Last week I removed the rear end from my '13 GT and took it to my friend to have a Swarr Bar welded on. I also had him weld up the axle tubes. My brother primed and painted it for me afterwards and it turned out really nice. I started to reinstall the rear end a couple of days ago and let me say that it was a PITA to do a R&R job like this all alone. The Swarr Bar adds a challenge to raising the rear end back into place. A couple of other things I wanted to point out are:

1. I installed BMR sway bar relocate brackets in preparation for 15X10 drag wheels and encountered some clearance issues with the sway bar and the lower shock mount bracket. I wish I had known this ahead of time and I could have addressed it when I took the rear to be worked on. It looks like I will have to massage the lower shock mount in order to gain the necessary clearance.

2.Getting the UCA bushing out of the rear end housing took a long time to do. I can't imagine doing this with the rear end in the car. I will be using a UPR spherical Bushing and a Pro Street adjustable UCA.

Here are a few pics of the rear end before I reinstalled it.

 

I'm guessing because you welded the axle tubes your drag racing the car? Why get a track pack then? That rear won't last long with constant clutch dumps on slicks.

What clearance issues did you have exactly with the sway bar relocation brackets? I have them and had no clearance issues but it is tight there.

 

I do plan to run the car a few times a year, but won't be doing any clutch dumps. I will slip the clutch to get out of the hole to avoid parts failure. The main clearance problem that I have is on the left rear corner of the control arm mounting bracket. The sway bar touches slightly. In addition to that clearance is very tight on both sides of the car between the outside rear of each control arm mounting bracket (about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch at most). Let me clarify that I most likely would have encountered the same thing using any of the sway bar relocation brackets that are being sold.

 

Which control arm relocation brackets are you using? And yes you're correct it wouldn't have mattered which sway bar brackets were used as they're all essentially the same.

 

I'm not running control arm relocation brackets. I was considering buying some, but Kelly from BMR told me that I wouldn't really benefit from them at the stock ride height.

 

Here's a pic of the sway bar. I marked the areas that need to be clearances with blue masking tape.

 

I have built and trussed many axles over the years doing off road desert racing, I sure hope the guy that welded that took his time and did not weld it all at once or you are going to end up with a bent axle housing from the heat and pulling of the metal on that brace.
Also you should not grind or (Clearance) a sway bar it ruins the integrity of the metal!
What made you decide to do this if you are not going to be launching this thing hard off the line? ( feathering the clutch)?

 

Yes, the guy that welded them took his time alternating between the tubes four times. The tubes were actually welded after the Swarr Bar was welded on. Eric at Swarr Auto said to do it this way to keep the tubes square. I had the rear end enhancements done to help prevent parts failure. I will only visit the track a few times per year. I set a personal goal to run 10's with this car on the gas and should be able to do so by slipping the clutch instead of dumping it. This method worked really well for me with my Mach1.

 

Looks great and nice job with the welds.

 

Thanks

 

Another option instead of grinding on the stock bar is to get a rear sway bar from a 05-09 V6. I'm still confused though on why you're having clearance issues.

 

Thanks GrabberBlue. I talked to Kelly at BMR today and he suggested the v6 sway bar too. He also asked me how the suspension was loaded and I told him that I had a jack underneath the rear end. He said that I should install the bar and sit the car on the tires to see if that provides the necessary clearance and as a last resort, trim the control arm mounting brackets instead of the sway bar itself.