Rear swaybar fitting advice?

[Lonx]

I have fitted a whiteline rear swaybar to my car and was wondering about the correct procedure to tighten the bolts.

The swaybar to chassis D-bush mounts are fine, but the swaybar to hub end bolts are more of a concern to me. Basically i can squeeze those up as much as I want, but at the moment have only tightened them to a fairly firm amount - this leave the rear hub bush slightly compressed with the car sitting on the ground.

I'd torque it to factory specs but unfortunately I don't have a deep enough socket to reach the bolt itself. Is there a way I can tighten this 'enough' with locking pliers or a spanner (my only options at the moment), or do I ultimately need to buy a long socket and do it exactly right (which i doubt)? Or should I simply use the angle grinder to remove 1cm from the rear swaybar thread and use a normal socket to tighten to the right torque setting?

If i can do it without purchasing more tools, roughly how can I tell when it is tight enough?

[Lonx]

Sorry to post again a second time, but I figured it would be better than starting *yet another thread*.

After the first 400kms+ i started to notice a creaking sound from the rear when the car is going up/down driveways, speed humps etc.... makes more sound when it is done on an angle (i think). It's like a groaning/creaking sound. Another thing I found is a metallic 'jingling' sound, similar to a few 5cent pieces rattling once or twice when I go over a half decent bump. Can be heard clearly on the freeway. There is also a slight drone or hum that seems to increase pitch with speed. This has only started since I replaced the suspension.

I know this is a really vague description, but as I have just replace the springs, struts & rear swaybar (have tightened the swaybar up enough to ensure its not the bush collar pieces on the hub), is there anything to suggest that may be causing this? The car has had a good 4-wheel alignment so this is not the issue.

[Wojtek]

Hi Lonx,
Sorry for not getting to you sooner - long weekend :)
With respect to tightening the rear sway bar to hub, from memory, on the N13 there should be a metal crush tube inside of the bush. If that's the case, then tighten the rear nut untill it bottoms out on this tube.
As for the noises, it could be related to the above if it's not tight enough. You may also like to double check that the sway bar freely rotates in it's D-bushes. Other then that, it's difficult to say remotely, it could even be ride height related (indirect suspension cause) possibly causing the exhaust hitting something.

Hope this helps.

Wojtek.