Hey all -
Did sway bushing in the rear today and decided to move up to the fronts. Had the Energy Suspension 9.5161G's ready to go. The front links are new, so I was just trying to do the sway bar mount bushings. Old material was squashed flat and torn on both sides.
So, I popped the old off, and put the new on.. only, it wouldn't fit (about a quarter inch gap). They fit perfect on any other part of the bar (like the straight center area), but on the passenger side (only side I tried), it simply won't fit. The bar doesn't seem rusted, and definitely isn't repainted, but it's lumpy. Whacked it with a wrench expecting it to be a rust bubble, but nada.
I don't know if it'll close completely with the metal bracket on top of it, as I bought the wrong freaking bolts today, but the factory bracket won't fit back over it when on the bar, otherwise fits acceptably with both pieces off truck.
Going to Moab next weekend with a 5.5hr drive ahead of me so I'm kind of apprehensive about running without a front sway bar that whole time. Also going to camp and light offroading, so wild flexing isn't the priority. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I buy a new bar entirely? I guess I'd hate to commit to being swayless up front forever since I just installed new front links like 1k miles ago.
Thanks for ideas, will try to snap some pictures tomorrow. And just to reiterate, the 9.5161G kit is correct for the bar, and the fit is perfect anywhere but where it needs to be