Today I replaced one of my shocks and springs on my 7. It took a lot of finagling and lots of cussing to get the old one back off and then the new one on again. After successfully getting this done I realized that after detaching the sway bar, (because it was holding the bottom A-arm on the shock) that I couldn't get it back on. Lining it back up isn't the problem. The problem lies in getting the sleeve back in between the holders on the A-arm. Does anybody have any insight into how to do this? I now regret taking it off but regret sure doesn't get it back on. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

If I read this correctly you can't get the link back into the lower control arm because the little collars won't allow the sway bar link back in between them.

Pry them apart, they "float" in the lower control arm and should spread apart with a little force. Don't use something that will gouge the metal.

Or

Freeze the sway bar link, it will shrink enough to fit in between.

Or

A trick I found by accident with the rear suspension. I removed the hubs, the part the suspension bolts to that holds the wheel bearing etc. I left one on the garage floor in the sun and the other in the shade, during reinstall the suspension arms fit easily on the warm part. The sun expanded the part enough to add a some clearance between the control arms and the mounting points on the hub carrier.

Jeff