Sway Bar Question
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sway bar answere
There is not much you can do to hurt a sway bar short of bending or breaking it. I suppose you could heat it to a thousand plus degrees and soften it, but assuming none of these things have happened, the bar is fine.
Though sway bar and link bushings do wear and rot regularly, if you need to replace them, I would look at other bushings as well (lower control arm especially) For safety sake be sure and check tie rod ends. PS I have had nothing but squeaks from Urethane bushings �.
J-Garden said:Anyone know if a sway bar looks to be solid, if just replacing the bushings will be enough to eliminate any problems? I'm thinking yeah, but was wondering if anyone knew about this stuff before I replace possibly random parts.
There is not much you can do to hurt a sway bar short of bending or breaking it. I suppose you could heat it to a thousand plus degrees and soften it, but assuming none of these things have happened, the bar is fine.
Though sway bar and link bushings do wear and rot regularly, if you need to replace them, I would look at other bushings as well (lower control arm especially) For safety sake be sure and check tie rod ends. PS I have had nothing but squeaks from Urethane bushings �.
A mechanic just diagnosed the sway bar when replacing struts, and everything seems to be tight. Maybe you can help me here though and tell me if I'm correct - the sway bar actually runs along the width of the car, and then there are two bits on either end that connect from the bar to behind the wheels.
Should there be play in that part? There's gaps between the rubber and the metal and that seems wrong.
I did slide into a curb some years back, which I suppose could have bent the sway bar, it broke a tie rod and bent a control arm. No one mentioned or noticed anything with the sway bar. I'm just wondering if the garage was referring to just the linkage or the whole part - It seems weird that they would want to replace the bar, but not the linkage - wouldn't the linkage pretty much always go out first? There's no rust or corrosion at all - it's a 10 year old car, but most of its life was in Florida and up north it's been garage kept.
Should there be play in that part? There's gaps between the rubber and the metal and that seems wrong.
I did slide into a curb some years back, which I suppose could have bent the sway bar, it broke a tie rod and bent a control arm. No one mentioned or noticed anything with the sway bar. I'm just wondering if the garage was referring to just the linkage or the whole part - It seems weird that they would want to replace the bar, but not the linkage - wouldn't the linkage pretty much always go out first? There's no rust or corrosion at all - it's a 10 year old car, but most of its life was in Florida and up north it's been garage kept.
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Yes the sway bar connects one "wheel" to the other to reduce roll. basically when one wheel goes up (as in a hard corner) the bar transfers some force to the other "wheel" and makes that wheel also go "up" thus reducing roll.
It is usually "hung" from the frame (or cross member) by a pair of "U" looking mounts with rubber or urethane bushings. Each end has a "link" usually a "tube" or tube and bolt ... with round rubber (or urethane) bushings (look more like washers) on either end -- the sway or roll bar end and the "wheel" or control arm end.
There should be no gaps. the links should be "snug" and fit into the sway bar and control arm fairly tightly. Same is true of the "frame" mount -- should be snug no gaps.
I have smacked thing around pretty good and not bent a sway bar. I would be surprised if it's bent, probably just talking about the bushings.
Is the car making "clunking sounds"? Are there any other symptoms or is this just the shop telling you this?
It is usually "hung" from the frame (or cross member) by a pair of "U" looking mounts with rubber or urethane bushings. Each end has a "link" usually a "tube" or tube and bolt ... with round rubber (or urethane) bushings (look more like washers) on either end -- the sway or roll bar end and the "wheel" or control arm end.
There should be no gaps. the links should be "snug" and fit into the sway bar and control arm fairly tightly. Same is true of the "frame" mount -- should be snug no gaps.
I have smacked thing around pretty good and not bent a sway bar. I would be surprised if it's bent, probably just talking about the bushings.
Is the car making "clunking sounds"? Are there any other symptoms or is this just the shop telling you this?
like everyone has said, the only problems associated with a sway bar are only end links and mounts. sway bars never go bad unless they physically snap (never seen this happen, but it's probably happened to somebody). they normally snap the endlinks or mounts.
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