Sway Bar Bushing Thickness - Which Side First?

[oscarsnapkin]

I checked the threads both here and in the Beetle forum but could not find any mention of this, so not sure if it is even an issue. I noticed when I was installing my sway bar bushings (purchased from Thing Shop) that one side of the bushings is thicker than the other. Which side gets slid onto the bar first? The picture below is of one of the smaller bushings. One side measures about 9/32” and the other is about 7/32”, so about 1/16” of a difference. The ruler moved a bit when I took the photo, so it doesn’t look like it is lined up properly, but there is definitely a difference between the two sides.

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- 1977 CEI Sunroof Bus 2.0L F.I. Hydraulic Lifters
- 1973 Thing

"It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind."

[wbailey2112]

Based on your two photos they appear to be the same thickness since your rule has slipped out of position on the lower photo. Even if there is a 1/32" difference It should not cause any issues.
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'74 Thing
'83 Westfalia

[vwtragic62]

yes, the Thing Shop description for these bushes states "Bushings have correctly angled holes for stabilzer bar positioning" and I'm also wanting an answer for this detail.

Maybe if you loosely clamp the small & large bushes to one trailing arm and use a snug fitting bit of dowel or or rod or a phillips head screwdriver through the holes the answer might be obvious. ?

[Big Bull Shooter]

From my 1969 Beetle. Does this help?

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Where would this hobby be if no one shipped parts.
crukab
Feb. 11, 2021
Smokey says.... only you can prevent Bug fires!
zerotofifty
May 16, 2023

[oscarsnapkin]

Just as a follow up since vwtragic62 asked, the bushings have a taper on one end that I hadn’t noticed when I posted this questions. I assume that the tapered end gets slid onto the sway bar first. I put all of mine on this way and it seemed to work out OK. One of the clips went on fairly easy, the other three were MFers. I kind of messed up by squeezing the clamps by the tabs (using vise grips) to compress them. It bent the tabs a bit and made it even more difficult to slide the clips on. Props to whoever does this job laying underneath the car. I have my body off so everything is very accessible and it was still a PITA.
_________________
- 1977 CEI Sunroof Bus 2.0L F.I. Hydraulic Lifters
- 1973 Thing

"It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind."