sway bar Link Bushing help & advice needed

[DogBunny]

This is my driver's side sway bar link. The bottom square bushing needs to be slid over.

The top bushing is almost non-existent, and the retainer is mangled, but the real problem is the big gap where the link has slipped down and out of position.

This is the passenger side. This is what everything is supposed to look like.
So here is my question: removing the driver's side link and replacing the top bushing looks pretty straight forward, but what about that gap? As is, I don't really see how I will get that link up where it is supposed to be. Should I push the sway bar up with a jack to close that gap?
No suspension parts appear to be bent, but I have a few other bad bushings -- the upper control arm bushings are shot, which means that the upper ball joints are also probably bad, and the forward strut bushings are torn.
I guess what I really want to know is if I can fix this myself in my driveway, or does that out-of place link in my pictures indicate that I should have this repaired by a shop?

 

[saylor]

you can do this in the driveway
http://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar...e-to-get-this-sway-bar-bushing&highlight=sway

but somethings out of whack I don't think a new bushing is going to fill up that space on that hanger. id loosen the whole thing and change bushings and center everything back up, and see what you got.

they have poly hangers at autozone if those are bent or anything

 

[commando1]

You have to change the whole enchalada.
You don't replace one link on a million mile chain.

 

[saylor]

^^ he is right. if you look at the dates on the posts,, its 1 year later after me doing the sway bar, and now im doing the whole front end uppers lowers, steering box, pitman and idler arm, all bushings, the works.

if your time and money allows, just do it.

 

[DogBunny]

Thanks for the replies.
Well, call me a bad person, but I really want to do the absolute minimum front end work required. That will include the upper control arm bushings and ball joints, the forward strut bushings, and anything else that I come across that is obviously bad. However, I am on a tight budget, so for example, I see no reason to replace the passenger-side sway bar link bushings that appear to be perfectly good in my pic. I guess what I am going to do is take the saylor approach (thanks for the link saylor), and do the obvious stuff now, and then do the rest a year later if I have to. Maybe this is dumb, but I hope the forum will continue to help me anyway, as I am sure that I am going to need a lot of help. Thanks.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

The interesting thing is that it looks like somebody already replaced just the left one as the right one doesn't look to have the bolt on the lower part.

I'd be looking at everything to make sure nothing is bent or that the bar is centered, look where it clamps to the struts on each side.


Alan

 

[68plymouth383]

There's guy's that use the sway bar as a pulling point. The one in the pic is bent!! It needs replaced. Just swapping bushings doesn't repair a bent part.........

This is my driver's side sway bar link. The bottom square bushing needs to be slid over.

The top bushing is almost non-existent, and the retainer is mangled, but the real problem is the big gap where the link has slipped down and out of position.

This is the passenger side. This is what everything is supposed to look like.
So here is my question: removing the driver's side link and replacing the top bushing looks pretty straight forward, but what about that gap? As is, I don't really see how I will get that link up where it is supposed to be. Should I push the sway bar up with a jack to close that gap?
No suspension parts appear to be bent, but I have a few other bad bushings -- the upper control arm bushings are shot, which means that the upper ball joints are also probably bad, and the forward strut bushings are torn.
I guess what I really want to know is if I can fix this myself in my driveway, or does that out-of place link in my pictures indicate that I should have this repaired by a shop?

 

[bajajoaquin]

I think I have a single sway bar link for my '67 Imperial left over. I replaced both, and had inadvertantly ordered a single part when I bought online. So I have an extra. If you want to find out if it's the same part, and pay me for shipping, PM me and I'll send it to you.

But I think it's a bad idea. I think the swaybar links are like $10 each or something crazy cheap. Just buy both, and put them on.

I can't speak to the comment that something there is bent, but you should probably take a closer look at it before you make your decisions.

You're on a budget, and I get that. I am, too. My philosophy is that I'm not throwing money at this car, but when I do something, I try to do it right. So go ahead and fix the parts little by little. But don't put a new part on one side and leave a worn part on the other side when we're talking about $10.

Also, the stuff I've read says don't buy urethane unless you're looking for a performance application. Those bushings can tend to squeak. Go ahead and get stock rubber. Maybe it will only last 10 years, but you won't have to worry about squeaks.

 

[DogBunny]

Thanks again for all of the help.
Okay so I did a little more looking and a little preliminary work on the bad link. That link is perfectly straight and good. And the sway bar looks perfectly straight and good. I think that maybe all of the sway bar and body strut bushings are worn just a little, and that some of the bushing "straps" may have twisted a little, and that all together it is causing the sway bar to be a little off level, resulting in that big gap where the link bushing is supposed to be in my first two pics.
I think saylor nailed it when he suggested loosening everything up and changing bushings, and thanks again for the link, Moog K7061 & K7064 are exactly what I am going to use.
And BTW, regarding the link square bushing "strap" that is welded, not bolted -- you can barely see in my original pictures that the passenger side link strap still has the weld, but the driver side link strap has already been cut/drilled and bolted back up (good eye MrMoparCHP!). So, it looks like someone before me only replaced one of the two square link bushings.
bajajoaquin, thanks a lot for the parts offer. Those parts -- K7601 and K7064 are super cheap, so yes, I will just get them from the parts store and replace them all on both sides.

This looks super easy, so my next project to mull is the struts that attach to the lower control arm. The manual says that the struts have to be removed along with the lower control arm as an assembly -- is that really true? And, if so, do you really need the special tool they call for in the manual (C-3964) to remove the ball joint stud from the lower control arm?

 

[saylor]

thats all true. the strut end goes into the lca. there is not enough slack to get the strut out until the lca is loose/ out. dont even try it until you are ready to do the whole thing. you cant take your lca loose without undoing the torsion bar tension. so just dont until you can do it all.

i got everything loose with a pickle fork except the pitman arm i had to rent the autozone puller...get the heavy duty one.

 

[DogBunny]

Thank you.
So, as I continue to mull and wait for parts, it lools more and more like I will be doing commando1's "whole enchilada."

It appears that the first step to removing the lower control arm is to remove the torsion bar, and already I am confused. I can't for the life of me find an "upper control arm rebound bumper" in step (1). Furthermore, where in the world is the "anchor adjusting bolt" in step (3)? Yes, I did crawl under the car and look for it.

 

[DogBunny]

Okay, I guess I found the adjusting bolt. It's the big, fine-threaded 4or 5 inch long bolt sandwiched in the middle of the lower control arm.
Still mystified regarding the upper control arm rebound bumper.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

The upper control arm bumper is in the upper control arm between the ball joint and the shock, on the lower side.

Alan

 

[saylor]

yup, and yup. you found the correct bolt, from bottom of LCA, fine threaded. they say count your turns so you can put it back where it was. I stopped counting at 200 turns /4 (socket wrench) and said the hell with it, im going to eyeball and feel it and compare it to 'before' pictures.

and the bumpers are black rubber acorn lookin things. mine were rusted together and I had to dremel it apart with a cutting wheel.


if you are gonna do the whole enchilada, zmurgy just did it, and im better than halfway thru doing my car as well. so the info is in the forum for sure.


at first I didn't buy a pitman arm or steering box, and ended up replacing both during the course of the project.

 

[commando1]

I stopped counting at 200 turns /4 (socket wrench) and said the hell with it,

I did that the first time 45 years ago and said WTF?
Haven't done it since.

Still mystified regarding the upper control arm rebound bumper.

And the second thing I learned is there is no such thing as an " upper control arm rebound bumper".
I skipped over it and just started loosening up that big iron rod with this big muthuh bolt until the bolt falls out.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

And the second thing I learned is there is no such thing as an " upper control arm rebound bumper".
I skipped over it and just started loosening up that big iron rod with this big muthuh bolt until the bolt falls out.

What he said.


Alan