Replacing the Sway Bar Bushings

Analog Kid

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Has anyone had any experience replacing the square like bushings on the sway bar?

I know the FSM says the bushings are not serviceable separately but I bought the Moog kit (#7061) thinking there must be a way to do it. In the kit there are some instructions but I need a magnifying glass to read them. Says something about cutting off the old bushings and then drilling and prying the welds apart on the bracket. I think then you are supposed to use a supplied nut and bolt to put it back together.

I am wondering if this is the best way to do it or maybe there is another way.

IMG_1988.JPG
 
i cut mine on the pinch weld, then drilled and bolted back together when done. i think you are supposed to somehow slide the rubbers over the end of teh bar .. . i took one look at that and decided that was a bunch of nope.

try not to die -

- saylor
 
There is a retrofit assembly that bolts together, may have been a Mopar part for cars that didn't come with a sway bar.
I'm speculating that is why this bushing is sold, mine was in good shape so I left it.


Alan
 
(Wondering what it would take to adapt the rear bar hangers from a 2nd-Gen Camaro/Firebird to that bar? Something "available" and with a variety of inner IDs, even urethane, possibly? I know . . . possible "tissue rejection".)

Years ago, in the WPC News, I believe, somebody wrote in and mentioned that they'd burned the old bushing out and then put it in a holding fixture and replaced the factory rubber with Devcon90 rubber. Claimed it worked well.

What about the bushings on the strut rod?

CBODY67
 
i cut mine on the pinch weld, then drilled and bolted back together when done. i think you are supposed to somehow slide the rubbers over the end of teh bar .. . i took one look at that and decided that was a bunch of nope.

try not to die -

- saylor

You can also drill the pinch weld and then pry the pieces apart. Drill the hole in the weld the same size as the bolt supplied with the kit. Sometimes the bracket will come apart easily, other times you will have to take a hacksaw to finish the job. The retro fit bracket was used to replace broken supports, we used to see a lot of that type of failure on police cruisers.

Dave
 
Last fall, I slid my old ones off the sway bar, slid on the new ones in the brackets, and IMMENSELY IMPROVED front end behavior for a good year. NOW, I need to do it again, given that my front end had MUCH more wrong with it, as I knew when I did that quick fix. Instructions mentioned soaking the bushings in hot water for a bit to soften them before attempting to squeeze them into the square bracket.

If you've got worn out swaybar bushings, best check every bit of rubber in the front end, and too likely, it all has to go. Given how the sway bar is set up, I suppose the bushings might have a relatively short duty cycle compared to other front suspension rubbers. I'll know if I EVER can get TIME to do ALL of mine!!!
 
Certainly, if the sway bar mount rubbers are needing replacement, the other rubber which the strut rod slides in, whose bracket attaches to the sway bar mount square rubbers, needs replacement, too.

Rather than water, I found that dielectric silicone paste works well on sway bar mount rubbers AND it isn't easily washed off or dries out. Only issue might be with painting the vehicle and related "fisheyes" resulting from the nearby silicone.

CBODY67
 
The PST parts worked well for me, had to cut the old ones off and slide the new bushings in from the ends. Not to difficult.
 
Brake clean will make the sliding bushing easier without soaking in oil, etc.

@CBODY67 look into Chevy trailblazer bars, the hollow front one sits on nice parallel flat pillow blocks. Rear bar is axle mount but with the driveshaft bump in it I think it could be flipped and frame mounted. Both use ball joint style end links and the aftermarket ones are steel allowing to be cut, clocked, welded as needed. 300m's have a steel ball joint style end links that is almost a foot long giving extra to cut and modify.
 
I did what @Ross Wooldridge did, just took it all off the car together and slid the links off the bar. I put the links back over the bar without the rubber in them then installed them loosely. Slid the rubber over the ends and into the links. Don't remember if I used something to ease the process, nothing stands out, I remember it wasn't an issue, and had heard the cut and weld deal and said "nope" to that. I used the P-S-T kit for the front end. Even made an upper bushing remover, gotta love bored maintenance co-workers!
 
Has anyone had any experience replacing the square like bushings on the sway bar?

I know the FSM says the bushings are not serviceable separately but I bought the Moog kit (#7061) thinking there must be a way to do it. In the kit there are some instructions but I need a magnifying glass to read them. Says something about cutting off the old bushings and then drilling and prying the welds apart on the bracket. I think then you are supposed to use a supplied nut and bolt to put it back together.

I am wondering if this is the best way to do it or maybe there is another way.

View attachment 147696

The link below is what I got from PST (Front Sway Bar Stabilizer Links) - IMO this is the Best way to go. If you want to be a McGyver you can do as some suggest and drill out the spot welds to separate the bottom half. You'll need to size out the hole for a nut and bolt to clamp it back together. Yes, it's a bit costly at $45 each / $90 for the pair, but you'll save yourself a lot of time and headache and it does come with all the bushings needed as well. I initially bought all the MOOG bushings and started to cut out the welds then found it to be a PITA and just bit the bullet, spent the $$ and purchased the links.

7/8" Front Stabilizer Link

UPDATE! I RECALL NOW THAT RAREPARTS.COM ALSO STOCKS THE SAME STABILIZER LINKS AND FOR NEARLY 1/2 THE PRICE. I NOW REMEMBER I FOUND THAT OUT AFTER I HAD ALREADY RECEIVED MINE FROM PST.

Go to the link below then type in 18110 in the search box to bring up the item.

Byte Designs' Tracker Online Parts Ordering for Rare Parts Inc.

2016-03-19 12.17.25.jpg
 
Last edited:
i cut mine on the pinch weld, then drilled and bolted back together when done. i think you are supposed to somehow slide the rubbers over the end of teh bar .. . i took one look at that and decided that was a bunch of nope.

try not to die -

- saylor
Exactly what I did.
 
The link below is what I got from PST (Front Sway Bar Stabilizer Links) - IMO this is the Best way to go. If you want to be a McGyver you can do as some suggest and drill out the spot welds to separate the bottom half. You'll need to size out the hole for a nut and bolt to clamp it back together. Yes, it's a bit costly at $45 each / $90 for the pair, but you'll save yourself a lot of time and headache and it does come with all the bushings needed as well. I initially bought all the MOOG bushings and started to cut out the welds then found it to be a PITA and just bit the bullet, spent the $$ and purchased the links.

7/8" Front Stabilizer Link

UPDATE! I RECALL NOW THAT RAREPARTS.COM ALSO STOCKS THE SAME STABILIZER LINKS AND FOR NEARLY 1/2 THE PRICE. I NOW REMEMBER I FOUND THAT OUT AFTER I HAD ALREADY RECEIVED MINE FROM PST.

Go to the link below then type in 18110 in the search box to bring up the item.

Byte Designs' Tracker Online Parts Ordering for Rare Parts Inc.

View attachment 148638

At $26.53 each it is a no brainer! Just ordered a pair.
 
What about the bushings on the strut rod?

I'm replacing just about everything...even the strut rod bushings.

Another question on the sway bar link bushings - I can't easily pop the old ones out. They almost seem like a single piece whereas the new ones are two pieces. Do I just need to cut them off?

IMG_2030.JPG


IMG_2031.JPG
 
I'm replacing just about everything...even the strut rod bushings.

Another question on the sway bar link bushings - I can't easily pop the old ones out. They almost seem like a single piece whereas the new ones are two pieces. Do I just need to cut them off?

View attachment 149241

View attachment 149243

Yes, the OEM bushings are ONE PIECE. If you want to remove to replace with the NEW TWO PIECE ones, just use a razor blade to slice the bushing horizontally with the frame. My dad in his stash of parts had a pair of factory stabilizer bushings. When I replaced the link bushings I initially installed the OEM ones, but decided to keep them since they had the Mopar PN on it and replaced them with the ones that came in the kit. I'm providing 3 photos.

1) NOS OEM stabilizer bushings
2) NOS bushings installed
3) replacement bushings I used that came with the kit


thumb_2015-07-11 12.58.46_1024.jpg


2016-01-23 13.38.29.jpg


2016-01-23 13.38.47.jpg
 
I cut the welds and re-assembled the brackets with galvanized nuts & bolts. I made the bushings out of raw polyurethane, which machines and shapes very easily with a bench grinder and paddle bits (this was years ago before poly bushings were available for C-bodies).

I split each bushing at the top to make it easier to install, and put "ears" on them so they don't wander around and dance out of the brackets. They've been in there for almost a decade and still perform well.
 
I got the cheaper set from RareParts.com... don't bother. They don't fit. They're not made for a 7/8" bar. I tried to fit it on my bench, the provided bolt isn't long enogh, the bushing dosen't fit the link properly, it's too big.

Either way, I don't feel satisfied with this... back it goes. I'm going for the drill and cut, and if that fails... the PST set look a lot better than the RareParts set.
 
Certainly, if the sway bar mount rubbers are needing replacement, the other rubber which the strut rod slides in, whose bracket attaches to the sway bar mount square rubbers, needs replacement, too.

Rather than water, I found that dielectric silicone paste works well on sway bar mount rubbers AND it isn't easily washed off or dries out. Only issue might be with painting the vehicle and related "fisheyes" resulting from the nearby silicone.

CBODY67

Thanks for the tip w the dielectric grease. I've used Ivory soap to lube the bushings on with good effect too. I refreshed the swaybar rubber and put some nice KYB shocks on the front, which have helped a LOT, but I have to go back to redo the shitting LCA bushings again. MOOG for CERTAIN THIS TIME!
 
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