How tightly did you tighten the nuts on the U-bolt clamp on the rear axle?
I know that the instructions say 20-25 ft.lbs., but they also say that there may be more resistance than ideal with the lock nut (which would throw off any torque settings, I would guess). How did you know how tight was tight enough? Also, when the nuts are fully torqued down, do they allow the U-bolt clamp to rotate back and forth slightly if enough pressure is placed on them?

My setup is slightly altered because of the Ford rear end, but it's basically the same. My concern was whether the U-bolts are supposed to be able to rotate slightly to relieve tension from the endlinks (for example, when the car is lifted into the air and both wheels hang down and the endlinks are pulled backward), or if they are supposed to be clamped so tight that they cannot rotate at all (which would create more forward/backward tilting motion in the endlinks).

By the way, if anyone is interested in how the sway bars can be made to work with an '88 Ford Ranger (2wd) rear end, let me know and I will try to post some pictures.

Also, I used the reinforcement plates that came with the bars, but I was wondering if this is sufficient? Have there been instances when even this is not enough? I can probably get some steel plate sheets from Lowes and cut/drill them to match and go on the underside of the floor panel if additional reinforcement is recommended, but I'd like to do it now while the car is already up in the air and everything is stille easily accessible.