Well...Got my Sway Bar and KIC Installed..WOW!!

[97 Aero]

Well these were two very beneficial mods. The car feels much tighter and far more secure now. I am very pleased...The rear bar took literally 15 mins max to put on however the clamp and brace took about 45 mins but all in all it was very easy to do..

The only thing I need to ask is did people need to do an alignment after because my wheel is now a little to the right when driving straight????

[stromer]

No, this should not affect your alignment. I can't imagine why it would affect your steering wheel position. You didn't over tighten so far as to move the steering rack did you? I don't know that this is even possible.

[97 Aero]

hmm..I tightened the bolts hard to where they wouldn't move any more. You think it moved my rack just a bit??

I remember reading a post about doing an alignment after these two mods when I was looking back at all the previous posts..

[Soon To be Saab Owner]

Okay, whats a KIC. I read somewhere it is a clamp, but if you could refresh my memory that would be great.

[97 Aero]

Its basically like the Viggen Rescue Kit that Abbott sells but this one is made by Genuine Saab (Taliaferro)

[SPATL]

Originally Posted by 97 Aero

Its basically like the Viggen Rescue Kit that Abbott sells but this one is made by Genuine Saab (Taliaferro)

Its part of the VRK and the KIC is sold by them, not made by them.

These should be the first 2 things done to this car. MP Performance also has both of these items.

[john tanner]

Yeah that was me!!! Looking back at what i did i think i tightened everthing up while the front wheels were still slightly raised which has made the steering wheel slightly off set. I paid £20 to have all the wheels realigned so it is fine now!!!

Originally Posted by 97 Aero

Well these were two very beneficial mods. The car feels much tighter and far more secure now. I am very pleased...The rear bar took literally 15 mins max to put on however the clamp and brace took about 45 mins but all in all it was very easy to do..

The only thing I need to ask is did people need to do an alignment after because my wheel is now a little to the right when driving straight????

[97 Aero]

^^John so you had the same issue as me then...I made an appointment for Saturday to have everything alligned so I am hoping it will solve my problems..

Also before I go for an alignment I should ask a couple questions???

Could this have been caused by me tightening the bolts down with the one side still jacked up??

or

If the wheel was just a tad off center when I tightened the bolts??

[97 Aero]

bump plz a little help

[mg_td]

why dont you go loosen it and make sure the wheel is straight and the car is level then retorque it.

[97 Aero]

^^mg_td - just tried it, loosened them..started the car and turned the wheel to center and then retightened them down and still a bit to the right...

I am leaning towards the possibility that I needed an alignment before and now this added support is just emphasizing my need for an alignment
Could this be right?

[mg_td]

beats me, i dont have my clamp yet ... but you should have noticed a bad alignment prior to this.

[stromer]

Does the car pull at all? Are the tires evenly wearing? These are usually signs of a bad lignment more than a steering wheel being off.

[97 Aero]

its always had to tell with these cars since the directional tires like to follow grooves and such in the road...

but the wheel was dead straight before I did the steering rack clamp and brace

[stromer]

Alright then, its gotta be that using our great deductive reasoning, eh?

What if you took the stuff off, and put the stock peices back on? You really can't drive with no clamp on there, but put the old ones back on and see how it drives. This may seem tedious, but its free.

If with the old parts the problem goes away, put the new on. If the problem comes back, call Nick (taliaferro parts, right?). He should be able to help or send you a new one.

If the problem is still there, then take it to an alignment shop.

[97 Aero]

I tried that...and its fine with stock..

So I am just gonna call him and see what we can figure out

[stromer]

I guess something could be bent. Maybe the brace part isn't the right length or bent? I can't imagine anything wrong with the clamp part. That's pretty basic stuff. But the brace to the wheel-well would at least have some geometry in it. What I mean by this is room for error.

Hmmm, if you're bored, how about trying just the new clamp and no brace?

Otherwise call Nick. And be lucky this wasn't the MP part as right now you'd be getting answering machines and unreturned emails instead of the friendly voice of Nick. (exaggeration!)

[97 Aero]

How good is Nick with returns???
I am kind of wondering if I should have just stayed with the stock clamp and bushing

[stromer]

I wouldn't know about him with returns. I am sure he'd to a swap if nothing else can be figured out. But he'd be the one to ask.

Trust me, when you finally get this to be working right, it will be much better than stock. Be patient and persistent, its worth it!