Sway bar bushing replacement 'How to'

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Here's another vote for anybody thinking about whether or not to go with the poly bushings. I installed the sway bar poly bushings and "clunk" be gone! I can't remember what the OEM bushings felt like, but nevertheless, I'm sure these are a little stiffer, and a recommended upgrade.

For anybody in the GTA that want these, send me a PM and I'll set you up. The bushings are the same as those listed in the link up above.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Oh sure, now you tell me. After I just bought a set of Prothane bushings from accross the border

Glad it worked for you.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I'll be installing mine tomorrow. I assume you need to either cut the old end link bushings out or press them out on a vice?

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I am not sure about the end link bushings. The OE ones have a metal insert for the bolt to go through that seems too small to fit tightly in the poly bushings. Any one firgured how to use the 4 extra poly bushings in the package?

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I too was a little leary about removing the old end link bushings from the end link. I almost got into it yesterday but opted not to. I'm going to haul out my calipers and see what the dia of the steel bushing is compared to the hole in the poly.

Dave

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I purchased the poly kit, Today i changed the 2 main bushings hoping to get rid of the squeak in the front end when going over bumps. I greased the bushings well w/ the supplied grease but the squeak is still there. Any ideas?
Also i have 6 extra poly pieces that i am not quite sure how they would go into the end links. 2 look like they would go in the top of the end link, the other 4 are thin w/ a bevel on 1 edge. Thoughts?

Thanks, Nate
02 golf 32,000 miles

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I don't have a means to tighten to the correct tork, what happens if i do it by hand and overtighten either the sway bar ends or the sway bar bushings.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Nice job, to say the least. People like you are among my favorites at this club as pictures help a lot. Mine bushings just squeak now, so I will keep this in my favorites for when the clunck starts.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I purchased and installed the poly bushings. I thought it was an easy job for my 99.5 jetta. Two bushings for the sway bar and the other four in the set was for the right and left "dog bone" I cleaned all the metal parts up and greased "supplied with kit" them up good. No more clunks or creeks in the front. Now to find out where the back noise is coming from.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I purchased and installed the poly bushings. I thought it was an easy job for my 99.5 jetta. Two bushings for the sway bar and the other four in the set was for the right and left "dog bone" I cleaned all the metal parts up and greased "supplied with kit" them up good. No more clunks or creeks in the front. Now to find out where the back noise is coming from.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I purchased and installed the poly bushings. I thought it was an easy job for my 99.5 jetta. Two bushings for the sway bar and the other four in the set was for the right and left "dog bone" I cleaned all the metal parts up and greased "supplied with kit" them up good. No more clunks or creeks in the front. Now to find out where the back noise is coming from.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I have the same kit. Just the main bar bushings made all the difference in my case. No more clunk. I was begining to think it was something else since I replaced these in Feb with factory rubber ones. The polys make all the difference. It also tightens up the handling slightly. (modded suspension on my car)

Secondly, anyone have an easy way to get the polys in the sway bar links? What about removal of the factory rubber units.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

BigAl, how did you replace the bushings at the dog bone? Did you have to remove the sway bar and put them in with a press?

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

The only problem with the poly bushings is squeaking, they will last longer then the oe rubber but they make noise due to increased stiffness. I talked to a few preformance shops who no longer install the poly bushing due to noise...
Greg

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

There's an updated version of the swaybar frame bushing to prevent clunking.....sounds like a strut, but it's the bushing slapping on the frame. Might be your links or the bushings.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I have the update and it didn't work either. I've also runs poly's for years and only had to regrease them every other year or so. Sta-lube synthetic calpier grease is the trick.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Thanks for the info....

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Usually how long before these bushings go? Lars.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

sorry RMARKW for the late reply. To remove the old rubber, I just took a pair of vice grips and pulled the old ones out. Then cleaned up and lubed all the parts and pressed them in with a bench vice. Went together very easy!

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Great advice!

just had mine replaced after not being able to find what was wrong for nearly 3 months and spending nearly £200 trying to find it

Cured for £30

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

I couldn't find a 16mm socket in my tool set and all the stores were closed. Surprise, surprise, a 5/8" socket fits perfectly.

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

>>I couldn't find a 16mm socket in my tool set and all the stores were closed. Surprise, surprise, a 5/8" socket fits perfectly.<<

NOW you tell me !!!

I just came back from a Sears sale where I "filled in" my socket collection (I'm an old-timer who never needed 16 and 18 MM...)... Do you know how many 5/8" sockets I've got sitting here???

Yuri.

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

LOL, I hear you. I have about 10 of those 5/8" spark plug sockets from years of buying socket sets. What the heck will I ever use them for now?

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Is the stock front sway bar a 21mm or 23mm? I have a 2001 Golf GLS and was thinking about trying Energy Suspension. They offer a 23mm sway bar bushing set for the Golf/Jetta/Beetle and they also have a 21mm sway bar bushing set for the Beetle (which I'm sure will work for the Golf/Jetta).
http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/volks_wc.html

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

How do you know its the sway bar bushings vs. ball joints? Are the sway bar bushes relatively easy to change by a novice? The most ive ever done is change the rear pads and rotors on my A4

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

How do you know its the sway bar bushings vs. ball joints? Are the sway bar bushes relatively easy to change by a novice? The most ive ever done is change the rear pads and rotors on my A4

Click to expand...

Yep, the sway bar bushings are much easier to change than the ball joints. And considerably cheaper too. Given the track record of the bushings., it is logical to change those first before even considering the ball joints.

Re: Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

kwrong 7, the dealer checked my vin number to verify which parts were required. The next thing to do would be get a measurement of the sway bar. Compare a couple and hopefully you will come up with a 21 and 23....

Its an easy job. Half an hour in the driveway and it was wrapped up....no more clunking at my feet.

Craig B

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

What about just removing the front sway bars?

Maybe a stoopid question but IIRC Shine Racing Service , once had a discussion on why their kit only added a beefier rear bar.

I think Dick implied it would be preferable to remove the front bar as opposed to replacing it with a bigger one.

If it wouldn't harm the handling, you could save yourself a bit of weight and not have to worry over the issue again.

23mm Sway Bar Parts

I just installed a set of graphite impregnated polyurethane bushings on my 02 Jetta and thought I would share my findings since it took me a while to find urethane bushings for the 23mm sway bar.

The bushings are made by Energy Suspension part # 15.5106.G (http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/volks_wc.html)
and were purchased from Suspension Restoration (http://www.suspension.com).

Cost was $32 for parts and $5 for priority postal shipping (I received it in 2 days from CA to NY).

This kit is great for those of us with the 23mm sway bar. The kit contains sway bar bushings and end link bushings for both the old and new style of end links. Also included are long bolt and washers for re-installing the sway bar bushings.

The sway bar bushings were easy (as per the how-to), but the end links were a bit of a pain. I used the long bolts provided to get the sway bar bushing seated and then removed them and reinstalled the original bolts (a bit anal, I know....). I have the newer style of end link and found that I had to pound the old bushings out by setting the end link ontop of a large socket and hammered on the bushing with a smaller socket (used as a drift) ontop. Slicing the bushing flare ontop off with a razor blade helped a little. As for putting the new end link bushing in, I found I could do it with very large slip-joint pliers, but clamping it in a bench vise was much easier (the bench vise probably would have made removing them easier too, hind-sight being 20/20). Total time spent on this job (including rotating tires and adjusting tire pressure) was about 1 1/2 hours, taking my sweet time.

My car has 122k miles (35k since I bought it last year), and the front end has had a squeak for the last couple thousand miles. I replaced the front strut mounts and rear shocks last week - they were definitely wore-out, but it made no significant change in ride or squeaking. After installing this kit I was amazed at the change in the handling of the car. It now feels like it's riding on rails. This really tightened up the front end of my car, especially on hard cornering.

Sway bar bushing replacement \'How to\'

Thanks for the org. post with pictures.