towhook bracket bolt

Ok, I installed the brackets for my tow hooks. I noticed a metal on metal banging nois however when I hit bumps. At first I thought the bumber wasn't tightend up but after I checked that I crawled under and noticed that the sway bar hits the head of the big rear bolt on the bracket where the sway bar turns back along the frame on the drivers side. There is like an inch more clearance on the passenger side but the drivers side part of the bar hits the head opf the bolt when I hit bumps. THe noise is more annoying than anything. Anyone else have this problem
I thought of flipping the bolt around but figured the nut would be even bigger therefore providing more bang, and possibly hurt the sway bar...

Try pulling the anti-roll bar over so there's an equil gap on both sides.

Jes

is that an easy thing to do? when you say "just pull it".....

if you have an adjustable trac bar, you probably need to adjust it so that the axle is even under the Jeep, therefore evening out the gap between the sway bar and the bolt heads.
Or, do like I did and just let it rub until it doesn't hit anymore

XJ's came from the factory with various sized sway bars. Depending on lift, track bar length, and sway bar size contact can occure with those bolts. I had the same problem you describe. To fix it I ground the head of the bolt down about 1/8" while also putting a slight downward taper on it. I don't have contact anymore and if circumstances arise where I do it will slide nicely on that taper instead of catching the bolt head edge.

bringing an old thread back from the dead here
I just installed my c4x4 towhooks today now I have a clunk when hitting bumps
I did some searching tonite and I have the exact scenario theschwarz1 had the sway bar is really close to the left side bracket
other than grinding the head of the bolt down what other options are there
my jeep is stock suspension wise no adj track bar
is it really that easy to loosen the sway bar and pull it over to equal the gap
also the upper endlink bushings are squashing out to the rear on both sides
is the normal

I tried a serch and this was THE ONLY THREAD that came up

thanks in advance

Could you replace the bolt with a shorter grade 8 bolt from the hardware store?

Andrew - his problem isn't bolt length - it's the size of the bolts head, so the answer is no.

Mpete.. You can easily move the sway bar over. I personally find it easiest to disconnect it from teh axle and move it up and down (rotate it) while pulling. If the bushings are really sticky you might employ the help of a pry bar (against the body and the horizontal portion of the sway bar) or a hammer to push it instead of pull.

I had the same problem as well but I was lazy and allowed it to self clearance (sway bar eventually ground a bit of the bolt down).

I wouldn't grind the bolt down myself - I'm paranoid about hardware strength and wouldn't want to do anything to compramise the stength of something that crucial. Tow hook (bracket) failure is not a laughing matter.

Sequoia

well I tried the sway bar moving idea this morning
I moved it over so it was equal on both sides
and it stayed that way for about half the length of my driveway (which is about a 1/4 mile dirt driveway through the woods) and then it started bangin again
I got out and looked and the swaybar had already walked its way back to where it was
I loosened it from the endlinks and the frame brackets and it slid very easily
then I tightened it back down
so I couldnt think of anything else to do so I ended up grinding the top of the bolt head down almost flat
I dont think its gonna hurt the stregnth of the bolt
but if it does there is still 5 other bolts holding it to the frame and bumper so its not like the hook and bracket will come flying at me

so far it seems to be ok
thanks for the tips tho