took it out for a spin and ran through some twisties... What a difference just a rear bar swap makes... It's like a new car that is on rails through the turns... I was having so much fun I caught myself giggling out loud... Now I understand why the rear bar mod is in the top 5 recommended mods...

 

Agranger, thanks for the video whether it be professional or not, I got the sway bar installed alone in a little over an hour. Had written instructions but the vid made it clearer. Thanks again - - - - -